France to impose new curfews where needed after calmer night of unrest

Summary

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said France will impose new curfews where necessary, and that partial curfews in Paris and some other cities "contributed to calm overnight", according to Channel NewsAsia. RTÉ reports that Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said France will deploy some military forces to reinforce police during protests planned for Saturday. Separately, the BBC reports, citing French media, that the spire of the clock tower at Limoges city hall collapsed as the building was engulfed in flames on Saturday, and that a suspect was arrested. The articles provided do not say whether the Limoges fire is linked to the protests.

Timeline

1. RTÉ

   20 Oct 2026, 07:30 UTCSource ↗

   RTÉ reports that Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said France will deploy some military forces to reinforce police during protests planned for this coming Saturday.

2. Channel NewsAsia

   20 Oct 2026, 07:38 UTCSource ↗

   Channel NewsAsia reports that Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said France will impose new curfews where necessary and that partial curfews in Paris and some other cities "contributed to calm overnight".

3. BBC

   20 Oct 2026, 11:47 UTCSource ↗

   BBC reports, citing French media, that the spire of the Limoges city hall clock tower collapsed as the building was engulfed in flames on Saturday and that a suspect was arrested.