ROME (Reuters) - Thousands of people protested in Rome on Saturday against austerity policies and high unemployment, urging new Prime Minister Enrico Letta to focus on creating jobs to help pull the country out of recession. "We hope that this government will finally start listening to us because we are losing our patience," said Enzo Bernardis, who joined the sea of protesters waving red flags and calling for more workers' rights and better contracts. ...

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired three short-range missiles from its east coast on Saturday, South Korea's Defense Ministry said, but the purpose of the launches was unknown. Launches by the North of short-term missiles are not uncommon, but the ministry would not speculate whether these latest launches were part of a test or training exercise. "North Korea fired short-range guided missiles twice in the morning and once in the afternoon off its east coast," an official at the South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman's office said by telephone. ...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces clashed with young men in central Cairo after a protest by several thousand opponents of President Mohamed Mursi, state news agency MENA reported. The forces fired tear gas at the youths throwing firebombs and stones at them. Police arrested a number of men, MENA reported. The Friday protest billed as a major demonstration against Mursi drew only a few thousand people, signaling how momentum for protests that erupted around the second anniversary of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak has steadily evaporated. ...