French President Emmanuel Macron began on Monday, October 19, a Gulf tour aimed at securing oil and diesel supplies in an effort to bring down prices, after a weekend of violent protests sparked by soaring living costs, according to Le Monde.

Macron acknowledged security and intelligence failures but refused his interior minister’s resignation, after more than 2,500 people were arrested in some of France’s worst violence in years, with town halls and shops looted and set on fire, according to RFI.