Summary Italian police used tear gas and water cannon against violent protesters in Milan and Bologna, with injuries and arrests reported during cost-of-living demonstrations.
MILAN (Reuters) - Italian police fired tear gas on Saturday after being attacked by protesters throwing stones and other objects during clashes in the square outside Milan’s Gothic cathedral, Italian media reported.
Police in riot gear also attempted to clear hooded protesters from the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the luxury shopping arcade bordering the cathedral square, as groups broke away from a demonstration against the rising cost of living.
Shops lowered their shutters and tourists fled the city centre. The central Duomo metro station was closed during the clashes, in which several people were reportedly injured and a number of arrests were made, according to Italian media reports.
In the northern Italian city of Bologna, police used water cannon to disperse crowds and arrested seven people after another protest turned violent, the ANSA news agency reported.
The clashes echoed the violence in neighbouring France, where tens of thousands of people angered by rising living costs and declining public services took to the streets on Saturday in some of the country’s most violent protests in years.
