Global uprising heralds capitalism's fall

Protests were reported from across Americas, Europe, Canada and in some parts of Asia.Protesters torched cars, smashed up banks and set fire to a military building in Rome on Saturday in the worst violence of worldwide demonstrations against corporate greed and government cutbacks.Tens of thousands took to the streets of the Italian capital for a march that turned violent and equal numbers rallied in Madrid and Lisbon, while Wikileaks founder Julian Assange joined angry demonstrators in London.The protests were inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States and the Indignants in Spain, targeting 951 cities in 82 countries across the planet in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas.It was the biggest show of power yet by a movement born on May 15 when a rally in Madrids central Puerta del Sol square sparked a worldwide movement that focused anger over unemployment and opposition to the financial elite.I think it is very moving that the movement that was born here has extended throughout the world. It was about time for people to rise up, said 24-year-old Carmen Martin as she marched towards Puerta del Sol.In the Portuguese capital, where some 50,000 rallied, Mathieu Rego, 25, said: We are victims of financial speculation and this austerity programme is going to ruin us. We have to change this rotten system.The protests received unexpected support from Italian central bank governor Mario Draghi, a former executive at Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs set to take over as president of the European Central Bank.Theyre angry against the world of finance. I understand them, he added, though expressing regrets at reports of violence.More protests were staged in Amsterdam, Athens, Brussels, Geneva, Paris, Sarajevo and Zurich. Thousands also rallied across Canada and in New York and Washington.Scuffles broke out in London, where about 800 people gathered in the financial district by St Pauls Cathedral, raising banners saying: Strike back No cuts and Goldman Sachs is the work of the devilFive people were arrested, three for assaulting police officers and two for public order offences, Scotland Yard said.Three lines of police, and one line at the rear on horseback, blocked them from heading to the London Stock Exchange and pushed back against lead marchers, some wearing masks.One of the reasons why we support what is happening here in Occupy London is because the banking system in London is the recipient of corrupt money, Assange said from the steps of St Pauls, flanked by bodyguards.Nearly 100 protesters were arrested as thousands marched in New York. Police on horseback clashed with protesters in busy Times Square in the evening, and one woman was injured.In Miami, a city that rarely hosts mass demonstrations, at least 1,000 people marched downtown. The crowd included youth and retirees standing up against corporations, banks and war.Over 10,000 Canadians blew bubbles, strummed guitars and chanted anti-corporate slogans at peaceful protests in cities across the country.I believe a revolution is happening, said 30-year-old Annabell Chapa, who brought her one-year-old son Jaydn along in a stroller to Torontos Saint James Park.In Mexico, Peru and Chile, thousands marched to protest what they slammed as an unfair financial system and stagnant unemployment.The European Union also became a target for anger as the eurozone debt crisis continues, with some 9,000 protesters marching to the EUs headquarters in Brussels and rallying outside the ECBs headquarters in Frankfurt.In Rome, the march quickly degenerated into running street battles between groups of hooded protesters and riot police who fired tear gas and water jets into the crowd amid a security lockdown in the Italian capital.Today is only the beginning. We hope to move forward with a global movement. There are many of us and we want the same things, said protester Andrea Muraro, a 24-year-old engineering student from Padua.Only One Solution: Revolution read a placard. One group carried a cardboard coffin with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconis name on it.Berlusconi later condemned the incredible level of violence at the march.Weve seen the worst of Europe today in Rome, Mayor Gianni Alemanno said.Seventy people were injured in the clashes and treated by medics, including three in a serious condition, Italian news agency ANSA reported.Backing from Italys main trade unions and student movements boosted the numbers at the protest in Rome -- in contrast to most of the other rallies.As the day began, around 500 people gathered in the heart of Hong Kongs financial district to vent their anger. About 100 demonstrators in Tokyo also voiced fury at the Fukushima nuclear accident.Another 600 demonstrators in Sydney set up camp outside Australias central bank, where the plight of refugees and Aboriginal Australians was added to the financial concerns.In the US, police on horseback clashed with anti-corporate greed protesters Saturday in New Yorks famous Times Square during a global day of outrage against corporate greed.At least three Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested after marching uptown, a witness said, while thousands of people converged on the major commercial intersection, divided by police barriers.Police arrested 24 other protesters earlier for trespassing at a Citibank branch, a New York Police Department spokesman said. Demonstrators also walked to Chase Bank in support of the 14,000 workers sacked by the lender in the wake of cutbacks made after a government bailout totaling $94.7 billion.Students, families with strollers and trade unionists, watched by a large police presence, marched towards Wall Street carrying placards, chanting: We are the 99 percent, We are the people and Mr Obama we need your support.The clashes took place at the corner of 46th Street and Seventh Avenue after day-long marches that began in the Financial District. Rowdy demonstrations also took place in dozens of countries.Mounted police pushed back protesters who were trying to enter Times Square. Dozens of panicked people then began to run and a woman fell down. She had face injuries and was swiftly carried away on a stretcher, an eye-witness said.Citibank said its branch staff had called police after a large amount of protesters entered the bank near Washington Square Park.In Washington, between 2,000-3,000 people assembled at the National Mall on the eve of the inauguration of a memorial to slain Nobel peace laureate Martin Luther King Jr.We have bailed out the auto industry, and we should have. We bailed out Wall Street. Now its time to bail out working Americans. Thats what this is about, the civil rights leaders son Martin Luther King III told the crowd.Around 200 demonstrators in the US capital had earlier marched to a Bank of America branch, where they had planned to close accounts. But they were not allowed inside and the bank was hastily closed.In Miami, a city that rarely hosts mass demonstrations, at least 1,000 people marched downtown. The crowd included youth and retirees standing up against corporations, banks and war. No police could be seen as the group approached government buildings.Hollywood actor Sean Penn became the latest celebrity to offer his backing to Occupy Wall Street, a group of demonstrators who on September 17 took up residence in New Yorks Zuccotti Park and began their ongoing campaign that has since seen related protests sweep the globe.