Bands of youths set fire to cars, buses and schools in Denmark last night, the seventh night of rioting and vandalism in the capital Copenhagen and other Danish cities.
Four youths were arrested in the capital for suspected arson and at least 24 fires were reported across the country. Several youths were detained in Denmark's second city Aarhus in Jutland, and in Odense on Funen island.
Hundreds of cars and a number of schools have been vandalised or burned in the past week. Police could give no reason, but said unusually mild weather and the closure of schools for a winter break might have contributed.
Authorities have arrested dozens of youths, predominantly with immigrant backgrounds.
Police said that last night was calmer than earlier in the week.
Social workers said an alleged plot to kill a Danish cartoonist for his drawing two years ago of the Prophet Muhammad might have fuelled the riots. Danish newspapers reprinted the cartoon on Wednesday in protest against the plot.
Ten Danish lawmakers cancelled a four-day trip to Iran today, two days before their departure, after Iranian protests about the republication of the cartoon.
The Danish Foreign Ministry said parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee dropped the trip after the Iranian parliament demanded an apology because Danish newspapers had reprinted the cartoon, one of several whose publication two years ago caused outrage in Islamic countries.