France riots: calmer night reported despite 700 arrests

Grandmother of Nahel M calls for calm as 45,000 police and gendarmes deployed in fifth night of rioting

• We are seen as less human': inside Marseille's districts abandoned by the police

The grandmother of a teenage boy, whose fatal shooting by police sparked five nights of rioting in France, has called for calm as authorities said the scale and intensity of the violence appeared to be waning, despite an arson attempt on a mayor's home.

Gerald Darmanin, the interior minister, said the police deployment would be unchanged, with 45,000 officers on duty around the country, after protesters again torched cars, looted shops, damaged infrastructure and clashed with police on Saturday night.