Europe’s elite put on grand show of unity in Rome

ROME — Europe’s prominence descended on the Italian capital Saturday to celebrate their Union’s 60th anniversary with a single aim: fare bella figura.

After a year in which the EU has had to stomach the Brexit vote, bitter fights over refugees and the resurgence of far-right populism, failure was not an option. Yet for a club riven by division over matters large and small, keeping up appearances was no small order.

Riots in Rome as Wall Street protests go global

ROME—Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across the globe on Saturday to denounce bankers, politicians and businessmen for ruining the world’s economies, with violence breaking out in Rome as angry protesters torched cars and smashed bank windows.

Galvanized by the Occupy Wall Street movement, the protests began in New Zealand, touched parts of Asia, spread to Europe, and ultimately resumed at their starting point in New York.

The demonstrations by the disaffected coincided with the Group of 20 meeting in Paris, where finance ministers and central bankers from major economies were holding talks on the debt and deficit crises afflicting many Western countries.

While most rallies were small and barely held up traffic, the Rome event drew tens of thousands of people and snaked through the city centre for kilometres.