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Between 300 and 400 youths protesting against French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy smashed shop windows, burnt scooters and clashed with police in central Paris on Monday evening, Reuters witnesses said. Several hundred riot police tried to chase the youths, who gathered in the Place de la Bastille chanting anti-Sarkozy slogans on two separate occasions during the evening. At least two scooters were burnt, telephone cabins were smashed and several cars were damaged. Around 35 people were arrested and there were several clashes between the youths and police. In Nantes, in western France, around 400 protesters gathered in the centre of the...

French police have arrested a total of 592 people across the country as bands of rioters protested conservative Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential election victory Sunday, French media reported. The police said a total of 730 vehicles were torched and 28 police officers were injured in violent incidents from Sunday night to Monday morning. Police fought stone-throwing rioters with tear gas, but it was not clear how many rioters were injured, according to Radio France. On Sunday night, about 5,000 people gathered at the Place de la Bastille, a favored gathering spot for right-wing supporters during the election. Other fights with the...

Let the finger-pointing begin. Ségolène Royal’s defeat on Sunday night left the French Socialist party in disarray and searching for someone to blame. There is hardly a shortage of scapegoats. It is the party’s third consecutive presidential defeat. The Socialists now face the question of whether they can ever regain power without ditching their anti-capitalist rhetoric, as the mainstream left has done across almost all of Europe. Ms Royal can argue that she did better than Lionel Jospin, who in 2002 led the Socialists to a humiliating third place behind Jacques Chirac and far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. But France’s...

LA COURNEUEVE, France, May 6, 2007 (AFP) - As news of rightwinger Nocolas Sarkozy's presidential victory flashed up on the television in the cafe, Gnyma Cisse buried her head in her hands in a mixture of frustration and fury. "I'm disgusted," said Cisse, 23, who had gathered to watch the election coverage in Le Metro cafe which caters to a largely immigrant and first generation French-born clientelle in the La Courneuve suburb of Paris. Cisse, of Sengalese origin, called her sister-in-law who lives here without French nationality. "Pack your bags. The planes are already on standby," she said, alluding to...

Thousands of riot police will be deployed in Paris tonight after warnings that victory for Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative candidate in today’s presidential election, could spark violent protests. Fears of a repeat of the rioting that swept France two years ago intensified as the final opinion polls pointed to an overwhelming victory for Sarkozy. A crowd of up to 40,000 Sarkozy supporters was expected on the Champs Elysées in central Paris to celebrate the result. Police believe that gangs of youths from the suburbs might confront them. Sarkozy has promised a “fraternal” republic but said last week that he did...

RIOT police fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters gathered in central Paris today to demonstrate against the presidential election victory of right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy. The clashes took place on the Place de la Bastille where about 5000 supporters of the defeated Socialist candidate Segolene Royal had gone to await the election results, an AFP journalist said. Up to 300 rioters, some of whom were masked, made running attacks on riot police who took up positions at the entrance to boulevards leading onto the square. Earlier a small crowd of protesters, brandishing black and red anarchist flags, set fire to an...

Riot police fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters gathered in central Paris today to demonstrate against the presidential election victory of right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy, an AFP journalist said. The clashes took place on the Place de la Bastille where about 5,000 supporters of the defeated Socialist candidate Segolene Royal had gone to await the election results. Up to 300 rioters, some of whom were masked, made running attacks on riot police who took up positions at the entrance to boulevards leading onto the square. Earlier a small crowd of protesters, brandishing black and red anarchist flags, set fire to an...