France pension reforms: Constitutional Council clears age rise to 64

France's top constitutional body has cleared the raising of the state pension age from 62 to 64, and rejected calls for a referendum by political opponents.

But the Constitutional Council has said some articles of the controversial reform have legal flaws.

Twelve days of protests have been held against the reforms since January.

In March, the government used a special constitutional power to force through the reforms without a vote.

President Emmanuel Macron's government argues the changes are essential to prevent the system collapsing.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts.