France holds a calm night under curfew, jails 149 people, and opens a parliamentary inquiry into the riots

The night the government needed was quiet.

Police reported no major incidents across France on Monday night, the first night under the targeted curfews Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu ordered after the weekend riots. “Targeted curfews have contributed to calm overnight,” Lecornu wrote on X. “Tonight new curfews will be decided where the situation requires it. These decisions will be made on the ground, by the prefects, in coordination with the mayors.” In Paris, a helicopter swept a searchlight over Place de la Republique, one of the centres of the unrest, through the curfew hours. Marseille imposed a curfew for minors on Tuesday night, from 10 in the evening to 5 in the morning until Friday, covering certain districts including shopping centres. A state of emergency remains available and undeclared; Lecornu has said he is ready to use it if it becomes necessary.

The judicial machine is now the story. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, speaking at the Lille court on Tuesday, put the number of people jailed over the unrest at 149, up from 123 on Tuesday morning and 67 on Monday, with about 50 judicial investigations opened. Earlier counts put 2,513 people taken into custody over the weekend. In Limoges, the principal suspect in the fire that destroyed part of the city hall was arrested at dawn on Tuesday at Val d'Issoire by the Bordeaux RAID unit. He is 40, from the Creuse, and was described by a police source as an ultra left activist already on an intelligence file. The anti terrorist sub directorate has been seized of the case alongside the Limoges investigators; the national anti terrorist prosecutor's office has not taken the case but is following it while it decides.

Parliament moved on Tuesday as well. The National Assembly's conference of presidents formally acted to create an inquiry commission, inside the law commission, into the handling and causes of the unrest. The political argument is already running ahead of it: the government has been accused of failing to anticipate street violence that grew out of school protests and a cost of living revolt, and Macron rejected Interior Minister Laurent Nunez's resignation on Monday while demanding transparency about the planning and intelligence failures.

Macron himself spent the day on a Gulf tour aimed at the fuel prices underneath the anger. France announced on Tuesday that he had secured 200,000 tonnes a month of extra diesel from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, plus 95,000 tonnes from Saudi Arabia for October and November, delivered through TotalEnergies, about a tenth of French diesel consumption. Whether cheaper diesel answers a revolt that began in school corridors is the question hanging over the rest of the week. The next protest dates on the calendar are Saturday, October 24, when the Yellow Vests have announced a second act, and November 5, when the unions have called a national mobilisation.