Fury At Sinking Economies Drives Global Demos

Violence has broken out in Athens, New York and across Italy as anger caused by economic strife boils over on the streets.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered near Wall Street, with some trying to stop workers getting to their desks in the Big Apple's financial district.

There were skirmishes as tempers flared and it is understood several dozen arrests have been made.

Sky's Hannah Thomas-Peter, at the scene, told Kay Burley she saw officers take away at least 15 people over incidents of spitting and failing to move on.

Protesters say they are upset that billions of dollars in bailouts given to banks during the recession allowed a return to huge profits while average Americans have had no relief from high unemployment and a struggling economy.

They also believe the richest 1% of Americans do not pay their fair share of taxes.

Greece has already had to change its government as it battles to introduce sweeping austerity measures in order to stay solvent and part of the eurozone.

Thousands of people are rallying to mark the 38th anniversary of the day in 1973 when military tanks quashed a student rebellion at the Athens Polytechnic.

Some 7,000 police officers have been sent on to the streets of Athens as the city braces for anti-austerity demonstrations arising from the annual November 17 march.

Authorities fear the threat of trouble this year is much more acute thanks to anger at the price being paid by ordinary workers for the country's economic mismanagement.

Demonstrators angry at budget cuts clashed with police across Italy, where transport strikes left buses and trains stranded.

Police in riot gear clashed with students in Milan, while in Palermo, Sicily, demonstrators hurled eggs and smoke bombs at a bank, and protesters threw stones at police who hit back back with pepper spray and charged demonstrators who were trying to occupy another bank.

One protester was reported to have sustained head injuries.

In Rome, hundreds of students gathered outside Sapienza University, while others assembled near the main train station ahead of a planned march on the Senate.

The protests took place as Italian Premier Mario Monti prepared to unveil his anti-crisis strategy ahead of a confidence vote in his day-old government.

Mr Monti's cabinet took the place of the government led by controversial media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, who stepped down last week after unrelenting pressure from markets worried about Italy's escalating public debt and stubbornly stagnant economy.

As the protests were taking place Spain looked as though it could become the next victim of the economic crisis in the eurozone as the cost of state borrowing soared to a dangerous new high.

Ten-year bond yields jumped to a record high of 6.8% - with 7% seen as the territory for a financial bailout.

The spread between French and German bonds is wider than ever, with concerns growing that France could lose its triple-A credit rating.

Investors have shied away from buying debt in countries seen as being in the eurozone firing line because of the potential risks associated with nations such as Italy, Spain and France.

Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX Capital, said: "Equity markets across Europe are weak today as contagion takes a firm grip.

"European indices are down sharply with investors offloading holdings as they lose confidence in EU ministers being able to stem the crisis."