Image source, Getty Images

Lyon was one of the worst-affected areas in last night's riots.

French media reports that 35 officers were injured in and around the city, with two having to be hospitalised.

Eight public buildings - including a police station - were attacked and suffered severe damage.

More than 70 people were arrested. Police reportedly employed a helicopter, a drone and an armoured vehicle – and a city official told French broadcaster BFMTV that he fears Saturday will be another "extremely difficult night" unless the state sends in more police.

Katya Adler
Europe editor, reporting from Nanterre

There’s been a massive clean-up operation in Nanterre this morning – the suburb outside Paris where Nahel, the 17 year shot and killed by police this week – lived and died.

Preparations are already under way for Nahel’s funeral in a few hours’ time. Residents, carrying breakfast baguettes on their way back from the local bakery, stop and stare at the burned out vehicles, lining the streets, some still smouldering despite the persistent drizzle.

Most people we talk to sympathise with the rioting youngsters. They tell us police discrimination is rife in working class neighbourhoods like this, where many have north African backgrounds.

The sense here is that in France, all citizens are considered equal. But some more equal than others.

Yet the majority of those we chat to here, also say they don’t believe violence is the answer.

Abdul, a teacher, told me he thinks the rioting youngsters are often manipulated by older youths, encouraging them on to the streets.

Image source, Reuters

A reminder that you can read more here about Nahel M, the 17-year-old shot dead by French police on Tuesday.

An only child brought up by his mother, Nahel had been working as a takeaway delivery driver and played rugby league, our Europe digital editor Paul Kirby writes.

His education was described as chaotic. He was enrolled at a college in Suresnes not far from where he lived, to train to be an electrician.

Those who knew Nahel, who was of Algerian descent, said he was well-loved in Nanterre where he lived with his mother Mounia and had apparently never known his father.

When he was stopped by police, he was in a car with Polish number plates and two passengers.

At 17, he was too young to have a driving licence.

Image source, Reuters

France's national football team has joined calls for an end to the violence with a statement posted on social media by captain Kylian Mbappe.

It says: "Many of us are from working class neighbourhoods and we share the feelings of pain and sadness. But the sadness is compounded by having to helplessly witness this process of self-destruction".

Les Bleus say they "understand what's at the core of the anger" but add: "Violence does not solve anything, even less so when it inevitably turns against those who express it... You are destroying your own properties, your neighbourhoods, your cities.

"The time of violence must give way to that of mourning, dialogue and reconstruction," the statement reads.

Image source, Getty Images

When the unrest started earlier this week, rioters mostly attacked public buildings like city halls, libraries and community centres.

But as the week went on, their focus moved onto looting and pillaging shops.

Thursday night saw Zara and Nike shops in Paris ransacked, but supermarkets and smaller businesses across the country were also targeted - corner shops and tobacconists also reported being broken into and looted.

Similar incidents happened on Friday, with some occurring before nightfall. Several shops such as the Apple store in Strasbourg had to close in the afternoon after being reportedly attacked by groups of people

There was more looting overnight on Friday and many shops will likely choose to stay closed this weekend.

Small business owners have told French media that the losses caused by having to stay closed on what should have been the first weekend of summer sales will be significant.

French media is reporting that a 19-year-old male fell from the roof of a supermarket in Rouen in the early hours of Friday and died later in hospital.

It is not yet confirmed if he was part of the protests.

Police told the Reuters news agency that it happened in the suburb of Petit-Quevilly in a shopping centre which was being looted by rioters.

A public prosecution office source earlier told BFM TV that the supermarket had not been subject to a looting attempt. Reuters reported that it couldn't verify the two accounts.

Hugh Schofield
Paris correspondent

Image source, EPA

Come to Nanterre to get an all-round view of the crisis boiling over in France. But if you are a journalist, be advised to keep your head down.

An approach to a group of young men - some bearded, one built like a bodybuilder - outside theLe 35café prompts an aggressive outburst of swearing and a pointed finger directing me to keep out.

At the scene where police shot dead a 17-year-old boy of Algerian descent last Tuesday, women in Islamic headscarves shout abuse at police and the media from passing cars.

Wandering through the streets incognito - without a camera or notebook - past burned-out cars and smashed premises it is possible to pick up glimpses of the last catastrophic few days.

Read more from Hugh here.

If you’re just joining us, here is a recap of what’s been happening after a fourth night of demonstrations across France.

• The interior ministry says that French police have arrested 994 people on Friday night

• In Marseille, 88 people were arrested and a gun store was looted, the city’s mayor called on the national government to immediately send additional troops
• The government earlier deployed 45,000 police officers overnight backed by light armoured vehicles and crack police units
• Tour de France starts today in Spain and is expected to arrive in France on Monday

Image source, Getty Images

The widespread unrest gripping France comes as its most famous sporting event, the Tour de France, gets under way later on Saturday in northern Spain.

Organisers say they are ready to adapt to any situation when the three-week cycling race enters France on Monday after several nights of violent protests against the police.

The riders will tackle eight mountain stages and an individual time trial on trips to the Pyrenees and Alps during the 3,404km (2,115-mile) race.

The race finishes in Paris on Sunday, 23 July.

Several vehicles have been set on fire in the Paris suburb of Nanterre overnight.

Footage shows a bus and cars ablaze as firefighters battle the flames.

It was in Nanterre on Tuesday that 17-year-old Nahel M was shot dead by police, triggering the riots.

In the UK, the Foreign Office has warned would-be visitors to France to watch out for travel disruptions amid rioting in the country.

In new travel advice on Friday, the government urged Britons to avoid the riots, saying their locations and timings were "unpredictable".

It's warned that there could be disruption to road travel and local transport, and that further curfews may be imposed by some local authorities.

Britons should also check the latest travel information from operators and follow the advice of local authorities, it said.

The government added that it was "more important than ever to get travel insurance and check it provides sufficient cover".

So far, the Foreign Office has not changed its advice to warn against all but essential travel - a move which would invalidate many travel insurance policies.

Image source, EPA

The mayor of Nanterre, the town to the west of Paris where 17-year-old Nahel M was killed, said there was "great sadness and indignation" at his death.

"Today, the demand for justice dominates. The thousands of people who have expressed their anger want to be sure that justice will be done fairly," Patrick Jarry told Le Monde.

The left-winger and former French Communist Party member said "we must continue to surround" Nahel's mother.

"Today we are faced with a particularly dramatic episode, a very difficult moment, which will force us to reflect on the conditions of intervention by the police... such as those which intervened on Tuesday morning by making use of their weapons against a teenager, in total violation of all legal provisions," he added.

Video footage has emerged from Marseille, where some of the worst of Friday night's rioting took place.

It shows protesters throwing fireworks at police, and pushing a rubbish skip out onto the street and setting fire to it.

Police reinforcements were sent to the city to help deal with the violence, after a request from city Mayor Benoit Payan.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, EPA

These riots were sparked by the killing of Nahel M, a 17-year-old boy from Nanterre, a town to the west of Paris.

An only child brought up by his mother, he had been working as a takeaway delivery driver and played rugby league.

His education was described as chaotic. He was enrolled at a college in Suresnes not far from where he lived, to train to be an electrician.

Those who knew Nahel, who was of Algerian descent, said he was well-loved in Nanterre where he lived with his mother Mounia and had apparently never known his father.

His record of attendance of college was poor. He did not have a criminal record but he was known to police.

He had given his mother a big kiss before she went to work, with the words "I love you, Mum".

Let's take a look at the photos we've been getting from suburbs of the French capital Paris overnight:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

A fourth night of riots is, as feared, taking place in France. Here’s the latest:

• Gérald Darmanin, the interior minister, says tonight has been far calmer than Thursday despite there being at least 471 arrests so far
• He earlier said the government had deployed 45,000 police officers overnight to quell any further unrest
• Despite this, there are reports of widespread chaos in cities across France, with buildings and vehicles torched and stores looted
• The government also called on regional authorities to shut down overnight bus and tram services nationwide
• French football star Kylian Mbappe said "violence solves nothing", and called for it to be replaced by "mourning, dialogue and reconstruction”
• Rioting in France has spilled over into Belgium, with dozens of arrests being reported, with French media reporting that 100 people were arrested in Brussels

Hello and welcome to our continued live coverage of the riots in France.

Widespread chaos has been reported in cities across France overnight, with some 471 arrests this evening, according to the interior minister.

However, Gérald Darmanin insists there has been a “downturn” in violence tonight, after some 45,000 police officers were deployed across the country earlier.

As a recap, the riots began on Tuesday after police shot dead a 17-year-old boy of Algerian descent, named as Nahel M.

The officer who shot Nahel has apologised to the family, but the teenager's death has revived grievances about policing and racial profiling in France's suburbs.