The Avant-Première preview of the Art Basel Paris fair attracted major collectors despite an escalation of anti-government protests, riots and looting across French cities.
The targeted restrictions are part of a state effort to reassert control after the country’s largest riots in years, as those arrested in the chaos face expedited trials.
The interior minister acknowledged that the police were underprepared for the scale of the riots. But Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu defended their efforts and pledged to restore order.
The city hall in Limoges on Saturday night. The violence in the city, better known for its porcelain than its politics, was among the most surprising episodes of France’s widespread unrest.
After anti-government protests devolved into chaos, leaders from across the political spectrum blamed one another for the unrest, even as it largely subsided on Sunday.
Bally Bagayoko, the mayor of a working-class suburb near Paris, has been a regular presence at student demonstrations, prompting both applause and condemnation.
Mass protests over decrepit schools and absent teachers are in their third week, with more planned. Officials have failed so far to quell a movement drawing many adult supporters.
Angered by poor classroom conditions, students at Paul Éluard High School in a suburb of the capital were among the first to blockade their campus during an ongoing round of unrest.
Chaos in schools, on the streets and in the markets is rooted in France’s struggles to fund its social welfare state, with a presidential election approaching.
Union members, parents, teachers and others took part in mass demonstrations around the country, backing student demands that the government invest more in schools.
The museum has been struggling to fit ticket holders into the exceptionally popular display, and it’s also up against the constraints of protecting the artwork.
Visitors to the British Museum’s Bayeux Tapestry exhibition were initially allowed to take photos, but that practice has since been banned to move people along more quickly.
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