Protests again grip France but Emmanuel Macron not backing down

Demonstrators march Thursday in Nantes. Pic/AP

Protesters disrupted traffic at Paris' main airport and gathered again in other French cities on Thursday for strikes and demonstrations seeking to get President Emmanuel Macron to scrap pension reforms that have ignited a monthslong firestorm of public anger.

In Paris, rat catchers set the tone by hurling the cadavers of rodents at City Hall. That protest Wednesday was one of the more shocking illustrations of how Macron's plans to raise the national retirement age from 62 to 64 have infuriated workers. At Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, about 100 demonstrators blocked a road leading to Terminal 1 on Thursday morning and entered the terminal building, the airport operator said. It said flights were unaffected.

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