More than 900 arrested overnight as rioters clash with police around France

A group of police officers walk during a protest in Nanterre (Lewis Joly/AP)

Rioting raged in cities around France for a fourth night despite massive police deployment – with cars and buildings set ablaze and stores looted as family and friends prepared to bury the 17-year-old whose killing by an officer sparked the unrest.

The government suggested the violence was beginning to lessen thanks to tougher security measures, but damages remained widespread, from Paris to Marseille and Lyon and French territories overseas, where a 54-year-old died after being hit by a stray bullet in French Guiana.