Five Great Reads: The fallout from French riots, supersized wealth and throwing rocks at the telly

The Guardian’s weekend wrap of essential reads from the past seven days, selected by Jacqui Housden and Miles Herbert

Get this in your inbox every weekend. Sign up for Five Great Reads here

Hello and welcome to the weekend. The last seven days have been punctuated by political unrest in Europe with groups angry over the state of schools, the cost of living, and housing. Elsewhere, otherwise peaceful residents are throwing rocks at their tellies in their own personal revolt at omnipotent technology. You might want to hold off the coffee until after reading this one.

The protests gripping a string of European countries this month have largely been told through shocking pictures of violence – particularly on the streets of Paris. The riots in France have prompted questions over police tactics, as Emmanuel Macron’s government tries to get a handle on the civil unrest. Politicians are calling for ruthless sentencing, but lawyers blame the politicians for the poverty, and anger, behind their clients’ behaviour.

Fast-tracked fallout: Of the 2,500 people arrested during last weekend’s rioting and looting across the country, more than 900 are being fast-tracked through the courts using a procedure called comparution immédiate (immediate appearance). It sends them to trial straight or shortly after being taken into custody, or within three days if they are held in pretrial detention.

As Kim Willsher uncovers, most were young and unemployed, others in work with families. A 19-year-old student with no previous criminal record who was caught on his way home with several stolen black pullovers from a looted clothing store was fined and given a 14-month suspended prison term. “It was just a question of opportunity,” he said. “I thought: everyone else is doing it, why not me? I regret it.”

How long will it take to read: Two and a half minutes.

Further reading: What’s next for France after a weekend of riots? And pro-Trump Maga media is in a froth over the protests.

The midterm elections are fast approaching, and Donald Trump is “barnstorming the country” before Americans head to the polls on 3 November. With his approval rating collapsing, and polls showing Democrats could wrest back control of the Senate and the House of Representatives, some have called Trump’s midterm push a “desperation tour”. But can he rescue the Republicans, or is the increasingly authoritarian president making life harder for his Maga mates?

Could the democrats take Kansas? Washington DC bureau chief David Smith was in Park City, Kansas for a rally in support of Senator Roger Marshall, who is facing an unexpectedly strong challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton. The state has been red since 1932, with no Democrat winning a Senate seat since “Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic and the Nazis became the biggest party in the German Reichstag”. Smith was on the ground for what was Trump’s first campaign rally in the state for eight years, but Smith writes his presence could nationalise this local election, drawing attention to the consequences the Iran war has had on the heavily agricultural state.

Testing the old playbook: With the cost of living, foreign wars and government corruption at the forefront of voters’ minds, will Trump’s old tricks – “hurling insults, stirring bigotry and telling lies” – still work among a weary electorate? Notable quote: Largely dismissive of opinion polls, Darrell Claphan, a retired sales worker, echoed the sentiments of the Maga merch-wearing Trump crowd: “He’s doing fantastic. He’ll go down in history being the number one president at what he’s done for the country in my lifetime.”

How long will it take to read: Three minutes and some change.

In the last decade, the rise of political violence has – tragically – been a worldwide phenomenon. And in Australia, federal politicians have had a growing sense that something was shifting in the country’s national life. This week’s alleged attack on MP Helen Haines, which made global headlines, saw that tide turn into reality.

From the global to the local: Those responsible for protecting politicians in Australia often take their cues from overseas, Guardian Australia’s political editor Tom McIlroy writes. When a gunman opened fire at the Canadian parliament in 2014, the government built a fence around Parliament House. Amid threats stemming from Covid-19 lockdowns, the Asio director general cautioned the warning light for political violence was “already flashing red”.

A turning point? “The alleged attack on Helen Haines shows something rapidly being lost in our politics,” Tom writes. “The shift in sentiment can no longer be dismissed as social media noise or harmless comment.”

How long will it take to read: Just over a minute.

Further reading: Politicians say more security would “let bad people win”; and Brendan Cox writes that the alleged attack on Helen Haines is a punch to the gut.

Feature writer Sam Wollaston dropped in on the world of the uber-rich in Monaco at Europe’s biggest superyacht show. After committing a few fashion faux pas, and despite the boats on offer being out of his price range, Wollaston took a tour and got a feel for a few of the aquatic behemoths up for sale. You can’t escape their sheer size, Wollaston writes, but there is also “no escaping the truth”. The recreational boating industry produces about 16m tonnes of CO2 annually, and they are a “monstrous” symbol of global inequality.

‘Turds of the sea’: Superyachts are growing more and more popular among the world’s richest, and owners include Mark Zuckerberg, Roman Abramovich, and Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi. A 2024 study looked at 23 superyachts owned by 18 billionaires, and it showed the average annual carbon footprint of each of these yachts to be 5,672 tonnes. It would take an average citizen more than 800 years to produce the same carbon footprint. The supersized boats’ anchors and chains also “act like the grim reaper’s scythe”, damaging the Posidonia seagrass which thrives throughout the Mediterranean.

Notable quote: “They just want something that’s big and flashy and comfortable, they don’t care about anything else.” – A yacht broker on what his clients are looking for

How long will it take to read: Just under six minutes.

Further reading: Can you enjoy a life on the ocean waves when it’s costing you £1,000 an hour?

It stands to reason that, as a growing number of people look for dumbphones over smartphones, in a bid to combat screen addictions and worries over privacy, their consumer habits might spill over to other tech too. The Guardian’s George Francis Lee spoke to people around the world who are fed up with their televisions.

‘The joke is on them’: We’re not talking luddites here. Among those now on the hunt for a “traditional” TV are a 71-year-old Illinois resident with a master’s degree in computer science, a Welsh woman who works in AI delivery and a public servant from Australia. Some are worried about privacy, others are frustrated at how quickly their devices slow down or need updating. “My friends all laugh at it when they come over,” Paul, who has a traditional telly admits, “but secretly I know the joke is on them. My little telly doesn’t spy on me, and has a DVD player built in.”

Notable quote: “It was enormously satisfying when I threw a rock through the screen.”

How long will it take to read: Three minutes.

Further reading: Can these dumbphone evangelists convince you to dump smartphones?

If you would like to receive these Five Great Reads to your email inbox every weekend, sign up here. And check out out the full list of our local and international newsletters.