French student protests swell to 71,500 as Mélenchon calls for a new mobilisation

The Interior Ministry counted 71,500 protesters nationwide on Thursday, 24,500 of them in Paris, as a three-week-old student movement over overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages reached Place de la Bastille; clashes later broke out and police used tear gas and a water cannon. Jean-Luc Mélenchon declared the square "retaken" and called for another mobilisation on 13 October, while Education Minister Édouard Geffray said 3,000 substitute teachers would be sent to schools facing critical shortages; police have made more than 6,600 arrests since the movement began in mid-September.

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