Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni convened a government meeting on Monday (October 19) to discuss public order issues following weekend protests that saw demonstrators clash with police, loot shops and vandalise property.

Italian police detained 271 young people during unrest in Milan on Sunday (October 18), authorities said, after a second day of protests over poor public services and rising living costs.

Police in riot gear fired tear gas and water cannon as several hundred hooded protesters set bins ablaze and looted stores 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 (October 17) 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 neighbouring 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.

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Italy's PM Meloni holds meeting on public order after weekend protest clashes

VIDEO SHOWS: ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER, GIORGIA MELONI, CONVENING MEETING ON PUBLIC ORDER

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: ROME, ITALY (OCTOBER 19, 2026) (ITALIAN PRIME MINISTRY - Access all) (MUTE)

1. ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER, GIORGIA MELONI, WALKING

2. MELONI ENTERING ROOM

3. VARIOUS OF MEETING IN PROGRESS