Riot police clash with students as education protests spread across France

Clashes broke out between riot police and demonstrators as student protests over education conditions disrupted more than 700 schools across France. High school pupils and others took to the streets to object to teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms and poor school facilities, with fires reported burning in several locations, including during a blockade in Brest.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said that 1,747 people had been arrested on Friday as the unrest continued.

The demonstrations began last week in Paris and have since spread to other cities, including Montpellier, Nantes and Marseille.

French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said the situation had escalated from student demonstrations into a broader disturbance of public order. He said that 735 of the country's 3,700 schools had been affected in some way by the unrest.

Nuñez, speaking to French broadcaster TF1 after announcing the arrests, said authorities were facing a slide into riot conditions and urban violence, and that all available measures were being used to bring the situation under control.