Isophoric News · Sunday, October 18, 2026
Meloni, after cost-of-living protests turn violent in Italian cities, condemns the rioting
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned rioting during Saturday's cost-of-living protests, saying "Demonstrating is a right, but setting our cities on fire is not," Deutsche Welle reports. In Milan, at least four police officers and 20 demonstrators were injured, and about 50 young people, about half of them minors, were arrested, according to the news agency ANSA; clashes also broke out in Turin, Bologna and Bergamo. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala also condemned the violence while saying "the reasons for the protest were understandable," and the CGIL labor confederation, which organized a demonstration in Rome, announced a general strike for Nov. 20. Protesters were rallying against high living costs, low wages and a shortage of affordable housing.