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France’s President Emmanuel Macron is chairing a crisis meeting of senior ministers in the wake of a second night of rioting following the police killing of a 17-year-old boy, identified as Nahel, in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. There were 150 arrests across the country into Thursday. Police and firefighters struggled to contain protesters and extinguish numerous blazes through the night that damaged schools, police stations and town halls or other public buildings, according to a spokesperson for the national police. Authorities also re fires or skirmishes in multiple cities overnight, from Toulouse in the south to Lille in the north – although the nexus remained Nanterre and the surrounding areas. What happened during the shooting? The 17-year-old, identified as Nahel, was driving a car on Tuesday morning when he was pulled over for breaking traffic rules, prosecutors said. The teenager was too young to hold a full driving license in France. Police initially reported that one officer had shot at the teenager because he was driving his car towards him. But this version of events was quickly contradicted by a video circulating on social media. On Thursday, The Nanterre prosecutor said that witness statements, CCTV video footage, amateur video footage, and statements from police offers were being used to piece together the timeline of events from Tuesday morning. Pascal Prache confirmed that two motorcycle police noticed a Mercedes, with one young driver and two passengers travelling quickly in a bus lane at 7:55am on Tuesday. Police twice attempted to indicate to the car to pull over and park, but the driver continued driving and the two police pursued the vehicle. The Mercedes had to stop at a at a traffic light, at which point the police asked the driver to turn off engine and exit the vehicle. The police officers said they drew their weapons and aimed them at the driver to stop him from taking off in the vehicle. However, the driver did pull away at which point the police decided to shoot. A bullet hit the driver through arm and chest, and the car crashed. One of the passengers fled. Firefighters were called to the scene at 8:21am. They provided first aid to the driver which was unsuccessful. The officer who fired a single shot said he wanted to prevent the car from leaving and because he feared someone may be hit by the car, including himself or his colleague, according to Mr Prache. The police officer is being investigated for voluntary homicide for shooting Nahel. Based on an initial investigation, the prosector Mr Prache said, he concluded that "the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met." How did the riots begin? Nahel was of North African descent. The incident has fed longstanding complaints of police violence and systemic racism inside law enforcement agencies from rights groups and within the ethnically diverse suburbs that ring major cities in France. Several people have died or sustained injuries at the hands of French police in recent years, prompting demands for more accountability. France also saw protests against racial profiling and other injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by police in Minnesota. Tuesday’s killing was the third fatal shooting during traffic stops in France so far in 2023. Last year there were a record 13 such shootings, a spokesperson for the national police said. There were three such killings in 2021 and two in 2020, according to a Reuters tally, which shows the majority of victims since 2017 were Black or of Arab origin. Clashes first erupted Tuesday night in and around the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where Nahel was killed. Bins were set alight and some protesters threw fireworks at police. Officers used tear gas on the crowds. The government deployed 2,000 police to maintain order Wednesday. But violence resumed after dusk. How far have the riots spread? Police and firefighters struggled to contain protesters and extinguish numerous blazes through the night that damaged schools, police stations and town halls or other public buildings, according to a spokesperson for the national police. The national police on Thursday reported fires or skirmishes in multiple cities overnight, from Toulouse in the south to Lille in the north, though the nexus of tensions was Nanterre and other Paris suburbs. Police arrested 180 people around the country on Wednesday night, more than half of them in the Paris region. The interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, said 170 officers had been injured in the unrest but none of the injuries were life-threatening. The unrest has revived memories of riots in 2005 that convulsed France for three weeks and forced then-president Jacques Chirac to declare a state of emergency. That wave of violence erupted in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois and spread across the country following the death of two young people electrocuted in a power substation as they hid from police. Two officers were acquitted in a trial ten years later. What has been the response from the government? President Emmanuel Macron held a crisis meeting with senior ministers over the shooting on Thursday morning and Mr Darmanin announced afterwards that 40,000 policemen would be deployed across the country, including 5,000 in the Paris region, on Thursday evening to put on end to the unrest. "The response of the state must be extremely firm," Mr Darmanin said. Both Darmanin and the prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, have ruled out declaring a state of emergency for now. On Wednesday, Mr Macron had said the shooting was unforgivable. As he convened his emergency meeting he also condemned the unrest. "The last few hours have been marked by scenes of violence against police stations but also schools and town halls, and thus institutions of the Republic and these scenes are wholly unjustifiable," he said. Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report Read More Who is Nahel M? The teen shot dead by police in France Fiery protests grip France for 3rd night over deadly police shooting of a teenager French suburbs are burning. How a teen's killing is focusing anger over police tactics ‘This is war’: France burns amid angry protests after teenager shot dead by police France’s highest administrative court says the soccer federation can ban headscarves in matches AP News Digest 3:15 am

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The tourist who caused outrage in Italy after carving names into a wall of the Colosseum has been identified as a British fitness trainer. The man has been identified as a fitness trainer who lives in Bristol but originally from Bulgaria, reported The Telegraph. The tourist was filmed by an onlooker etching his and his girlfriend’s name into a wall of the 2,000-year-old monument last Friday. Wearing a blue floral print shirt, he used a key to write “Ivan + Hayley 23” in full view of the public. He turned around and grinned as an angry bystander asked: “Are you serious, man?” The video titled “A*****e tourist carves name in Colosseum in Rome” was uploaded to YouTube on Friday by the man who filmed the scenes. It went viral across social media, garnering international headlines as people roundly condemned him. Police have not named the suspect but the Carabinieri – military police for the Italian armed forces – said the man has been identified and they were “a couple who are resident in England”. In an official statement, it said they identified them “through traditional investigations and photographic comparisons the person accused of etching their name and that of his girlfriend on the walls of the Colosseum”. The man could face a fine of up to €15,000 (£12,850) and a prison sentence of up to five years if convicted for defacing the historical monument under Italian laws. Rome’s Colosseum is a Unesco world heritage site where gladiators fought with one another and also battelled wild animals including lions, leopards, bulls and ostriches. Its construction began under the reign of the emperor Vespasian in the first century AD. Italian police will send a note to the suspect’s residence in England to inform him that he is under investigation, according to Il Messaggero. The woman is, however, not being investigated. The Italian culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano thanked the police for identifying the alleged suspect of the “uncivilised and absurd act committed at the Colosseum”. “It was an act that offended those around the world who appreciate the value of archaeology, monuments and history,” he said. “Now I hope justice will take its course by rigorously applying the laws.” The minister said that the government was considering a law that would impose stringent punishment on those found guilty of defacing or damaging the country’s historical and cultural heritage sites. “Those who cause damage will pay,” he said. It is not the first time tourists were investigated and punished for defacing a historical site. In 2014, a Russian tourist was fined €20,000 (£17,000) for engraving a “K” on a wall, and given a suspended four-year jail sentence. The following year, two American tourists were also cited for aggravated damage after they carved their names in the monument. Italian tourism lobby Federturismo, backed by statistics bureau ISTAT, has said 2023 is shaping up as a record for visitors to Italy, surpassing even pre-pandemic levels that hit a high in 2019. Read More Outrage in Rome after tourist filmed carving his and girlfriend’s names into Colosseum Italy looks for man seen in viral video carving names into Rome's almost 2,000-year-old Colosseum Watch: Couple carve names into Italy’s ancient Colosseum as hunt for vandals is launched Italian police say the man filmed carving his name on the Colosseum is a tourist living in Britain Tourist filmed carving his and girlfriend’s names into Colosseum in Rome Italy looks for man seen in viral video carving names into Rome's almost 2,000-year-old Colosseum

At least 667 people across France were arrested till Friday as Paris and other parts of the country burned for the third consecutive night over the killing of a 17-year-old boy. Riots broke out in and around the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where the teen of North African descent, identified as Nahel M, 17, was shot during a traffic check. Police and firefighters struggled to contain protesters and extinguish numerous blazes that damaged schools, police stations and town halls or other public buildings, the national police said. The police officer accused of shooting the teenager reportedly sought forgiveness from the boy’s family, his lawyer has said. Laurent-Franck Lienard told BFMTV: "The first words he pronounced were to say sorry and the last words he said were to say sorry to the family. "He is devastated, he doesn't get up in the morning to kill people. He didn't want to kill him." Mr Lienard said the officer had aimed down towards the driver’s leg but was bumped, which caused him to shoot towards his chest. “He had to be stopped, but obviously [the officer] didn’t want to kill the driver,” he said. The lawyer added that his client’s detention was being used to try to calm rioters. The officer was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide after prosecutor Pascal Prache said his initial investigation led him to conclude "the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met". The prosecutor said Nahel died from a single shot through his left arm and chest while driving off after being stopped by police. The officer alleged that he opened fire as he feared that he and his colleague or someone else could be hit by the car. Mr Prache confirmed that two motorcycle police noticed a Mercedes, with one young driver and two passengers travelling quickly in a bus lane at 7:55am on Tuesday. Police twice attempted to indicate to the car to pull over and park, but the driver continued driving and the two police pursued the vehicle. The Mercedes had to stop at a traffic light, at which point the police asked the driver to turn off engine and exit the vehicle. The police officers said they drew their weapons and aimed them at the driver to stop him from taking off in the vehicle. However, the driver did pull away at which point the police decided to shoot. A bullet hit the driver through arm and chest, and the car crashed. One of the passengers fled. Firefighters were called to the scene at 8:21am. They provided first aid to the driver which was unsuccessful. The shooting, which was caught on video, triggered clashes between police and young people in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The teenager’s family and their lawyers have not said the police shooting was race-related and they did not release his surname or details about him. French president Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to hold an emergency government meeting later on Friday. “These acts are totally unjustifiable,” Mr Macron said at the beginning of Thursday’s emergency security meeting, which aimed at securing hot spots and planning for the coming days “so full peace can return”. Vehicles were set on fire in Toulouse and a tramway train was torched in a suburb of Lyon, police said. Bus and tram services in the Paris area were shut down before sunset as a precaution to safeguard transportation workers and passengers. A similar curfew was announced in Neuilly-sur-Marne. The unrest reportedly extended even to Brussels, the EU administrative home and Belgian capital city, where about a dozen people were detained during scuffles. Read More ‘This is war’: France burns amid angry protests after teenager shot dead by police in Paris suburb Who is Nahel? The teen shot dead by police in France French suburbs are burning. How a teen's killing is focusing anger over police tactics Where are the French riots and why are they happening? Who is Nahel M? The teen shot dead by police in France France burns for third night as cars torched over police shooting - live

More than 600 people were arrested overnight across France during a third night of violent protests over the police killing of a teenager earlier this week. The boy, identified as Nahel M, of North African descent, was shot dead by an officer following a traffic stop in Nanterre, about 11km northwest of Paris city centre, on Tuesday. The officer has been charged with voluntary homocide and apologised to the boy’s family. Some 40,000 officers were deployed across the country on Thursday in a bid to attempt to quell further clashes but a total of 667 were detained by police. French president Emmanuel Macron will hold a new government emergency meeting later on Friday to discuss the crisis with ministers and officials. In Nanterre, protesters torched cars, barricaded streets and hurled projectiles at police following an earlier peaceful vigil held to pay tribute to the youth. In central Paris, a Nike shoe store was broken into, and several people were arrested after store windows were smashed along the Rue de Rivoli shopping street, Paris police said. Read More Who is Nahel? The teen shot dead by police in France Is it safe to travel to Paris right now? ‘This is war’: France burns amid angry protests after teenager shot dead by police in Paris suburb

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The Pentagon has said Russian mercenary Wagner Group is still in Ukraine despite pulling out of the war-hit nation and claiming to hand over control to Russian defence ministry fighters last month. “...on Wagner Group and its disposition, what I would tell you is, right now, we continue to see some elements of the Wagner Group in Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine,” Pentagon press secretary brigadier general Pat Ryder said. He added: “...they have been conducting operations in Ukraine for a while now. And so you know, most recently near Bakhmut, and so elements of those units are still in Ukraine.” He was answering a question in press briefing on a new home for Wagner Group in southern Belarus as per the satellite image from a former military base. Mutinous Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was told his mercenaries would no longer be fighting in Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine after he snubbed Russian defence ministry contracts for his fighters, a senior Moscow politician has said. Read More Ukraine holds drills in Zaporizhzhia to prepare for radiation leaks from Russian-held nuclear plant Ukraine’s push to smash Russian defences on the battlefield: ‘Small advances have colossal meaning’ Pence makes a surprise trip to Ukraine and meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Mystery surrounds fate of Russia’s ‘General Armageddon’ in wake of Wagner mutiny

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