France burns in overnight protests

Tense protests against a hot-button reform of the French pension system escalated overnight as demonstrators threw objects at public buildings and set fires in the streets.

“There were many protests, which sometimes lasted until very late last night, turning violent notably in Paris,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Friday on TV channel CNews.

According to the minister, 903 fires of “street furniture or garbage” were identified in Paris — where close to 9,600 tons of trash lie on the street because garbage workers are on strike — and 457 individuals were arrested overnight across France. Some 441 policemen were injured in the protests.

An estimate on how many demonstrators were injured is difficult to obtain. One woman suffered from a “serious thumb injury” in Rouen, local daily La Voix du Nord reported.

The protestors targeted public buildings in several cities across the country, notably Nantes, Rennes and Bordeaux — where the city hall’s door was set on fire in a giant blaze, according to French newswire AFP.

Thursday’s demonstrations across the country drew just over 1 million people, according to the Interior Ministry — or 3.5 million, according to trade unions — in a resurgence of social unrest on the ninth day of protests against controversial pensions reform, AFP reported.

The unpopular reform, which aims to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, was among French President Emmanuel Macron’s electoral promises.

Macron has continued to stand by the measure, which he deemed “a necessity,” narrowly surviving a vote of no confidence earlier this week after making the contentious choice last week to bypass parliament and force through the legislation.

But his decision to adopt the law without a vote in parliament leaves the president considerably weakened politically, and seems to have contributed to motivating many protesters to take to the streets.