French authorities move to impose order and curfews after youths riot for a 12th night. Early reports suggest today's riots were less severe than those yesterday, when protesters fired at police and torched more than 1,400 cars. That was the worst violence since the unrest began on October 27 when two teenagers were accidentally killed. They were of Mauritanian and Tunisian descent, electrocuted as they hid from police in a power substation—apparently believing that they were being chased.
The uprising began in the Parisian suburbs and has spread across the country. It forces France to confront long-suppressed anger in neglected suburbs and among the French-born children of Arab and black African immigrants.President Jacques Chirac: Recognizes the inherent racism and xenophobia in his culture, "the incapacity of French society to fully accept" those of African or North African origin. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin: Reluctant to call army, but expands powers of the local prefects. French youths: Police misconduct is routine, drugs are planted as a pretext for arrests. Riots threaten the nation's carefully cultivated tourism industry.