French trade unions disrupted rail services, cut power output and brought demonstrators onto the streets in cities across France on Thursday in a make-or-break push to force President Emmanuel Macron to abandon his planned pension reform.
The country's hard-left unions rallied supporters hoping to regain momentum at a time participation in a 36-day public sector strike wanes and opinion polls show public backing for the industrial action dropping.
Police fired teargas at protesters in Nantes, western France, and in Paris, where demonstrators hurled projectiles at officers in brief skirmishes and trailed smoke flares.