Marseille

French police have arrested nearly 1,000 people across the country during a fourth consecutive night of unrest, the interior ministry said. The reason for the riots was the killing of a teenager by the police during a road check in a Paris suburb.

Young rioters clashed with police late Saturday and early Sunday and targeted a mayor's home with a burning car as France faced a fifth night of unrest sparked by the police killing of a teenager, but overall violence appeared to lessen compared to previous nights.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games flame will be lit on April 16, marking the countdown to the July 26-Aug. 11 event in the French capital, organisers said on Friday, confirming an earlier Reuters story.

The flame will be lit at Greece's ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Games, and will remain in the country until its departure to France from Athens on April 27.

Thursday's resolution was passed with the support of MPs of the governing Law and Justice Party (PiS) and the far-right Confederation alliance. During the vote, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski announced that the country would hold a referendum on the issue of relocating asylum seekers, which according to local media could take place on the same day as the autumn general election.

Rescue workers on Monday recovered a fourth body from the rubble of a collapsed apartment in France's Marseille, a cabinet minister said, as firefighters raced against the clock to find four people still missing.

The mayor of the French port city of Marseille, Benoit Payan, said on Monday "there is still hope" of finding survivors after a building collapsed in a major explosion.

Two bodies have been found in the rubble of the building, which crumbled after a blast early Sunday morning, and six people are still missing.

France is bracing for a new round of nationwide protests and strikes on Thursday after a meeting between the prime minister and unions failed to break the deadlock over a deeply unpopular pension reform bill, Reuters reported.

Jose Miguel Gonzalez resigned as coach of Olympiakos on Monday following a draw in the second round of the Greek playoffs. The former Real Madrid midfielder and Spain international known as Michel ended his second spell as manager of the Piraeus club after drawing with Aris 2-2 on Sunday.

The club named French assistant Jose Anigo as interim coach.

More than 80 people have been detained in successive protests against the pension reform in France.

In Paris, there were clashes between the police and demonstrators for the third night in a row. Law enforcement used tear gas against the protesters, who erected barricades and started burning garbage containers.

French President Emmanuel Macron ordered his prime minister to wield a special constitutional power Thursday that skirts parliament to force through a highly unpopular bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a vote.