French Senate adopts Macron's pension reforms despite new protests

The French Senate, parliament's upper chamber, voted 195-112 on Saturday night to approve President Emmanuel Macron's deeply unpopular pension reform plan, despite a seventh day of demonstrations.

The reform's headline measure hikes the minimum retirement age to 64 from 62, seen by many as unfair to people who started working young.

A committee will now hammer out a final draft, which will then be submitted to both the Senate and the National Assembly for a final vote, likely to take place on Thursday.

The outcome still seems uncertain in the lower chamber, where Macron's party needs allies' votes for a majority.

If the government fears that it won't have enough votes, the text can still be pushed through without a parliamentary vote, via the so-called "49:3 procedure."

An additional day of nationwide strikes and protests is planned for Wednesday.

(CGTN)