PARIS, Nov 14: The French cabinet on Monday approved a three-month extension of emergency police powers to subdue the wave of suburban unrest that has swept the country, as President Jacques Chirac prepared to give his first address to the nation since the start of the disturbances.

National police figures showed that the rioting was continuing to subside, with 284 cars burned overnight — down from 374 the night before and well below the 1,400 destroyed at the peak of the trouble exactly a week ago.

In addition some 115 people were detained, bringing to more than 2,760 the number of arrests since October 27.

In a meeting chaired by Chirac, the cabinet agreed on legislation to extend till February a state of emergency introduced last Tuesday.

The emergency, which authorizes curfews, house-to-house searches and bans on public gatherings, was activated under a rarely-used 1955 law dating from the start of the Algerian war.—AFP