Wall Street protests go global; riots in Rome

ROME, (Reuters) – Thousands of demonstrators rallied  across the globe today to denounce bankers, businessmen  and politicians over the international economic crisis, with  violence rocking Rome as angry protesters torched cars and  smashed bank windows.
Galvanised by the Occupy Wall Street movement, the protests  began in New Zealand, touched parts of Asia, spread to Europe,  and ultimately resumed at their starting point in New York with  2,000 marchers decrying corporate greed and economic inequality.
The demonstrations by the disaffected coincided with the  Group of 20 meeting in Paris, where finance ministers and  central bankers from major economies were holding talks on the  debt and deficit crises afflicting many Western countries.
While most rallies were relatively small and barely held up  traffic, the Rome event drew tens of thousands of people and  snaked through the city centre for kilometres (miles).
Hundreds of hooded, masked demonstrators rampaged in some of  the worst violence seen in the Italian capital for years,  setting cars ablaze, breaking bank and shop windows and  destroying traffic lights and signposts.
Police fired volleys of tear gas and used water cannon to  try to disperse militant protesters who were hurling rocks,  bottles and fireworks, but clashes went on into the evening.
Smoke bombs set off by protesters cast a pall over a sea of  red flags and banners bearing slogans denouncing economic  policies the protesters say are hurting the poor most.
The violence sent many peaceful demonstrators and local  residents near the Colosseum and St John’s Basilica running into  hotels and churches for safety.
In contrast, small and peaceful rallies got the ball rolling  across the Asia-Pacific region on Saturday. In Auckland, New  Zealand’s biggest city, 3,000 people chanted and banged drums,  denouncing corporate greed.
About 200 gathered in the capital Wellington and  50 in a park in the earthquake-hit southern city of  Christchurch.
In Sydney, about 2,000 people, including representatives of  Aboriginal groups, communists and trade unionists, protested  outside the central Reserve Bank of Australia.
Hundreds marched in Tokyo, including anti-nuclear  protesters. In Manila a few dozen marched on the U.S. Embassy  waving banners reading: “Down with U.S. imperialism” and  “Philippines not for sale”.
Over 100 people gathered at the Taipei stock exchange,  chanting “we are Taiwan’s 99 percent” and saying economic growth  had only benefited firms while middle-class salaries barely  covered soaring housing, education and health care costs.
In Hong Kong, home to the Asian headquarters of investment  banks such as Goldman Sachs, over 100 people gathered at  Exchange Square in the Central district. Students joined with  retirees, holding banners that called banks a cancer.
Portugal was the scene of the biggest reported protest  action with more than 20,000 marching in Lisbon and a similar  number in the country’s second city Oporto, two days after the  government announced a new batch of austerity measures.
Hundreds broke through a police cordon around the parliament  in Lisbon to occupy its broad marble staircase.     Riot police  brought the situation under control without any more violence  than some pushing and shoving.
“This debt is not ours!” and “IMF, get out of here now!”,  demonstrators chanted. Banners read: “We are not merchandise in  bankers’ hands!” or “No more rescue loans for banks!”
Around 4,000 Greeks with banners bearing slogans like  “Greece is not for sale” staged an anti-austerity rally in  Athens’ Syntagma Square, the scene of violent clashes between  riot police and stone-throwing youths in June.
Many were furious at how austerity imposed by the government  to reduce debt incurred by profligate spending and corruption  had undermined the lives of ordinary Greeks.