In Rome, rebels took on the hated riot police, torching their vans and blocking the streets with barricades, in one of the biggest uprisings in the Italian capital for years.

The unprecedented day of protests kicked off in New Zealand and Australia and spread across Asia and Europe and then over to the USA and Latin America, with nearly 1,000 cities involved.

Numbers in New York swelled to 20,000 as the momentum of the movement in the USA shows no sign of slowing. Police attacked the crowds and more than 70 people were arrested.

In London, thousands of people gathered near the Stock Exchange and, despite heavy-handed policing, hundreds stayed on to camp overnight in a Tahrir-style tent city.

Some 100,000 people gathered in Madrid, where the movement took on its current form thanks to the inspiration of the Tunisians and Egyptians.

While the #occupy movement places great theoretical stress on non-violent protests, rebels on the streets are unlikely to simply lie down when confronted with the inevitable violence of a system under attack.

The revolution has begun.

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