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The curfew is set to start at 2300 GMT:
"The Republic faces a moment of truth ... France is wounded. It cannot recognize itself in its streets and devastated areas, in these outbursts of hatred and violence which destroy and kill," Villepin told the lower house of parliament.
"A return to order is the absolute priority. The government has shown this. It will take all the steps necessary to ensure the protection of our citizens and to restore calm ... We see these events as a warning and as an appeal."
Five cars were torched in Brussels in what officials say could have been copycat attacks, but the rioting did not spread across the border. Even so, fears of riots erupting in other countries helped push down the value of the euro.
Villepin's conservative government adopted a decree at an emergency session under a 1955 law that allows regional government officials known as prefects to impose curfews if they consider it necessary.
The decree was due to take effect at 2300 GMT, after the Interior Ministry decides where prefects can impose curfews not widely seen here since the Algerian war of 1954-1962.
I think 2300 GMT is 2pm Pacific Time. Let's see if the curfew holds later today.
Presumably it will. One of the next developments to watch would be, how successful will the rioters be in excluding the French government from controlling the areas of France in which they live.
