Big world news read: David Pratt on Macron's moment of truth

The gas masks are once again being pulled on as France takes to the streets in protest. "Macron get lost" and "Don't touch our pensions," read the slogans on just some of the banners of those on the barricades facing down the French president these past few days. Just when Emmanuel Macron seemed to have finally put the gilets jaunes (yellow vest) protests behind him, the country finds itself in the throes of one of the biggest strikes seen in years. And when it comes to such protests the French are not known for doing things by halves. In all an estimated 800,000 people over the past few days have taken part in demonstrations around the country, 65,000 of them in the capital Paris, according to a union organiser. The Eiffel Tower and other businesses in the city closed down and security authorities formed a barricade around the presidential palace. Authorities also deployed over 6,000 police officers to control protests and marches. Across the country schools were shut, flights cancelled and transport systems disrupted, and this may only just be the start. The fresh round of social unrest is once again calling into question Macron's top down government style, which was a major factor in last year's protest over poor wages and dwindling living standards. The current strike pits Macron, a 41-year-old former investment banker who came to power in 2017 on a promise to open up France's highly regulated economy, against a trade union movement that say he is set on dismantling workers' rights and protections. "No one can fail to see the clouds of social grievance that have gathered over France," observed Alexis Moreau a journalist and French labour movement researcher, writing about the crisis in the political magazine Tribune a few days ag