In response to Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's offer to soften, but not repeal, a controversial new labor law, some 5,000 French youths took to the streets for more protests, which included some confrontations between protesters and police. Trade unions sympathetic to the young workers affected by the law have called for a nationwide day of strikes on March 28, and the current impasse may have a profound effect on next year's elections.
See "5,000 in New French Labor Protest", CNN, March 21, 2006