Paris
Youths living in the grim housing projects on the outskirts of Paris rioted for four straight nights this week, burning cars and hurling rocks at police. The riots in Clichy-sous-Bois, which houses mostly African Muslims, began after two teenagers accidentally electrocuted themselves when scaling the wall of an electricity substation. Rumors that the boys were being chased at the time by “racist cops” sparked general protests against police. Immigrants resent the stepped-up patrols and checks that Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy recently ordered for their crime-ridden neighborhoods. But Sarkozy said the patrols would continue. “There are some gangs and traffickers who are living off the underground economy, off drug trafficking, who seem to think these neighborhoods are beyond the authorities’ reach,” he said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What to know as student loan collections resumethe explainer The restart comes as part of the Trump administration's reversal of Biden-era policies
-
'We already have the tools to do better'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Kurdish PKK militia to disband for Turkey talksspeed read The Kurdistan Workers' Party will disarm after four decades of armed conflict with Turkey, putting an end to 'one of the longest insurgencies in the Middle East'
