NNA – Riots continued to rage in France overnight, as over 700 people have been arrested across the country in the fifth night of unrest since a teenager was shot dead by a police officer.
Nationwide arrests were somewhat lower than the night before, which Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin attributed to ldquo;the resolute action of security forcesrdquo;, as 45,000nbsp;policenbsp;were deployed overnight – although arrests still numbered 719 by early Sunday.
A burning car hit the home of the mayor of the Paris suburb of lrsquo;Hay-les-Roses overnight, while Marseille appeared to be a flashpoint, with police firing tear gas and fighting street battles with protestors late into the night in the city centre.
Earlier on Saturday, emotional mourners paid tribute at the funeral of 17-year-oldnbsp;Nahelnbsp;Merzouk in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre, where the teenager was fatally shot in the chest during a police traffic stop.
Therese, 60, a friend of the family who lives next door to Nahelrsquo;s grandmother, described Nahel as ldquo;kind and smileyrdquo; and toldnbsp;The Independentnbsp;the community is in complete shock.
Frenchnbsp;Presidentnbsp;Emmanuel Macron has postponed a state visit to Germany, which was due to begin on Sunday, because of the ongoing violence. — Independentnbsp;
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