 Dumpsters burned in the middle of a French road on March 23 as protesters entered the ninth day of strikes against a deeply unpopular bill to raise the pension age. Video posted to social media showed the burning makeshift roadblock in Toulouse emitting a large plume of smoke while cars queued up behind it. French President Emmanuel Macron on March 22 said the legislation, which his government pushed through Parliament without a vote last week, would come into force by year-end despite escalating anger across the country. Dumpsters against the policy changes, which lift the retirement age by 2 years to 64 and accelerate an increase in the number of years one must work to draw a full pension, have drawn huge crowds in rallies organized by unions since January.