Italian police clash with protesters in the centre of Milan

Italian police fired tear gas on Saturday after coming under attack from protesters throwing stones and other objects ⁠in clashes in ⁠the square in front of Milan‘s Gothic cathedral, Italian media reported.

Police in riot gear also tried ⁠to clear hooded protesters from the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the luxury shopping arcade which is on one side of the cathedral square, as groups broke away from a protest over the high cost of living.

Shops pulled down their ⁠shutters ⁠and tourists fled the central area. The central Duomo (Cathedral) metro station was closed during the clashes in which several people were reported injured, and a number of arrests made, according to Italian media reports.

Police ⁠in the northern Italian city of Bologna used water cannon to try to disperse crowds and made seven arrests after another protest turned violent, the ANSA news agency reported.

The clashes ⁠had ‌echoes of ‌the violence in neighbouring France, ⁠where tens of ‌thousands of people angered by rising costs and declining public ⁠services took to the ⁠streets on Saturday in some of ⁠the country’s most violent protests in years.