France in Turmoil: Protests and Strikes Over Pension Reforms Continue to Escalate

Protests in France against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms have escalated, with police using over 4,000 nonlethal dispersion grenades. More than a million people have taken to the streets in recent weeks, resulting in hundreds of arrests and dozens of injuries. The protests have been reinvigorated after they successfully derailed a planned state visit by King Charles III. Macron's critics are not just furious with the proposed retirement age changes, but also with the way Macron imposed it. The involvement of teenagers in the protests suggests that the frustration with the president and his governance is broadening.