Riots have erupted in cities across France after president Emmanuel Macron forced through a law putting the retirement age up to 64
Thousands gathered in protest on Thursday at the Place de la Concorde, which faces the National Assembly building.
Overnight police officers charged the demonstrators in waves to clear the area. Small groups then moved through nearby streets in the chic Champs-Elysees neighbourhood, setting fires.There were similar protests in Rennes and Nantes in eastern France to Lyon and the southern port city of Marseille, where shop windows and bank fronts were smashed, according to French media.
French interior minister Gerald Darmanin told the radio station RTL on Friday that 310 people were arrested overnight.Most of the arrests, 258, were made in Paris, Mr Darmanin said. The trade unions that had organised strikes and marches against a higher retirement age said more rallies and protest marches will take place in the days ahead.Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris and other cities in France.Mr Macron has made the proposed pension changes the key priority of his second term, saying reform is needed to keep the pension system from diving into deficit as France, like many richer nations, faces lower birth rates and longer life expectancy.
Mr Macron decided to invoke the special power during a Cabinet meeting a few minutes before a scheduled vote in the National Assembly, where the legislation had no guarantee of securing majority support.Rioters smashed shop windows in cities across France.If the expected confidence motion ends in a no-confidence vote, which requires approval from more than half of the Assembly, it will be a first since 1962 and force the government to resign.
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