<span style="color: #222222;">In France, thousands of protesters took to the streets yesterday in a pension reform standoff that has sparked nearly two weeks of crippling transport strikes.<br />''<br />''The government reiterated that it will not give in to union demands to drop the overhaul.<br />''<br />''Police in Paris fired teargas after protesters hurled projectiles at them.<br />''<br />''The Police said 30 people had been arrested in the French capital.<br />''<br />''Teachers, hospital workers and other public employees joined transport workers for the third day of marches since the dispute began on the 5th of this month.<br />''<br />''The government has insisted it will push through a single points-based pension system and end the current patchwork of 42 separate schemes that offer early retirement to many in the public sector. It said the new system will be fairer and more transparent, improving pensions for women and low earners, in particular.</span><br />