France riots: mayors hold defiant rallies amid uneasy calm

FILE PHOTO: Residents walk past phrases written on walls of buildings at a neighbourhood where Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager, was killed by a French police officer during a traffic stop, in Nanterre, France, July 2, 2023. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) -Defiant gatherings were held outside town halls across France on Monday following a wave of rioting triggered by the fatal police shooting of a teenager of north African descent.

Police made fewer than 160 arrests overnight, offering some relief for President Emmanuel Macron in his fight to reimpose order, just months after rolling protests over an unpopular pension reform and a year out from hosting the Olympics.