No let-up in French protests

PARIS A teenager's hand was blown off as high-school protesters clashed with riot police in northern France on Monday, a local official said, on the eve of a national demonstration by the pupils' union against underfunding, overcrowding and dilapidation. The regional newspaper La Voix du Nord said the 15-year-old lost his hand and part of his lower arm after picking up a police dispersal grenade that detonated in the town of Lens as the wave of school protests entered its third week. François-Xavier Lauch, prefect of Pas-de-Calais, declined to comment on the exact circumstances, saying some 200 to 250 protesters had been hurling objects at police. Six months before an election to replace President Emmanuel Macron, his government and the far-right National Rally, led by presidential frontrunner Marine Le Pen, have accused hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) lawmakers and mayors of stoking the protests. The LFI denies the accusation. Speaking after meeting with students in the northern Paris suburbs, Education Minister Edouard Geffray said participation in the protests had been declining in recent days. The government would launch a platform for students to express their dissatisfaction and kick off an action plan for particular schools, he said. Rights groups accuse police of using heavy-handed tactics against minors, including batons, tear gas and flash-ball guns.