Macron's Despised Retirement Plan Is a Go

There have been 12 days of protests organized over the past three months against French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to up the retirement age from 62 to 64, and a 13th—and more beyond that—are looking likely. France's top court on Friday approved the unpopular plan and rejected requests that a referendum be held. CNN reports Macron is expected to enact the law this weekend, putting in place a gradual plan that will see the age at which workers can receive their state pensions pushed to 64 by 2030.

The Guardian explains Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne had asked the constitutional council to determine whether the pension plan was constitutional. After the ruling, she tweeted, "tonight there is no winner, no loser." The BBC reports demonstrations had been barred in front of the Constitutional Council building until Saturday morning, but protesters were clustered nearby and decried the news, with some vowing to keep up the protests. Indeed, French political analyst Antoine Bristielle told the BBC, "I think we will see in the upcoming hours and at the weekend a lot of riots and strikes in the country because there are still 70% of the French population against the reform." (More retirement age stories.)