"Pension Protests in France Turn Violent: Finance Firm Occupied, Macron's Favorite Restaurant Torched"

French protesters occupied the Paris offices of US-based investment firm BlackRock and set fire to a popular restaurant favored by President Emmanuel Macron, as part of ongoing demonstrations against the government's proposed pension reform. Riot police used tear gas to disperse protesters in several cities, and at least 20 demonstrators were arrested in Paris. The government has refused to scrap the deeply unpopular pension reform, which has been met with widespread resistance and has become the centerpiece of Macron's second term. The Constitutional Council is set to deliver its ruling on the pension bill on April 14.