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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:23 pm Post subject: NYE in romantic France. |
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Hundreds of cars torched overnight
VANDALS set fire to about 400 cars overnight and police said they arrested more than 250 people, as violence marred France's New Year celebrations.
However, a police spokesman said there were fewer problems than in 2005, when youths attacked trains in the Paris region and southeast of the country.
25,000 police were on duty throughout the country during the night, including 4500 in Paris, where the authorities banned fireworks and firecrackers.
Police said that they had arrested 258 people nationwide by early morning, including two children aged eight and 10 who set fire to dustbins in the eastern city of Strasbourg.
Three children aged between 10 and 12 were arrested in a Paris suburb after they were caught carrying cans of petrol.
In the capital itself, almost 400,000 people welcomed in the New Year on the Champs Elysees and at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, where no serious incidents were reported.
Setting cars on fire has become a regular event in France during New Year's Eve celebrations, especially in the deprived suburbs that ring many cities. |
http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,21000221-5005940,00.html
Thems some mighty fire happy "youths". |
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Wangja

Joined: 17 May 2004 Location: Seoul, Yongsan
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Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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It is a long-standing tradition in France to torch cars not fireworks on New Year's Eve.
This is not restricted to les banlieus. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:37 pm Post subject: |
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This is not restricted to les banlieus. |
I didn't say it was. But this article suggests that "most" burnt cars were.
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The Times Online (UK)
January 02, 2007
Adam Sage
The attacks are seen as a product of tension on the suburban estates that are home to the bulk of France�s five-million-strong immigrant community. Most of the cars were burnt in areas with unemployment rates of up to 40 per cent. The national average is 8.7 per cent. |
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