France faces another day of nationwide protests against pension reform

France faced a seventh day of demonstrations on Saturday against President Emmanuel Macron's unpopular pension reform plans amid ongoing rolling strikes which have affected refineries, public transport and garbage collections.

A coalition of French unions, maintaining a rare show of unity since the protest movement was launched at the end of January, hopes to keep up to pressure on the government to withdraw the reform, whose key measure is a two-year extension of the retirement age to 64.

According to interior ministry figures, up to 1 million people are expected to take part in over 200 marches throughout the country while the Senate continues to review the reform, with a possible vote on the text from the upper house of the Parliament expected by Sunday night.

On Tuesday, 1.28 million people took to the streets in demonstrations, the highest turnout since the start of the protest movement, according to government figures. Unions estimated the total at 3.5 million people.

Opinion polls show a majority of voters oppose Macron's plan, while a slim majority supports the strike actions.

In Paris, garbage continues to pile up on the streets, with residents mentioning a growing presence of rats, according to local media.

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