A planned visit to France from Sunday by Britain's King Charles III has been postponed due to ongoing protests over pension reform, the French presidency has announced.
"This decision was taken by the French and British governments after a telephone conversation between the president and the king this morning," said a statement.
"This state visit will be reorganised as soon as possible."
It was due to be his first foreign state visit as British monarch.
Protesters clashed with French security forces yesterday in the most serious violence yet of a three-month revolt against President Emmanuel Macron's hugely controversial pension reform.
Protesters clashed with French security forces yesterday in the most serious violence yet of a three-month revolt against President Emmanuel Macron's hugely controversial pension reform | https://t.co/VYA0u6vQyJ pic.twitter.com/8advVnexRl
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) March 24, 2023
A total of 457 people were arrested and 441 security forces injured amid the unrest, the government said, as a day of protests descended into chaos in several cities including Paris, where protesters lit fires in the historic centre of the city.
In the southwestern city of Bordeaux, the porch of the city hall was briefly set on fire.
The blaze damaged its massive wooden door and was put out after 15 minutes, mayor Pierre Hurmic said.
The uproar over the imposition of the reform, which the government chose to push through without a parliamentary vote, has turned into the biggest domestic crisis of Mr Macron's second term in office.
Unions have announced fresh strikes and protests for Tuesday, the second full day of his trip, which includes a visit to Bordeaux.
French public sector trade unionists have warned they will not provide red carpets during the visit, but non-striking workers are expected to roll them out.
Rubbish set alight
The numbers in Paris and other cities were higher than in previous protest days, given new momentum by Mr Macron's refusal in a TV interview on Wednesday to back down on the reform.
Police and protesters again clashed on the streets of the capital during a major demonstration, security forces firing tear gas and charging crowds with batons.
Some protesters lit fires in the street, setting ablaze pallets and piles of uncollected rubbish, prompting firefighters to intervene, AFP correspondents said.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that across France a total of 457 people were arrested and 441 security forces injured
Around 140 fires were set alight in Paris, said Mr Darmanin, blaming "thugs" for the violence, who had come to Paris "to have a go at the cops and public buildings".
Some 1.089 million protesters took part in demonstrations across France, the interior ministry said, putting the Paris turnout at 119,000, the highest for the capital since the movement started in January.
The nationwide figure still fell short of the 1.28 million people who marched on 7 March, according to the government figures.
Unions claimed a record 3.5 million people had protested across France, and 800,000 in the capital.
In Paris, several hundred black-clad radical demonstrators were breaking windows of banks, shops and fast-food outlets, and destroying street furniture, AFP journalists witnessed.
In the northeastern city of Lille, the local police chief Thierry Courtecuisse was lightly injured by a stone.
In Paris, a video went viral of a police officer in helmet and body armour being knocked unconscious and plunging to the ground after being hit on the head by a stone.
The rubbish that has accumulated in the streets due to strikes by refuse collectors proved an appealing target, protesters setting fire to the trash piled up in the city centre.
"It is a right to demonstrate and make your disagreements known," Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Twitter, but added: "The violence and destruction that we have seen today are unacceptable."
Unions again appealed for peaceful protests. "We need to keep public opinion on side until the end," said Laurent Berger, leader of the moderate CFDT.
Protesters briefly occupied the tracks at the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris, and some blocked access to Charles de Gaulle airport.
Anger surged after a defiant Mr Macron said on Wednesday he was prepared to accept unpopularity over the pensions reform which he said was "necessary".
Even before then, a survey on Sunday showed Macron's personal approval rating at just 28 percent, its lowest since the anti-government "Yellow Vest" protest movement in 2018-2019.
'Excessive force'
Acting on Mr Macron's instructions, Ms Borne last week invoked an article in the constitution to adopt the reform without a parliamentary vote. That sparked two no-confidence motions in parliament, which she survived, but one by a narrow margin.
Yesterday's protests were the latest in a string of nationwide stoppages that began in mid-January against the pension changes.
The ministry of energy transition warned that kerosene supply to the capital and its airports was becoming "critical" as blockages at oil refineries continued.
Since the government imposed the reform last week, nightly demonstrations have taken place across France, with young people coordinating their actions on encrypted messaging services.
There have been hundreds of arrests and accusations of heavy-handed tactics by police.
Amnesty International has expressed alarm "about the widespread use of excessive force and arbitrary arrests reported in several media outlets".
