France in Turmoil as Protests Continue Over Pension Reforms

French President Emmanuel Macron defended his move to raise the retirement age, which has sparked protests and strikes across the country. The plan to raise the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 has drawn such ire across France that protests have turned to clashes amid a heavy police presence, strikes have paralyzed trains and shut down schools, and walkouts by trash collectors left piles of garbage bags rotting in the streets of Paris. Macron described the plan as a necessity the people must bear together and said the pension reform plan should be in effect by the end of the year, pending a decision from the Constitutional Council.