Milan cost-of-living protest turns violent

Demonstrations over rising living costs and public services turned violent in Milan on October 17, as protesters clashed with police near Piazza del Duomo and officers used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd. Clashes and arrests were also reported in other northern Italian cities, including Bologna. In central Milan, protesters threw stones and other objects, broke shop windows and set fires, according to reports from the scene. Riot police moved against several hundred hooded demonstrators near the cathedral square and the adjacent Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade. Shops lowered their shutters, tourists left the area and the Duomo metro station was closed during the clashes. The reports describe different police actions and counts. More than 60 people in Milan were taken to police stations for further checks on Sunday, according to sources cited in reporting on the investigation. Separately, a police report said 28 protesters were arrested after Saturday’s clashes across several northern cities, including Milan, Bologna, Brescia, Bergamo and Turin. The figures refer to different actions and locations. Some other accounts reported around 50 people...