Protests bring France to a crawl

PARIS
In the middle of a river of angry people yesterday, 22-year-old Felicienne Morlet briefly stopped screaming for her Prime Minister's resignation and expressed a quiet worry.

"If our protests keep getting bigger then they're going to have to cancel the final exams," the Paris sociology student said. "And then I'll have to wait another year before I can even think of applying for a job," she said, laughing briefly at this irony.

Ms. Morlet was part of a throng of more than a million students and unionized workers across France who brought the country's economy to a crawl, holding mammoth demonstrations aimed at a government bill that would make it easier for companies to hire and fire young people. Even the Eiffel Tower was closed by the demonstrations.
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