Riot police clash with protesters near the Colosseum as a general strike over war and living costs sweeps Italy

Tens of thousands of students, workers and farmers took to the streets across more than 50 Italian cities on Friday in a 24-hour general strike called by Unione Sindacale di Base, a grassroots union. The action centred on demands for higher wages, improved public services and a halt to military spending. In Rome, water cannons were deployed after a group tried to march on parliament, and eight people were arrested for repeatedly breaking through police barricades. Riot police in Turin turned water cannons on students advancing toward the prefecture, while 15,000 demonstrators marched into Genoa's port to protest arms shipments.

Near the Colosseum, masked protesters threw rocks, glass bottles and firecrackers at officers, with some setting roadside bins alight.

The unrest was not confined to Italy, with comparable protest movements sweeping France, Spain and Belgium over the same period.

In Turin, protesters upended manure bins outside city hall before pushing officers back on Via Rossini; in Vicenza, a tear gas canister struck one demonstrator in the head.