Clashes in Naples over ECB meeting

A cloud of tear gas and water cannons on the streets of Naples where some 600 protesters are demanding freedom from the European Central Bank.

They're protesting outside the Capodimonte palace where the ECB is holding rate-setting meetings.

The demonstrators are calling for a reduction in poverty and unemployment, attacking spending cuts and austerity policies imposed by Brussels.

Italy is in its third recession in just six years, and is going through a slump deeper than the Great Depression of 1929.

The ECB's interest rate has been cut close to zero, and the bank is planning an asset-buying program to try to stimulate the economy.

But the President of the ECB, Mario Draghi, says governments need to increase productivity and competition in order to boost confidence.