French riot police used batons, tear gas and water cannons to clear demonstrators from a central Paris square where a crowd of thousands had gathered to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s pensions reform. France‘s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin instructed police to put in place “enhanced protective measures” for members of parliament in the face of the ongoing protests that erupted as Macron shunned the French Parliament and opted to push through a highly unpopular pension reform bill that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Macron’s alliance lost its parliamentary majority last year, forcing the government to count on conservative legislators to pass the bill