The French government said today that vandals have torched 30 percent more cars on New Year's Eve this year than during the holiday last year, The Associated Press reported. Burning cars on the last day of the year has become a tradition in underprivileged French suburbs. The Interior Ministry said 1,147 cars were burnt overnight, compared with 878 last year. It said police arrested 288 people during the night, up from 259 last year. An angry President Nicolas Sarkozy said today that minors caught setting vehicles ablaze should be banned from holding a driver's license until they have paid back victims for the damage done to their cars.
