Macron told Nuñez he should stay to ensure a chain of command is retained within the police and security forces, the Élysée Palace said, quoted by Reuters. The president asked the minister to put in place new operational methods to deal with looters, after reported "failures in anticipation and intelligence" were deemed to have worsened the crisis.
In a TV interview on Monday, Nuñez admitted that the police "lost control" in some cities during the protests. Saturday was described as one of the most violent days of unrest in years.
The unrest continued into Monday. Protesters blocked entrances to the Louvre museum in Paris, backing a nationwide high school student protest movement and denouncing "police repression." The museum could not open as scheduled, its management said, with students from the Ecole du Louvre leading the action. In Marseille, authorities banned public gatherings and demonstrations across the entire commune from midday to 8pm.
Beyond France, Italian police clashed with protesters in Milan, where several hundred hooded demonstrators smashed shop windows and set bins alight during demonstrations over the rising cost of living. Lorry drivers blocked roads across southern Italy in protest at soaring fuel prices that the reports link to the war in Iran.
Separately, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to a fresh wave of Russian missile attacks, saying Ukraine had received no early warning. "Another Russian ballistic missile attack came in several waves overnight, and once again, there was no early warning," he said. He accused partners of blocking deliveries of missiles for Ukraine's air defence while granting Russia relief on sanctions, calling it a "denial of reality." He added: "The reality is that the war continues, and it continues solely because of Russian strikes and Russia's desire to drag this war out."