In Rome, a rally thick with tension spread over several miles. Small groups of violent young people turned a largely peaceful protest into a riot, setting fire to at least one building and a police van and clashing with police officers, who responded with water cannons and tear gas.
Local news media reported that dozens of protesters had been injured. Law enforcement officials would not confirm those figures, but said 20 police officers had been hurt.
In other European cities, including Berlin and London, the demonstrations were largely peaceful, with thousands of people marching past ancient monuments and gathering in front of capitalist symbols like the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. Elsewhere, the turnout was more modest, but rallies of a few hundred people were held in cities including Sydney, Australia, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Protests also continued in New York and were held in several other cities in the United States and Canada.
But just as the rallies in New York have represented a variety of messages — signs have been held in opposition to President Obama yards away from signs in support of him— so Saturday’s protests contained a grab bag of messages, opposing nuclear power, political corruption and the privatization of water.
Despite the difference in language, landscape and scale, the protests were united in frustration with the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
“I have no problem with capitalism. I have no problem with a market economy. But I find the way the financial system is functioning deeply unethical,” Herbert Haberl, 51, said in Berlin. “We shouldn’t bail out the banks. We should bail out the people.”
In New York, where the occupation of Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan was moving into its second month, a large crowd marched north early Saturday afternoon to Washington Square Park, where they were joined by several hundred college students who spoke, among other things, about student debt and unemployment. Another march, to Times Square, was planned for later.
Earlier, about a dozen protesters entered a Chase branch in Lower Manhattan and withdrew their money from the bank while 300 other people circled the block, some shouting chants and beating on drums. The former Chase customers, who declined to reveal how much they had in their accounts — though a few acknowledged it was not much — said they planned to put their money into smaller banks or credit unions.
About 20 people were arrested while demonstrating at a Citibank branch in Greenwich Village.
In Washington, several hundred people marched through downtown, beginning in the early morning, passing by several banks. Escorted by the police, the marchers also demonstrated in front of the White House and the Treasury Department before moving on to a rally on the National Mall, where they were joined by representatives of unions and other supporters.
Kelly Mears, 24, a former software engineer, said he was despondent about the direction of the country and was inspired to join the protest after following the one in New York on Twitter and other social media. Mr. Mears and dozens of other protesters have been camped out in McPherson Square, a park not far from the White House, for the past two weeks.
“You see how people are beholden to corporate interest no matter how hard you might have worked to get them elected,” Mr. Mears said. “There is a disconnect.”
Saturday’s protests sprang not only from Occupy Wall Street movement that began last month in New York, but also from demonstrations in Spain in May. This weekend, the global protest effort came as finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 industrialized nations meet in Paris to discuss economic issues, including ways to tackle Europe’s sovereign debt crisis
In London, where crowds assembled in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral, the ubiquitous emblems of the movement were in evidence. “Bankers Are the Real Looters” and “We Are the 99 Percent,” read several placards and flags. One demonstrator, dressed as Jesus Christ, held a sign that said “I Threw the Money Lenders Out for a Reason.”
Brief clashes were reported in London, where the police were out in force with dozens of riot vans, canine units and hundreds of officers. But the gathering, attended by people of all ages, was largely peaceful, with a picnic atmosphere and people streaming in and out of a nearby Starbucks.
Rachel Donadio reported from Rome, and Elizabeth A. Harris from New York. Reporting was contributed by Kevin Drew from Hong Kong, Jack Ewing from Frankfurt, Nicholas Kulish from Berlin, Colin Moynihan and Christopher Maag from New York, Ron Nixon from Washington, Matt Siegel from Sydney, Australia, Ravi Somaiya from London and Hiroko Tabuchi from Tokyo.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/world/occupy-wall-street-protests-worldwide.html?partner=rss&emc=rss