What's happening?

Nahel M was a 17-year-old who lived near ParisThe capital of France. In mythology, Paris was a Trojan prince who caused the war with the Greeks by stealing Helen, the beautiful wife of King Menelaus of Sparta.. On Tuesday 27 June he was shot dead by a police officer who stopped a car he was driving.

After his death, there were protestsWhen people show they are unhappy about something. Some people protest by bringing a big group of people together and marching or chanting..

The protests lead to riotsWhen a large number of people behave in a violent and loud way in public and cause disruption. . For several nights in a row, people in cities across France came out into the streets and set cars on fire and destroyed buildings.

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Nahel's family have asked for the riots to stop.

But others say the riots should not come as a surprise in France. Nahel was from an area known as a "banlieue". Many of the people who live in banlieues live in povertyThe state of being very poor. .

Some think this is due to discriminationWhen people are treated unfairly due to characteristics such as gender, race and age. , as many of the people who live there are from ethnic minoritiesGroups within a community with different cultural or national traditions to the majority of the population. . They also think that politicians are not doing enough to help people who live in poverty.

Yes! The people of the banlieues have been treated unfairly for far too long. It is not surprising that Nahel's death caused riots.

No! Politicians are doing the best they can to make life better in the banlieues. The riots were caused by people who wanted to make trouble.