Protests continue in France against raising the retirement age
People in France continue to protest, demonstrating their dissatisfaction with the authorities' decision to raise the retirement age. Protests have disrupted electricity production and public transport movements. Only a third of high-speed trains are running and the rest have stopped running.
Almost half of primary school teachers have stopped going to work, as have journalists, who broadcast music instead of news programmes. Students also came out in support of the strikers with placards and messages of support, blocking a high school in Paris. Police clashed at another school in the French capital.
Authorities have deployed more than 11,000 police and gendarmes to prevent any incidents.
The French government intends to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 and postpone the age of eligibility for a full pension. These measures would add €17.7bn to annual pension contributions, Labour Ministry estimates.
