Italy protests put Rome and Milan under heavy security

Italian security forces are preparing for protests in eight cities on Saturday, including Rome and Milan, after some demonstrations turned violent the previous weekend.

The demonstrations follow protests by students, truck drivers and farmers over budget cuts and cost-of-living issues including housing and fuel prices.

Rome's police force said it would use drones and helicopters to monitor demonstrations and would deploy officers across physical and online spaces. It said it aimed to protect the right to express dissent while enforcing the law.

In Milan, extra soldiers sent after last weekend's protests will patrol the city centre. Mayor Giuseppe Sala told Radio Lombardia there was no plan to shut the city and encouraged shops to remain open, after several boutiques were looted last weekend and others closed or removed window displays.

A group calling itself the October 17 Movement has called protests for 1300 GMT in eight Italian cities. It said three protests in each city would converge in one place, with the locations to be revealed half an hour before the start. A separate anti-war group, the Anti-imperialist Axis, has organised a rally in Rome.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government this week adopted a security decree that eases detention rules for minors, creates a crime of violent participation in a demonstration and imposes fines on parents for damage caused by their children during protests.

Police said on Friday they had carried out dozens of raids against people suspected of taking part in looting and rioting during last weekend's protests. The government has also approved measures to help truck drivers and fishermen with higher fuel prices, and almost all truck blockades that had paralysed southern Italy have now been lifted.