Mass protests in France spiral into worst riots in years

PARIS — Rioting erupted in cities across France on Saturday as demonstrations against rising living costs and declining public services spiralled out of control in some of the worst violence the country has witnessed for decades. While hundreds of thousands protested peacefully in street marches in scores of cities, violent fringe groups targeted public buildings, looted luxury boutiques and supermarkets and attacked police vehicles and officers. In Limoges, the city hall was set ablaze; in Marseille, black-clad protesters broke into city hall and defaced the building with anarchic graffiti, and in Lyon, protesters torched the city's tourist office. French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the government would not be "intimidated" by violence, and blamed the unrest on the "ultra-left" and criminals just months before a presidential election next year. "To those who clearly want to use this violence as a 'warm-up' before the presidential election, I say clearly: We will not let ourselves be intimidated. No one will impose their political agenda through violence," he wrote in a post