To France, where another day of fiery protests has piled on the pressure for President Emmanuel Macron over a contentious pension reform bill.
As Macron stands firm on the overhaul, Britain's Prince Charles is postponing his scheduled visit to Paris next week.
This is France burning with discontent.
(Courtesy: CNBC)
No end in sight to the political crisis that's enveloped France ever since President Emmanuel Macron plowed through parliament with a pension bill without a vote.
One that will raise the retirement age by two years to 64.
It's that number that had furious protesters setting the streets on fire in Paris, Lille, Marseille, Lyon and Nantes.
And the Bordeaux town hall was engulfed in fire as well.
The protests had been largely peaceful, but turned real ugly on Thursday evening.
That's when police began firing tear gas to disperse the crowds and took to beating protesters with batons.
Earlier, protesters in Paris chanted slogans against the pension reforms.
The demonstrations staged by French trade unions spilled over to France's Charles de Gaulle Airport, where services were disrupted.
Passengers had no choice but to ditch their cars and walk to the terminals.
France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin accused the far-left of attacking the country, and called the police's forceful response to the protests a collective condemnation.
At least 457 people were arrested and 441 security forces personnel were injured in the more than 250 protests across France on Thursday.
Now, burning trash cans have become the symbol of the unrelenting protests against President Emmanuel Macron.
Meanwhile, the French presidency has announced that Prince Charles III would postpone his first foreign tour to Paris originally scheduled from the 26th to the 28th over the unrest.
Charles was slated to arrive with Queen Consort Camilla on Sunday before spending Monday in Paris and Tuesday in Bordeaux.
From Brussels, Macron insists he would not withdraw the bill, which will come into effect by the end of the year, because it would keep pension budgets from a deficit.
For the record, pension is already costing the country a staggering 330 billion euros per year.
Still, critics insist Macron is risking the country's democracy.
One angry protester griped, "They compare us to the people that attacked the Capitol of the U.S.A. and I think it's absolutely disgusting."
Another disenchanted protester admitted, "France is a democracy, but just now we feel it's not really a democracy."
(Courtesy: Sky News)
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