Reuters. Protesters set piles of rubbish on fire in central Paris on Monday (March 20) after President Emmanuel Macron's government narrowly survived a no-confidence motion in parliament over a deeply unpopular pension reform.
In some of Paris' most prestigious avenues, firefighters scrambled to put out burning rubbish piles left uncollected for days due to strikes as protesters played cat-and-mouse with police.
Police charged at protesters gathered on streets and detained some.
As midnight passed, protesters still gathered at Place de la Bastille.
The failure of the no-confidence vote will be a relief to Macron. Had it succeeded, it would have sunk his government and killed the legislation, which is set to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.
Over the past three nights, clashes over the pension reform, in Paris and throughout the country, have been reminiscent of the Yellow Vest protests that erupted in late 2018 over high fuel prices.
