May Day protests turn violent

Police used water cannons to break up clashes between leftist and rightist groups in Hamburg during May Day protests on Thursday.

May 1 is known in Germany and elsewhere as the unofficial International Workers' Day and is marked with demonstrations and rallies.

About 7,000 people gathered in Hamburg to protest a march of the far-right National Democratic Party. The leftist protesters threw bottles and stones at officers trying to keep the groups apart and set several cars on fire, including one belonging to police. Several officers were injured.