France's Macron says will not yield to pension protests

A broken billboard with graffiti reading "useless Macron" is seen in a street the day after clashes during protests over French government's pension reform in Paris, France, March 24, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman

PARIS (Reuters) -President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said he would press ahead with reforms, dodging a union leader's call to suspend a new pension law amid some of France's worst street violence in years.

There were violent clashes across the country on Thursday evening on the fringes of otherwise peaceful protests that have for weeks gathered huge crowds against a rise in the pension age by two years to 64.