Photo Gallery From Tahrir Square to Times Square
Latching onto the 'Occupy Wall St.' protests that have gripped New York City in recent weeks, demonstrators in hundreds of cities around the world took to the streets on the weekend to protest the influence of major banks, multinational corporations and the richest 1 percent of society. Here, a man wearing a Guy Fawkes mask holds a sign in front of the German parliament.
"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." Demonstrators in Berlin found creative ways to protest what they see as the corrosive influence of the world's richest people and corporations.
One of the demonstrators' techniques was to paint slogans on sidewalks...
...reminding pedestrians who they were and what they were protesting against. "We are the 99 percent," this sign reads.
Germany's financial capital Frankfurt also saw thousands of people rally in front of the European Central Bank.
Similar to Berlin, many demonstrators donned the Guy Fawkes masks worn by the international network known as "Anonymous." They were popularized by the film "V for Vendetta," in which a masked vigilante fights against totalitarianism.
The Frankfurt protests mimicked the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City, targeting the financial system and the fact that a minority of the world population controls a majority of the wealth.
In Porto, Portugal, someone holds a sign urging demonstrators to refrain from resorting to violence. The message clearly didn't reach everyone. Like in Rome...
...where although most of the demonstrators made their voices heard without getting unruly...
...a block of several hundred "thugs," as one Italian politician put it, clashed with police, burning cars and vandalizing storefronts. Here, one demonstrator celebrates as a police vehicle of the Carabinieri, Italy's elite police force, burns.
Italian police officers shield themselves from firecrackers as a demonstration in Rome escalated into violence over the weekend.
Obviously unphased by the inferno beside him, one demonstrator heaves a fire extinguisher away from the fire.
Italian police used water cannon in an attempt to get the rioting under control.
In other cities around the world reports of violence were rare. In Barcelona, Spain, some 60,000 people took to the streets.
In Barcelona, protesters also threw garbage bags at the city's stock exchance, protesting corporate greed and government cutbacks.
In London, demonstrators plastered ATM machines with placards and stacked trash bags in front of them.
On the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, protesters take part in the Occupy London Stock Exchange demonstration.
Even WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange made an appearance in London, speaking out against corporate greed and austerity measures.
The Spanish capital of Madrid also attracted thousands of demonstrators on Oct. 15 to its landmark Puerta del Sol.
A man in Vancourver, Canada, holds a sign as part of the Occupy Vancouver protest over the weekend that drew approximately 2,000 people.
In Lisbon, Portugal, demonstrators marched as well on Saturday. "With precariousness there's no freedom," "Together against corruption," and "I want my life back," read some signs.
A boy holds a cardboard sign in Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 15. Inspired by the Occupy Wall St. protests that have gained momentum in the United States, protesters from New York to Berlin to Tokyo spoke out against what they see as an unfair financial system.
Around the world, protesters taped money across their mouths out of protest for corporate greed and austerity measures. Here, a man in Toronto taped a Canadian two dollar bill to his face.
And here, a man in Miami, Flor., did the same thing with one dollar bill.
The wave of protests across the world last weekend were galvanized by the Occupy Wall St. demonstrations that have gripped New York City in recent weeks. After successfully resisting a potential eviction from their camp in Zuccotti Park, thousands of activists flooded Times Square on Saturday night.
In New York, thousands of people have mobilized against the financial sector and corporate greed, claiming the world's richest 1 percent pushes through political and economic policies that unfairly affect the remaining 99 percent of society.
A little girl sits on a man's shoulders while she holds a sign in solidarity with protesters in New York's Times Square.
The filmmaker Michael Moore also attended Saturday's demonstration in New York. Protesters have been camped out in the city's financial district for weeks.
