Italy's 'pitchfork protests', in fourth day, spread to Rome

Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano speaks on events in Lampedusa, during an address to the lower house of the Italian Parliament in Rome October 4, 2013. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's "pitchfork" protests spread to Rome on Thursday when hundreds of students clashed with police and threw firecrackers outside a university where government ministers were attending a conference.

Truckers, small businessmen, the unemployed, students and low-paid workers have staged four days of rallies in cities from Turin in the north to Sicily in the south in the name of the "pitchfork" movement, originally a loosely organised group of farmers from Sicily.