Italians vent out lockdown anger

Protesters turned out by the hundreds in Turin, Milan and other Italian cities and towns Monday to vent their anger, sometimes violently, at the latest pandemic restrictions that force restaurants and cafes to close early and shutter cinemas, gyms and other leisure venues.

In the northern city of Turin, some demonstrators broke off from a peaceful protest, smashing store windows on an elegant shopping street, setting smoke bombs and hurling bottles at police in a main city square where the Piedmont regional government is headquartered, RAI state TV said.

In that same square, hours earlier, some 300 taxis peacefully lined up in neat rows to draw attention to their economic losses from the implosion of tourism and disappearance of workers from the city center as they do their jobs remotely during the pandemic.

Triggering the violence in Turin were a group of "ultras," as violent soccer fans are known, the LaPresse news agency said. It said five of the protesters were detained by authorities.

In Italy's business capital, Milan, police used tear gas to scatter protesters Monday night, and an Associated Press journalist saw at least two people detained.

The protests began shortly after the national government's order took effect requiring bars, cafes and restaurants to close their doors at 6 pm for the next 30 days as Italy tries to rein the resurgence of coronavirus infections in recent weeks.