Student protests turn violent in Paris

FRENCH police used tear gas when violence erupted as students turned up the heat on Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin over a jobs law yesterday.

A kiosk was set on fire and some students threw stones at police at the end of a rally in Paris by several thousand university and high school students.

Protests across France have gathered in momentum since hundreds of thousands of protesters turned out on March 7 to protest against the law, which critics say reduces job protection for young people. The protests have been largely peaceful so far.