French protests draw hundreds of thousands over schools and policing

Hundreds of thousands marched across France on Saturday in largely peaceful protests supporting schoolchildren's demands for more teachers and building repairs, with the government estimating at least 400,000 participants and unions claiming double that, as President Emmanuel Macron faces a social and political crisis. In Paris, at least 110,000 people marched peacefully, but masked groups later threw bottles and stones at police, who responded with teargas, water cannon and stun grenades. Clashes also occurred in Lyon, Lille, Montpellier, Nantes and Toulouse, with nearly 1,000 arrests and over 70,000 police deployed nationwide. The protests grew from high school demonstrations in mid-September over staff shortages and crumbling buildings, expanding into a major youth movement joined by unions and parents. Demonstrators also criticized heavy policing and Macron's ban on non-union protests, with some expressing fear of an increasingly authoritarian regime.