France braces for national day of school protests as boy loses hand

Thousands expected to join marches of support on Tuesday across the country amid growing concerns over police response

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France is bracing itself for a national day of protests and high-school blockades as a youth protest movement gathers pace amid a growing debate over the scale of the police response.

In one incident, a 15-year-old protesting against what demonstrators said were France’s dilapidated ⁠and understaffed ​schools ‌had his hand ‌blown off outside a high school in the northern town of Lens, the local prefect François-Xavier Lauch ‌said.