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Paris police fired tear gas and taxi drivers lit bonfires on a major highway Tuesday amid nationwide strikes and protests over working conditions and competition from non-traditional services such as Uber.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls met with taxi drivers in an apparent attempt to defuse tensions. He condemned the drivers’ violence but promised to strengthen a police crackdown on the competing taxi services the drivers are protesting. He is also forming a panel of taxi company representatives and government ministers to discuss reforms in the sector.

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Tuesday’s protests are the latest challenge to the Socialist government as it tries to modernize the economy and find France’s place in an increasingly globalized, online marketplace.

One in five flights were cancelled at Paris airports and other flights faced delays as air traffic controllers staged a walkout and taxi drivers disrupted roads. Twenty people were detained at protests around the French capital, according to Paris police, and i-Tele television reported that two people were injured at Orly Airport when a shuttle bus tried to force its way past a taxi drivers’ blockade.