Protesters hit France with transport strikes, notably targeting the Paris Metro, blockades and demonstrations Thursday, pitting the power of the streets against President Emmanuel Macron’s government and its plans to cut funding for public services that underpin the French way of life.

The first scuffles between police and protesters came before the break of day, in Paris.

Demonstrations were planned nationwide, from France’s biggest cities to small towns. 4

Major trade unions that called strikes are pushing for the abandonment of proposed budget cuts, social welfare freezes and other belt-tightening that opponents contend will further erode the purchasing power of low-paid and middle-class workers and which triggered the collapse of successive governments that sought to push them

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