Bordeaux town hall set on fire in France pension protests

More than a million people took to the streets in France on Thursday, including 119,000 in Paris, according to the Interior Ministry.

Police used tear gas against protesters in the capital and 80 people were arrested across the country.

The protest was sparked by a law that increased the retirement age from two years to 64.

After days of protests and clashes, a fire broke out at the door of the town hall in southwest Bordeaux on Thursday night.

The cause of the fire is unknown, but firefighters quickly extinguished it.

Paris has seen occasional clashes between police and masked rioters, who have smashed shop windows, overturned street furniture and attacked McDonald’s restaurants during mostly peaceful demonstrations, according to Reuters.

Police reported that 33 people were arrested in the capital.

A police officer was brought to safety unconscious after apparently being hit in the head.

In the northern city of Rouen, a young woman was seen lying on the ground after suffering a serious hand injury. Witnesses said he missed by an inch a “flash-bang” grenade fired by police to disperse the protesters.

Fighting then broke out in the western cities of Nantes, Rennes and Lorient.

The protests, now in their ninth day, have also disrupted train services, oil refineries and left teachers and workers at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport out of work.

French unions have called for a tenth day of strikes and protests next Tuesday. It coincides with the last full day of King Charles III’s state visit. in the country.

The unrest occurred after the government decided to force legislation to raise the retirement age through the lower house of parliament without a majority vote.

French President Emmanuel Macron says reforms are needed.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the changes were necessary to prevent large deficits in the system in the future.