Rome's Protests Turn Violent

The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in Rome on Saturday looked eerily familiar to the London riots that wreaked havoc in England several months back, as protesters set fire to two cars and broke shop windows. Police said hundreds of anarchists confronted the peaceful protesters in Rome, and police fired tear gas to disperse the raucous crowds. Activists organized a series of rallies in 82 countries around the world on Saturday; 100,000 protesters were expected to turn up in Italy's capital a day after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi narrowly passed a confidence vote. The violence in the capital was believed to be spurred by hooded militants known as "black blocs," a group that has infiltrated demonstrations in the past. The protests were otherwise peaceful. Five thousand people turned out in Frankfurt; 2,000 gathered outside Sydney's Central Reserve Bank of Australia.