French youths battled riot police, truckers blocked roads and filling stations ran dry as protests escalated Monday against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at youths who set a car on fire, smashed bus stops and hurled rocks outside a school in Nanterre, near Paris, blocked by students protesting President Nicolas Sarkozy's pensions reform.
Youths threw petrol bombs at police outside a school in another Paris suburb, Combes-la-Ville, police said. In Lyon, hooded youngsters burned at least three cars they had overturned during clashes with riot police.
The interior ministry said police arrested 196 rioters in various towns, and that four police officers had been injured in the scuffles.
Nearly 300 schools were disrupted by protests, officials said, and cities across France saw students take part in fresh street demonstrations, several of which saw police arresting rampaging youths.
Meanwhile, truck drivers also joined the movement that has brought millions onto the streets in recent weeks, and rubbish continued pile up in the streets of Marseille due to a strike by collectors.
"We now need to block the economy to force the government to withdraw its plan," said Vincent Duse, a CGT union leader at an auto factory in Mulhouse.