The French Cabinet today approved a three-month extension of emergency police powers to subdue the wave of suburban unrest that has swept the country, despite a gradual fall-off in the level of violence.

Ministers agreed the move at a meeting chaired by President Chirac, who will tonight give his first televised address to the nation since the start of the disturbances. M Chirac has been widely criticised for a lack of leadership during the crisis.

Figures released by the national police showed that the rioting was continuing to subside, with 284 cars burnt overnight in the 18th straight night of unrest - down from 374 the night before and well below the 1,400 destroyed at the peak of the trouble exactly a week ago. Some 115 people were detained, bringing to more than 2,760 the number of arrests since October 27.

A state of emergency has been in place across France since last Tuesday, but it needs legislation to extend it. Ministers agreed to do so until February and a Bill to that effect will be presented tomorrow to the National Assembly and on Wednesday to the Senate. With both chambers dominated by the centre-right, its swift passage is assured.

Charles Bremner, Times Correspondent in Paris, said the move was a sign of "a realisation that the trouble could simmer away for a few more months".

In remarks quoted by the government spokesman, M Chirac told the Cabinet that the emergency powers were "strictly temporary and will only be applied where they are strictly necessary".

Technically all departmental prefects are authorised to impose curfews, although few have. Other powers apply only in parts or the whole of 25 listed departments, or counties, which have been worst hit by the rioting.

So far some 30 localities have been placed under nightly curfews for unaccompanied children under 16, and two temporary banning orders for public gatherings were imposed in Paris and Lyon over the weekend. However most prefects have not used their new powers.

M Chirac is due to speak on national television at 8pm (1900GMT) and is expected to combine a call for firmness with expressions of understanding for some of the underlying causes.

In the worst rioting to hit France since the student uprising of May 1968, more than 8,000 cars have been burnt, scores of buildings wrecked and dozens of policemen hurt in attacks carried out mainly by Arab and African youths.

In last night's most serious incident, rioters directed a burning car into the courtyard of a nursery school in the southwestern city of Toulouse, damaging a classroom.

Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, said that the EU is prepared to release €50 million (£34 million) in aid for areas damaged by the unrest.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the tough-talking Interior Minister who has become the number one hate figure among the rioters, said that the first expulsions of convicted foreigners could start from today, despite the objections of human rights groups and the left-wing opposition.

At least 120 foreign nationals have been identified among those arrested, most of them with valid residency papers. Officials said only a small percentage of these are liable for deportation.

The disturbances have been a political gift for Jean-Marie Le Pen, the veteran far-Right leader, who is to address a rally in central Paris this evening. M Le Pen said last night that the riots were the result of "a problem of massive uncontrolled immigration from the Third World". He said: "We knew that it would constitute a worldwide atomic bomb. I warned the French people."

The violence was sparked by the accidental deaths of two teenagers in an electrical sub-station in a Paris suburb. After raging in the Paris region for several days, it spread to poor high-immigration neighbourhoods across the country.

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