France

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez acknowledges that police ‘lost control’ during weekend protests.

French ⁠President ⁠Emmanuel Macron has declined Interior Minister Laurent Nunez’s offer to resign ⁠after nationwide demonstrations by students protesting educational conditions and groups angry over the high cost of living turned into widespread riots and looting, the Elysee presidential office says.

Macron said Nunez should stay in his position to ensure the chain of command is maintained within the police and security forces and asked the interior minister ⁠to establish new methods to deal with looters, the Elysee said in a statement on ⁠Monday.

The president also asked Nunez to “take all necessary steps to ensure transparency over the failures in planning and intelligence that led to the violence”, the statement added.

The Ministry of the Interior said more than 2,300 people were arrested and almost 1,000 police and gendarmes injured in protests on Saturday. Injuries were also reported among protesters, with one demonstrator’s hand blown off by a police crowd-control grenade.

The nationwide demonstrations brought together students demanding better conditions in the French education system and residents protesting against the high cost of living and faltering public services.

More than half a million people took part in the protests on Saturday. Looting, arson and damage to property occurred in many cities, with masked rioters attacking town halls, police stations and other government buildings.

Nunez acknowledged on Monday that police “lost control” during the protests.

“On Saturday in some major cities, you couldn’t look shopkeepers in the eye after hundreds of shops had been looted and tell them we hadn’t lost control,” Nunez said.

Nunez acknowledged a “lack of anticipation” in the deployment of security forces on Saturday, saying their numbers were insufficient to deal with the large crowds of rioters and looters on the fringes of the demonstrations.

He estimated that 60,000 law enforcement personnel were deployed across the country that day.

“Given the damage that has been caused, it was only right that I should hand in my resignation,” Nunez said.

Looting continued on Sunday, and Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said on Monday that about 30 shops had been targeted in the capital the previous day, describing the scenes as “unbearable”.

Nunez said about 350 people were arrested in Paris on Sunday and overnight.

Nationwide, more than 2,330 people were taken into police custody over the weekend, 70 percent of whom were adults, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

The violent weekend demonstrations followed weeks of protests by high school students against overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and underinvestment in education, the biggest youth-led protest movement in the country in recent memory.

President Macron promises to increase security, but stops short of announcing a state of emergency or curfew.

French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed “anger and shame” over what he described as violent protesters’ attempts “to bring down the republic”.

In a televised address to the nation on Sunday, Macron promised that rioters and looters would “pay for their crimes”, after Saturday saw some of the worst urban violence in France in years.

The country’s Interior Ministry said that nearly 2,400 people were arrested on Saturday, with about 1,000 police and gendarmes injured.

Macron said there must be a distinction between protesters with “legitimate demands” and “those who destroyed, smashed, and looted”.

The president pledged to launch a “crisis unit” to provide “urgent aid … for those who are going through difficult moments”. He added that “lessons will be learned” after the destructive violence erupted this weekend.

“We need to be clear: yesterday, our law enforcement officers and officials, despite their professionalism, were subjected to unprecedented violence in several cities,” he said.

“I’ve asked the government to provide all the lessons learned and to be able to anticipate it to make sure that this does not happen again,” Macron said, adding: “We need unity, we need calm and respect.”

Reporting from Paris, Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler said Macron’s speech had “perhaps no surprises”.

“Whether it’s going to be enough to placate some people, I’m not really sure, because those who have been out protesting say they’re fed up of hearing these sorts of speeches by the French president,” Butler said.

The protests are quickly becoming a political football for parties vying for public support ahead of presidential elections next year.

Left-wing presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon said the French government is “solely responsible” for the destruction during protests, and has “failed to organise the maintenance of public order”.

Far-right presidential hopeful Jordan Bardella called Macron’s Sunday speech “lamentable” and “cowardly”, saying the government has nothing left to offer the French people and “cannot even protect them”.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for “calm and order” after a major day of protests turned into rioting and looting on Saturday, and as some disorder continued in Paris on Sunday.

In a national address from the Élysée Palace, he warned those who had taken part not to “escalate”, adding: “We all feel anger and shame.”

Some 550,000 demonstrators took to the streets for largely peaceful protests against rising fuel prices, the cost of living and deteriorating public services, including schools.

Macron said a distinction must be drawn between the “legitimate demands” of protesters and “those who destroyed, smashed and looted”.

Police have arrested about 2,400 people, according to France’s interior ministry.

The French president said “nothing justifies” the “unbridled” violence seen and said those involved would face justice.

Groups of rioters, some dressed in black and wearing masks and balaclavas, also came out in Paris, Marseille and other towns and cities, with some setting fire to cars and buildings.

On Sunday, looting and clashes with police continued on a smaller scale in parts of the capital and Lyon.

Tear gas and stun grenades were fired at hundreds of people in Paris, according to the AFP news agency, and bottles and rocks were again hurled at police.

Protests are sweeping France as anger over conditions in schools meets frustration with high living costs and a government accused of doing little to address problems facing people.

Protests are sweeping France as anger over conditions in schools meets frustration with high living costs and a government accused of doing little to address problems facing people.

About 550,000 people demonstrated nationwide on Saturday, according to the Interior Ministry. Most marched peacefully, while a small minority attacked buildings, looted shops and clashed with police, who fired tear gas and charged protesters.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said 1,200 people were arrested and 150 police officers were injured. Behind the confrontations lies a political crisis, fuelled by anger at deteriorating services and overstretched household budgets, and compounded by a sense that France’s political institutions offer little hope of change.

Here is how school blockades became a nationwide movement – and what that means for President Emmanuel Macron.

How have the protests spread, what are protesters demanding?

The movement began last month in high schools in Paris’ working-class northern suburbs, where students protested against teacher shortages and poor facilities. School blockades and demonstrations later spread to cities including Bordeaux, Rennes, Nantes, Lyon, Lille and Marseille.

Saturday brought together students and trade unions, alongside supporters of the “yellow vest” movement that emerged in 2018 to challenge rising living costs and economic inequality.

Emile Chabal, a professor of contemporary history at the University of Edinburgh, told Al Jazeera the demonstrations were “the logical outcome of a series of protests” stretching back to the yellow vests.

That movement was driven by financial pressures and resentment at “the French presidential system”, he told Al Jazeera, alluding to a structure which often leads to the election of a centrist candidate, such as President Emmanuel Macron.

Saturday combined those longstanding grievances with students’ anger at deteriorating state schools. The yellow vests had demanded better public services.

Bringing students’ grievances together with wider social demands, therefore, represented “the worst possible outcome for the French government”, Chabal said.

Students’ immediate demands concern conditions in France’s lycees (public high schools), which generally educate pupils aged 15 to 18. They want smaller classes, enough teachers, better buildings and less exhausting timetables. Their complaints also reflect broader concerns about whether the state can provide the education and opportunities young people need.

But for workers, including school staff, the dispute also concerns wages and the resources available to deliver public services.

The school protests coincided with a nationwide public sector strike against the government’s budget plans. Bringing all these concerns together under one umbrella represented “the worst possible outcome for the French government”, Chabal said.

It comes as the proposed 2027 budget includes a 54 billion euro ($60.8bn) package of cost-cutting and tax measures, which the government says is necessary to reduce France’s deficit. The proposals include freezing the pay scale used to calculate civil servants’ basic salaries, which unions say would be the fourth consecutive annual freeze.

Donatella della Porta, a sociologist and political scientist, said students were inspiring wider mobilisation around inequality, cuts to public investment and democratic rights, with demands for social welfare spending rather than militarisation.

“They do not want to fight wars; they want a different future,” she told Al Jazeera.

She also linked the movement to young people’s mobilisation over Gaza, with Palestinian flags appearing at demonstrations across several European countries.

How has the government responded?

The government has focused its immediate response on public order, with President Macron saying those responsible for violence would be “prosecuted and punished”.

His comments came as a fire largely destroyed the historic town hall in the city of Limoges, while public buildings and shops were attacked elsewhere.

But those involved in violence represent only a small minority of the much larger mobilisation. Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the left-wing France Unbowed party, has accused the government of repressing school students and allowing the confrontation to intensify.

His argument reflects a wider political dispute about whether the government treats the protests chiefly as a security problem or addresses the grievances that have brought different groups together.

Experts say France’s problems extend beyond disagreement over individual budget measures and reflect deeper discontent. Emile Chabal, from the University of Edinburgh, said political paralysis since the 2024 parliamentary elections, which left no bloc with an outright majority, had created “an environment in which no political party or movement is able to channel social discontent”.

That fragmentation makes it difficult to build a durable agreement on spending, taxation or public services. It also leaves protesters questioning whether changing governments produces meaningful changes in policy.

The protests are also “a tough blow for Macron”, Chabal said, whose promises of youthful energy and a reformed, dynamic France have been undermined by “his inability to articulate his political project and his deeply unempathetic persona”.

Chabal added that the unrest included violence sometimes seen on the fringes of French demonstrations, with direct-action tactics associated with the yellow vests. Targets included shops and, more unusually, public buildings. He described the destruction of Limoges’ town hall as particularly significant because of its place in France’s civic history.

Other researchers emphasise the role of policing. Guya Accornero, a specialist in social movements at Lisbon’s University Institute, said previous confrontations had created lasting tensions between protesters and police.

During the current protests, a 15-year-old lost a hand to a police stun grenade, while a 14-year-old suffered a shattered jaw after being struck by a tear gas canister fired at close range, according to Human Rights Watch. The organisation condemned excessive force against children, saying the demonstrations had been overwhelmingly peaceful.

“Young people have been violently repressed also when using non-disruptive tactics,” she told Al Jazeera.

Who could benefit politically?

There is no clear answer from the experts who spoke to Al Jazeera. Paul Smith, an associate professor in French history and politics at the University of Nottingham, believes far-right leader Marine Le Pen stands to gain.

“I see only one beneficiary and that’s Le Pen,” he told Al Jazeera, suggesting the unrest could also damage Melenchon’s presidential prospects.

Chabal cautioned against assuming a far-right gain, but he said fear of disorder had historically benefited conservative or centrist parties in France, including after the 1968 protests.

Le Pen has not entirely dismissed the protesters’ grievances, describing them on X on Saturday as “legitimate social demands”, while claiming they had been “held hostage by the far left”.

The far-right may seek to reap the rewards of public discontent, but experts say it is more likely to channel that anger towards immigration and the scapegoating of migrants, rather than blaming the structures of neoliberalism and capitalism for the protesters’ woes, as Melenchon has suggested.

With a presidential election due in April 2027, candidates face competing pressures, demonstrating that they can restore order while convincing voters they will address the conditions behind the mobilisation.

The challenge, Chabal said, is how to create change in “an environment in which no political party or movement is able to channel social discontent”.

Paris, France – France is counting the cost of a day of unrest after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets nationwide, in the largest mobilisation since protests over education reforms and the cost of living began last month.

At Place de la Republique, in the heart of the French capital, people on Sunday surveyed the previous day’s destruction in dismay: smashed windows, gutted buildings, looted shops.

“I find it unacceptable – absolutely unacceptable,” said Rabah, who has been living in Paris for more than 70 years. “Back in the day, we also demonstrated, but peacefully,” he said.

Staring at the burned skeleton of what used to be a newspaper stand, 56-year-old Claire was also shaken. “I love Paris so much, and seeing it like this makes me furious,” she said. “It’s absolutely appalling. I’m actually quite overcome with emotion.”

Nearby, the statue of Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic, was covered in graffiti. “Those who sow misery reap anger,” read one inscription.

The student-led protests began in mid-September, caused by grievances ranging from overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages to systemic inequality and a lack of opportunity.

The movement quickly spilled out of the schoolyards and into the streets, tapping into broader social and economic anxieties.

On Saturday, these complaints converged in a mobilisation that saw a nationwide turnout of 550,000 people, according to authorities; unions and organisers put the estimate at 800,000.

But while the vast majority of demonstrators rallied peacefully, the scale of the violent unrest threatened to eclipse their message. In Paris, there was also heavy use of tear gas and stun grenades by the police, including before the start of the march, which set the tone for a tense day.

“I marched from the 10th arrondissement town hall to Place de Clichy. I was there from start to finish, and it was very peaceful – just all kinds of people, all of them nonviolent,” said Stephanie, a 23-year-old Parisian student.

“But once again, the violence was so spectacular that the actual message – the reasons behind the protesters’ grievances – was never conveyed,” she said.

Macron to address nation

French President Emmanuel Macron, whose second and final term ends next year, will give a televised address to the nation at 18:00 GMT on Sunday after meeting government ministers, his office announced.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said nearly 1,800 people had been arrested – almost half of them in Paris – and more than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters had been injured in the unrest.

“Protesting is a fundamental right. Causing disorder through violence and in a concerted manner is not,” he said on Sunday.

During Saturday’s protest in Paris, Al Jazeera saw groups of black-clad, masked young men smashing shop windows with what appeared to be golf clubs before fleeing with bags of stolen goods.

In Marseille, France’s second-largest city, dozens of shops were looted and a group of people broke into the city hall before being forced out.

“Students and others have real claims they want to air which no one is listening to now because idiots are smashing everything,” said Benoit Payan, the city’s mayor.

In Limoges, footage showed flames engulfing the city hall as the fire spread through the historic building. Public buildings were also damaged in Bordeaux and other cities.

Police conduct has also come under scrutiny. France’s police inspectorate, the IGPN, had opened 36 investigations into alleged police violence since the high-school protests began, according to figures released by the Ministry of the Interior on October 13. The figure predates Saturday’s demonstrations.

Human rights lawyers have described some of their clients’ injuries as comparable to those seen in conflict zones. These include a minor who has lost his hand, another with his jaw smashed and a third pupil who lost sight in one eye.

“There is an increasingly systematic use of crowd-control measures that would normally be reserved for much more serious situations,” said Christophe Calvao, president of the Paris Young Lawyers’ Union. “This only serves to inflame tensions and make people even angrier.”

The government now faces the challenge of responding to widespread social discontent while trying to pass a budget aimed at bringing France’s public finances under control.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu wants to reduce the country’s deficit through spending restraint and tax measures – a move that will likely deepen public anger. Cuts to France’s generous welfare system have traditionally faced strong public resistance.

All of this takes place in a highly toxic political environment as parties harden their positions ahead of next year’s presidential election.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the left-wing France Unbowed party and potential presidential contender who has sought to appeal to young voters, accused the government of fuelling the unrest.

“In Paris, aberrant leadership has opened the door to chaos. Those in charge no longer know what to do; the rank and file are afraid and are running wild,” he said.

Lecornu hit back. “This is YOUR political responsibility,” said the prime minister on social media, accusing far-left groups of orchestrating the violence.

Hundreds of thousands of Europeans took to the streets for separate demonstrations putting pressure on governments across the EU.

Hundreds of thousands of Europeans have taken to the streets in separate, uncoordinated demonstrations to protest against the rising cost of living in their countries.

Saturday’s protests were in Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal in a wave of unrest that has put pressure on national governments across the European Union.

France experienced one of its most turbulent days of protests in decades, with over 550,000 people joining demonstrations and police facing off with protesters across the country – but it was not the only country to see significant demonstrations.

In Belgium’s capital Brussels – which has already seen weeks of protests by students against university registration fees – police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters, who they accused of launching missiles at them and setting fires.

In Liege, a smaller city east of Brussels, police also deployed water cannon to break up demonstrations. Police did not say how many people attended.

An estimated tens of thousands of protesters marched in Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, against the cost of living crisis, low wages and an inability to access housing in major cities. House prices in Portugal have more than doubled ⁠⁠since 2017, while rents for new leases have increased nearly as much.

Portuguese Parliamentary Affairs Minister Carlos ‌‌Abreu ‌‌Amorim said on Friday that the “government will not yield to shouts from the street”.Protesters said their leaders are “out of touch” with the problem.

In Milan and Bologna, Italian police reported that, alongside peaceful cost of living rallies, protesters threw stones and clashed with officers.

Italian media reported several injuries and arrests.

French protests spill over

None of the protests reached the same scale as the nationwide rallies in France but they may be a sign of spilling over into other European nations, according to Alberto Alemanno, Professor of EU Law & Policy at HEC Paris business school.

“France is the epicentre of this movement … and there are signs now that this is spreading beyond France,” Alemanno told Al Jazeera.

He said Saturday’s protests may not be the last in many of these countries and new hotspots could emerge.

In Greece, Germany, and Austria, the “early stages” of a movement is emerging, with mobilisation expected “in the coming week”, he said.

They are not a single movement, he explained, but several protests happening at the same time, with some “shared grievances”: underfunded education, rising costs and, for students, uncertain prospects after graduation.

The unrest comes at a crucial time for Europe, as the continent prepares for what Alemanno called an “unprecedented super-cycle of national elections” in the coming 12 months, with votes scheduled in Spain, France, Italy and Poland.

“Inevitably, all these protests, all these mobilisations, are going to be at the centre of the political conversation,” Alemanno said.

Paris, France – Saturday is a day of many unknowns. That was how the French newspaper Le Monde described it as France braced for possible nationwide demonstrations bringing together high school students, trade unions and “yellow vest” activists.

The protests began in mid-September at a high school in the Paris suburb of Creteil, where students took to the streets over dilapidated buildings, overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and what they see as a deeply unequal education system.

Since then, the mobilisation has spread to thousands of “lycees”, or upper secondary schools, across the country. It is now beginning to reflect broader anxieties in a country grappling with a combination of fiscal pressures, economic stagnation and mounting social discontent.

Teachers, trade unions and university students have joined the movement.

On Saturday, some “yellow vest” activists – remnants of the participants in the grassroots cost-of-living protests that shook President Emmanuel Macron’s first term in 2018 – have also called on supporters to join the students.

“High school students are fighting for their future. Workers are fighting to earn a living from their labour. Retirees are fighting to preserve their dignity. Our paths may differ, but our concerns can converge,” Jerome Rodrigues, a prominent “yellow vest” activist, said in a video message released last week that called on people to join Saturday’s demonstrations.

Now France is waiting to see whether those calls will translate into a large, coordinated mobilisation.

Warlike injuries

Authorities have described the unrest as among the most violent in decades, saying more than 900 police have been injured since the start of the protests. But critics argued that although some demonstrators have engaged in violence, they represent a minority and the actions of a few risk overshadowing the grievances of the wider movement.

The government has also faced criticism over its response to the protests, including the detention of thousands of minors and the use of force against young demonstrators.

More than 6,700 children had been taken into police custody since mid-September, according to reports published this week.

Human rights lawyers said several teenage students have suffered warlike injuries.

Two cases have drawn particular attention: A 15-year-old lost his hand in the explosion of a stun grenade outside a school in the northern city of Lens, and a 16-year-old in western Tours lost his sight due to an injury caused by a rubber bullet.

There are fears of further clashes on Saturday.

“This is a moment of fatigue in the country,” Prime Minister Sebastian Lecornu said on Thursday. “We are in an atmosphere of perma-crisis: wars, inflation and issues surrounding purchasing power.”

The government has accused the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party of inflaming the protests. The party has rejected the accusation.

While France suspended the use of stun grenades for the student demonstrations, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Friday that he authorised police to use them in the event of what he called “urban violence”.

Nunez also said he is expecting a “fairly significant” turnout on Saturday.

Hundreds of protest sites

Calls on social media for members of past protest movements to join the current one have been made for weeks. The website 17octobregiletjaune.net, which tracks “yellow vest” actions, listed more than 1,750 planned protest locations across the country.

The government has tried to quell student anger by scrapping plans to increase some higher education registration fees and promising to deploy 3,000 substitute teachers to high schools. This week, it set up a national online survey for pupils to hear their concerns.

But Mathieu Roger-Lacan, a French literature teacher in a disadvantaged area and author of A Language of One’s Own, a book about the growing language gap, argued that these measures fail to address the deeper problem: an education system that struggles to provide equal opportunities.

“If you have a pool that is leaking, the answer should not be to put more water into it but to work on its structure – and that costs money too,” he said.

For Roger-Lacan, the problem is not simply how much France spends on education but how it distributes those resources.

A government report published this week said that 32  percent of the French education ministry’s budget for next year will go towards funding the pensions of retired civil servants.

Students are not only complaining about deteriorating school buildings and overcrowded classrooms but also expressing a deeper anxiety about their future.

For many, a diploma no longer feels like a guarantee of stable employment or social mobility. That concern is compounded by questions about the quality of education itself amid evidence of persistent weaknesses in French students’ academic performance.

In September, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that French 15-year-olds’ results in mathematics and reading had fallen to among their lowest levels on record.

“There is a gap between the diploma we give at the end of school, which is given to a huge part of the population, and the reality around us, which is that many of these young students have great difficulties even in writing French,” Roger-Lacan said.

Competing demands

The protests come at a very difficult time for the government, which is caught between demands for better-funded public services and the need to rein in France’s debt.

The government recorded a deficit of 152.5 billion euros ($171.3bn) last year, equivalent to 5.1 percent of France’s gross domestic product (GDP). By contrast, the European Union average is 3.1 percent.

Meanwhile, public debt ballooned to 115.6 percent of GDP, the third highest in the EU after Greece and Italy.

Lecornu’s proposed 2027 budget seeks to reduce the deficit through spending restraint and tax measures, including a freeze on public sector pay and limits on pension increases.

Whether the government can make those savings without deepening public anger is another question.

The debate touches a nerve in France, where the welfare state and access to public services remain central political issues.

Macron’s decision to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 triggered months of mass demonstrations in 2023, exposing deep opposition to reforms that many saw as unfairly burdening workers.

Now as the government prepares its next budget, it faces the challenge of persuading the public that spending cuts and other savings are necessary without further eroding confidence in public institutions.

The political stakes are high. The budget bill will be debated in a deeply divided parliament as parties position themselves before the 2027 presidential election, which will mark the end of Macron’s presidency.

French Football Federation’s ethics body calls on fans to keep politics out of stadiums amid student protests.

The ethics body of the French football federation is urging fans to stay neutral amid the nationwide student protests that are drawing international attention.

The police response to the largely peaceful demonstrations has prompted widespread accusations of brutality, and football fans in stadiums have expressed their support for students.

Officers have made extensive use of tear gas and batons to disperse crowds. More than 6,600 arrests were made nationwide as of last week, an unusually high number for a French protest movement.

A police tear gas grenade shattered a 14-year-old’s jaw and many of his teeth, while a 15-year-old lost a hand in an incident involving a stun grenade. Other teenagers have also suffered life-changing injuries blamed on police weaponry during protests.

During a Ligue 1 match between Lens and Lyon last week, the home fans unfurled a banner calling for an end to the “disproportionate and systematic police violence,” according to the National Council for Football Ethics (CNE).

The CNE also noted that at the half-hour mark of the match between PSG and Le Mans, supporters displayed a banner reading: “Your militias repress; our youth resists.”

The ethics body said in a statement that it was easy to understand why young supporters, who are often students, might take advantage of matches to publicly express their support for the demonstrators.

However, it added that the principle of political neutrality is “enshrined” in the laws of sport, both internationally through the Olympic Charter and FIFA statutes, and at a national level.

The CNE recalled that any speech or display of a political, ideological, religious or trade union nature are prohibited, as is the wearing of symbols or clothing that expresses political, philosophical, religious or trade union affiliation.

“Sport should unite, not divide,” it said. “The National Council for Football Ethics therefore calls on all supporters, who are an integral part of the football family, to uphold the principle of neutrality in all circumstances.

“The aim is to ensure that the stadium does not become a political or trade union battleground, but remains a place of celebration and shared enjoyment centred on sport.”

Paris Saint-Germain score three first-half goals, but Erling Haaland brace nearly drags Manchester City back in UCL.

Paris Saint-Germain further soured the mood at the Etihad Stadium as Manchester City’s first home game since the guilty verdict on widespread flouting of Premier League financial rules ended in a 4-2 Champions League defeat on Wednesday.

The European champions turned on the style to strike three times inside the opening 35 minutes through Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha.

But City stormed back in the second half as Erling Haaland scored twice on either side of Maghnes Akliouche’s strike, which briefly restored PSG’s three-goal cushion.

The 10-time English champions face swingeing sanctions unless they can successfully appeal last month’s ruling by an independent commission, which found the club guilty on more than 100 charges of financial impropriety.

City shrugged off the uncertainty over their future to win 3-0 at Liverpool on Sunday and remain top of the Premier League, but PSG showed why they are the favourites to win this competition for a third consecutive season.

Former City manager Pep Guardiola returned to the Etihad for the first time since his departure in May, sitting behind the club’s embattled chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and CEO, Ferran Soriano, in a show of solidarity.

City made passing reference to the guilty verdict with a lengthy pre-match video detailing the club’s historic moments of celebration both before and after an Abu Dhabi-backed takeover in 2008 that transformed their fortunes.

Behind one end, supporters unfurled a giant banner reading: “I’m City till I die.”

Yet the fighting talk in the stands didn’t match the on-field action as City were blown away by a scintillating first 45 minutes from the visitors.

Luis Enrique’s decision to leave Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the bench proved inspired, as it meant Doue started wide on the left.

Gianluigi Donnarumma had a point to prove after the Italian goalkeeper was let go by the PSG coach just months after helping deliver the club’s first Champions League title in 2025.

However, it turned out to be a night to forget for the giant Italian.

Donnarumma was caught out at his near post by Doue’s outside-the-box effort after a lightning counter-attack to open the scoring.

The move for the second goal two minutes later was even more impressive, as Doue and Dembele exchanged an elaborate one-two before the latter headed in at the far post.

Achraf Hakimi hit the post before Vitinha rattled in PSG’s third from the edge of the box.

Maresca responded with a triple substitution at half-time and managed to salvage some pride, even if the deficit proved too much to overturn.

Antoine Semenyo and Enzo Fernandez missed glaring chances to pull a goal back even before Haaland glanced home a header from Iliman Ndiaye’s cross.

Yet City were hit by a sucker punch when Donnarumma got a hand to Akliouche’s effort, but the ball looped high and spun back into the net.

Nuno Mendes made a brilliant clearance off his own line, and Haaland hit the bar before the Norwegian slotted home his second of the night.

Donnarumma saved a late Ferran Torres penalty, denying the French champions a fifth goal.

But in the battle between two state-backed projects that have reshaped European football, Qatar-owned PSG are the top dogs right now as City face a scandal that puts their trophy haul over the past 15 years in question.

Men’s Lions tours, featuring players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, have taken place since 1888.

The women will travel to New Zealand for a five-match tour that features Tests in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

Yapp’s side will hope for a send-off in front of a bumper Cardiff crowd.

“It will be a tremendous rugby match and occasion,” said Carol Isherwood, chair of the Lions women’s committee.

“It’s a chance to grow the game and leave a legacy so that we are able to continue with the Lions team by setting the foundations and give everybody the chance to see the women’s game at its very best.”

A crowd of 21,186 set a record for a Wales women’s home game in any sport when watching the Six Nations defeat by England at Principality Stadium in 2025.

“I’ve been there for some England men’s games and the noise is fabulous. It’ll be great if it is a sea of red for the Lions and not just Wales,” said Isherwood, who captained Great Britain in 1986.

“We’ve got a fantastic tour in line, and we’re starting off with a brilliant occasion in Cardiff.

“We looked at some different options and going abroad, like the men have previously, but the Welsh Rugby Union said that they felt they could do a great job here.

“We have the fantastic stadium, the support for rugby, tradition of the women’s game having some important moments in Wales and the fact that we can get thousands under that roof to see the Lions women play.

“The visibility allows girls across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales to dream of pulling on that red shirt one day.”

It will be the second time that the Lions have faced France after the men won a friendly in Paris in 1989.

Hundreds of French supermarkets have suffered unprecedented cyberattacks resulting in tonnes of food perishing and raising fears about the vulnerabilities of food systems to advanced technology.

The attacks, which appeared to target internet-linked refrigeration systems manufactured by a Danish company, raised the temperature of fridges and freezers to as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122F) at more than 500 shops and supermarkets across the country. Supermarkets confirmed the attacks on Monday.

France’s cybersecurity agency has advised companies operating affected freezer models to immediately disconnect them from the internet – or restrict access to them – and to perform software updates.

It is unclear who may have been behind the attacks, but authorities say they have now launched an investigation.

Here’s what we know:

What happened?

Hackers gained internet access to the refrigeration systems and remotely cranked up temperatures in freezers and fridges to 50C during the night when shops were closed. Millions of euros worth of food was spoiled, according to retailers. In some cases, the raised temperatures sparked fires or melted equipment.

French supermarket groups E-Leclerc, Intermarche, Carrefour, Monoprix and Cooperative U were all hit.

At least 300 of Intermarche’s stores and its Netto brand were affected. Cooperative U said more than 100 of its supermarkets were targeted, while Carrefour said 80 supermarkets were affected and Monoprix reported that about 5 percent of its roughly 490 stores were hit.

Officials are still investigating who launched the attack and how it was carried out. French TV channel BFM reported that the attackers appeared to have remotely triggered a forced defrosting option in the refrigeration systems.

The systems targeted are built by Danish manufacturer Danfoss, according to France’s government cybersecurity agency. The refrigeration models attacked included the AK-SM800 and AK-SC355.

Danfoss told the AFP news agency that most of the affected control systems were “legacy” products that had “outdated firmware”. The company said it had previously advised supermarkets to update them.

AFP also reported that officials are liaising with other European countries which may have been affected.

It is unclear exactly how much food has been lost. The attacks come after President Emmanuel Macron ordered last month that the country’s critical infrastructure be protected from Russian “hybrid attacks”.

Have supermarkets been hit by cyberattacks before?

Yes. Attacks like these have been reported in other parts of Europe and in the United States.

In April 2025, British retailer and supermarket chain Marks and Spencer suffered a sophisticated ransomware attack that the company said cost it approximately 300 million pounds ($397m) after it was forced to suspend online and app orders. The attack was orchestrated by a hacker group called Scattered Spider, using ransomware from DragonForce, another criminal group. Ransomware attacks involve using malicious software to hide essential data unless a ransom is paid.

According to UK media, the same hackers also tried to attack Co-op and the iconic Knightsbridge store, Harrods.

Similar reports have also emerged from the US. In June 2025, United Natural Foods, a frozen food company which supplies big supermarket brands such as Whole Foods, said it had discovered a cyberattack that forced it to take its systems offline. The company did not reveal the nature of the attack.

In November last year, Ahold Delhaize USA said it was the victim of a cyberattack that disrupted operations at more than 2,000 stores, including Hannaford, Food Lion and Stop and Shop.

Why target supermarkets?

They are an easy target and the consequences can be widespread.

As food and agricultural systems increasingly digitise, analysts say supermarkets selling perishable foods are increasingly vulnerable to attacks due to the nature of their stocks.

The rising sophistication of cyberattacks now means that common people and local, third-party companies relying on big chains for business are also falling victim as attacks disrupt supply chains, experts say.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, tech and cybersecurity analyst Steven Lachance said smart appliances connected to the internet will always be vulnerable as hackers seize on security lapses to log in to the systems remotely and trigger malicious features.

“It’s the new reality of having these connected equipment,” Lachance said, pointing out that attacks could evolve to target medical or energy systems.

“This should come as a global wake-up call … Throughout society, we have connected infrastructure that is live on the internet, and that can be hacked. It’s a new reality, and we absolutely need national and international measures to prevent those attacks; otherwise, it’s just going to keep happening,” he warned.

Renoir art heist suspects were planning ‘imminent’ second robbery, prosecutors say.

Two paintings by the impressionist master Renoir which were stolen from a French museum last month have been found damaged behind a false wall in a private home after police made several arrests ahead of what prosecutors say was an imminent second heist.

Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said six suspects were arrested on Wednesday after authorities discovered they were planning to target the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, home to one of Europe’s largest collections of modern art.

Bessone said the arrests were prompted by the “very strong suspicion that another heist was imminent”.

“We were very clearly looking at the repetition of a criminal scheme”, said Eric Antonetti, the head of the Alpes-Maritimes judicial police.

On September 8, thieves used an electric saw to cut through a fence to enter the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera, according to investigators.

An alarm sounded and police officers arrived four minutes later, a swift response that “apparently caused the perpetrators to panic,” Bessone said.

The stolen works, “Madame Colonna Romano” and “Young Woman at the Well” by impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, were valued at about 4.2m euros ($4.7m), Bessone said.

The thieves also attempted to steal two other Renoir paintings, “Madame Pichon” and “Coco Reading”, which depicts Renoir’s young ‌son ‌Claude. They abandoned them in the museum gardens while fleeing police.

“As they fled, they were unable to take all four paintings and abandoned two of them, which were later found in a protective sleeve,” he said.

Damaged and torn

The paintings were found hidden behind a false wall in a house on Friday. Both works were damaged and will need ⁠restoration. One of the paintings, “Madame Colonna Romano”, had been torn.

“These two paintings are not simply works of art. They are part of our city’s history,” Bryan Masson, the mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice, said on Friday. “Knowing they have been recovered is an immense relief.”

The recovery came almost exactly one month ⁠after the theft, following an investigation that used ⁠DNA evidence, mobile phone geolocation data and surveillance video.

The two key suspects include a 29-year-old, who was charged after investigators recovered DNA from a bag left behind during the getaway.

They ⁠were charged with organised theft and other offences. A third man, accused of hiding the paintings, was charged with organised handling of stolen goods.

A fourth suspect, who investigators say was approached about buying the artworks, was charged ‌with handling stolen goods and taking part in a criminal conspiracy.

Bessone said the suspects had denied planning a second museum raid, but he added that he did “not believe the principal suspect visited that ‌museum simply out of a love of art”.