France reports 625 detentions amid school protests

French authorities detained 625 people during high-school blockades on Wednesday, affecting 356 schools, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said, as student protests over education conditions spread across the country. Education Minister Édouard Geffray said 119 students and school staff had been injured since the unrest began the previous week. The figures were attributed to the ministers; reports did not provide independent counts. The protests began around Paris and expanded to other cities. Students have blocked school entrances, and some demonstrations have involved fires, projectiles and clashes with police. In Lille, police used tear gas during confrontations. Nuñez said 83 police officers and gendarmes were wounded on Wednesday. That count covers law-enforcement personnel injured that day, while Geffray’s 119 figure covers students and staff over the protest period. The latest Wednesday totals should be distinguished from earlier figures. Nuñez had reported more than 440 detentions by Tuesday, and other reports gave injury counts at earlier cutoffs. Those figures cover different periods and populations, so they do not establish a single cumulative total.