Italian police arrest hundreds of protesters over tense clashes, looting businesses

Italian police detained 271 young people during unrest in Milan on Sunday, authorities said, ​after a second day of protests over poor ‌public services and rising costs that saw demonstrators clash with officers, loot stores and vandalize property.

Police in riot ​gear fired tear gas and water cannon as ​several hundred hooded protesters set bins ablaze ⁠and looted stores including sports retailers Decathlon and ​Arc’teryx and phone store Vodafone in the city centre, according ​to TV footage.

Of those taken to police stations, 32 were arrested, including 23 minors and 13 foreign nationals, police ​said on Monday. A further 28 people were ​reported to judicial authorities.

The unrest followed similar clashes on Saturday in ‌northern ⁠cities including Milan, Bologna, Brescia, Bergamo and Turin, where 28 protesters were arrested, according to a police report released on Sunday.

The disturbances echoed unrest in neighboring ​France, where ​hundreds of ⁠thousands of people angered by rising living costs and declining public services took ​to the streets on Saturday in ​some of ⁠the country’s most violent protests in years.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who faces an election next year, ⁠condemned ​the violence and announced a ​government meeting on Monday to discuss how to address the situation.