Italy is moving to deploy 500 troops with expanded police powers following a weekend of violent riots, taking a more direct military approach to public security than France, where weeks of unrest have prompted authorities to bolster their security response.

Videos of unrest in France and Italy flooded social media on Saturday and Sunday, showing violent clashes between demonstrators and police amid burning buildings and looted storefronts. At multiple points during the chaos, police attempting to contain the violence were forced to retreat.

In Paris, for instance, roughly a dozen officers confronted several hundred demonstrators but were unable to make arrests, using rubber-bullet launchers and grenades to keep advancing rioters at bay as they made a gradual retreat. Italian police in Milan, meanwhile, made a similar retreat as hundreds of young rioters threw explosive firecrackers, metal barriers and glass bottles at them in their attempt to occupy a public square.

Though France is escalating its response now, demonstrations have been ongoing in the country since last month, with many schools being burned and ransacked by rioters.

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A Fox News Digital investigation found that socialist groups, Islamic advocacy organizations and environmental activists were involved in the French riots, which financial analysts estimate caused over $1 billion in damages. Videos from the unrest also showed demonstrators waving foreign flags, including Palestinian flags in France and an Albanian flag during the violence in Milan.

Italian media reported that many first and second-generation migrants were among the rioters in Milan.

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With another wave of riots planned for this coming weekend and authorities bracing for more violence, France and Italy are turning to their armed forces to reinforce security after days of rioting.

France’s gendarmes, essentially military police officers, assisted in containing last weekend’s riots. The nation’s interior minister announced on Tuesday that the military would be increasing its presence in anticipation of further rioting.

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"We will ⁠deploy the Sentinelle force, ​obviously ‌as a substitute ‌to interior security ‌forces ... mostly to free police and gendarmes in their mission to maintain order," he ‌told France’s legislature.

France has upcoming presidential elections, with some political observers viewing the migrant-heavy riots as an electoral boon for Marine Le Pen, the most popular right-wing candidate.

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced a similar deployment, pledging that 500 troops will be entering Milan. The country’s deputy prime minister explained that the police would be granted police powers, providing some insight into the role they could play in squaring off against rioters.

Italy has granted Texas murder suspect Lee Gilley "partial extradition" after months of back and forth with U.S. courts. Fox News Digital has confirmed.

Gilley is accused of killing his pregnant wife, Christa Bauer Gilley, and their unborn child back in 2024; he was supposed to face trial in Harris County earlier this year – but instead cut his ankle monitor off and fled the U.S. to Italy. He reportedly left his home on a bicycle before boarding a private jet in Memphis, Tennessee, according to KPRC, leading authorities to suspect he had help fleeing the country.

In the motion obtained by Fox News Digital and translated to English, the Italian court granted the extradition on one charge of murder, not capital murder.

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The motion also spelled out that Italy would only grant Gilley's extradition on the condition that he faces a reduced charge of first-degree murder for killing his wife and not their unborn child.

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Fox News Digital previously reported that Italy denied requests to extradite Gilley back to the U.S. with concerns that the murder suspect would face capital murder punishment — including possible death penalty or life without possibility of parole — if convicted.

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With the newly reduced charge — the suspect, if convicted, would now face a possible punishment of 5 to 99 years behind bars, according to Texas law.

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This new motion by Italian courts isn't an automatic ticket back to the U.S. 

Gilley's defense attorney, Dick DeGeurin, confirmed to Fox News Digital it is likely that Gilley's defense attorneys will appeal in the coming days.

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This could extend the already lengthy process of getting the suspect back to the U.S. to face charges. Gilley's attorney did not detail an exact timeline of when his client would be returning to U.S. soil.

Italy, like France, witnessed a day of protests on Saturday — several turning violent — as some Italian politicians blamed the extreme left for the lawlessness. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took to social media to condemn the unrest and back law enforcement.

Meloni wrote on X: "Once again, the women and men of the Law Enforcement Forces have had to face the violence of criminals who, even through organized groups, exploit demonstrations to seek confrontation and sow chaos," she posted.

She added, "Because they were there to safeguard the safety of citizens, workers, merchants and all the people who have the right to live [in] their city without fear and without seeing it laid to waste and set ablaze by gangs of thugs," she continued. "We stand with you."

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Her Sunday morning post came after scenes of violence between protesters and police, the most visible being outside Milan’s historic Cathedral, known as the Piazza del Duomo.

The Associated Press reported 50 demonstrators, including minors, were detained and at least two police officers were hurt in a protest that required water cannons to disperse the crowd, quoting the LaPresse news agency. Rioters looted stores and smashed windows inside Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, one of Italy’s most famous 19th‑century arcades.

Meloni had already laid blame for the protests on Saturday night, posting: "Thugs who exploit demonstrations to sow chaos, attack those who ensure security and hold entire cities hostage… Demonstrating is a right. Setting our cities ablaze is not."

She added a message to her political opponents: "I renew my request to the opposition: do not be ambiguous about this. Unequivocally condemn these acts of violence and issue a clear appeal for every mobilization to be peaceful."

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Il Sole 24 news site quoted Francesco Filini, MP for Meloni's Fratelli d’Italia and national program coordinator, as saying: "It is no longer tolerable that every time left-wing extremists take to the streets, scenes of organized destruction unfold. We are not dealing with mere demonstrators, but with organized groups that plan violence."

Saturday's demonstrations were organized by the Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, or CGIL, Italy’s oldest labor union with over 5 million members, often connected to Italian political parties on the left.

Meloni posted she had "great respect for the thousands" who protested peacefully and calling participation "the foundation of any healthy democracy… we cannot ignore what happened in other Italian squares."

She noted that in Milan "stones were thrown at the Law Enforcement Forces, officers were injured, damage and violence occurred that forced the interruption of the procession. In Turin, people were stopped carrying cobblestones and window-breaking hammers. In Bologna, the disorders led to the precautionary closure of the railway station."

"In the face of scenes like these, the rejection must be unanimous," Meloni posted. "Any hesitation becomes justification. Silence is not acceptable."

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Milan’s center-left mayor, Giuseppe Sala, told the Associated Press, "The reasons for the protests were understandable. The violence against law enforcement and serious damage to the city are not justifiable."

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Reuters reported some 56 police officers were injured in the protest in Bologna, citing the police union, and the interior ministry says about 100 officers were hurt and around 30 arrests were made in the demonstration in Turin.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Thousands of supporters gathered outside Gemelli Hospital in Rome Saturday yelling "Papa!" after Pope Leo XIV was released after surgery to remove a cancerous node in his lung.

The Holy See announced early Saturday he would be leaving to return to the Vatican.

"Following the doctors’ assessment this morning, Pope Leo XIV will be discharged today from Gemelli Hospital, where he was hospitalized for surgery on his right lung," a statement from the Holy See read.

"He will leave the hospital in the early afternoon and return to the Vatican. Tomorrow, he will lead the Angelus prayer from the window of the papal apartment."

The pope received blood tests and a chest X-ray Saturday, both of which confirmed he is well enough to return to the Vatican, according to Vatican News.

Before he departed, Pope Leo reportedly visited the children's oncology ward. While in the hospital, the Pope received letters from some of the children in the ward.

"Pope Leo, our prayers are for you," a girl named Eleonora, who had been receiving treatment in the oncology ward, wrote to him, according to letters released by Vatican News. 

"May God, the Most Holy Virgin, and the guardian angels always protect you," she added. 

Eleanora's mother told the Pope that she was now healthy, according to the Vatican.

"Faith moves mountains," Eleanora wrote to Pope Leo. "God has heard our prayers."

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Pope Leo underwent thoracic surgery to remove a cancerous node in his lung Tuesday. 

After the successful surgery, doctors diagnosed him with lung adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer.

"The Pope was in the operating room approximately three hours, while the operation itself lasted about 90 minutes. The doctors said it was successful and there were no complications," a statement from the Holy See press office read.

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"Pope Leo awoke normally after surgery and, following a brief period of observation, returned to his room on the hospital’s 10th floor," Vatican News added in a statement.

While recovering, Pope Leo called Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged him to call for a ceasefire in the Ukrainian city of Oleshky.

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"During the conversation, the Holy Father expressed his deep concern about the grave humanitarian situation in the city of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, and called for a ceasefire to allow the delivery of food and medical assistance and the voluntary and safe evacuation of the civilian population," a statement from the Vatican read.

"Finally, the Holy Father reaffirmed the Holy See’s commitment to promoting dialogue and peace."

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Russia has controlled the southern Ukrainian city since May and has not allowed any humanitarian food deliveries into the city. Oleshky also has no electricity, gas or running water, and the hospital is barely functional, according to previous Fox News Digital reporting.

Fox News Digital contacted the Holy See for further comment.

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Fox News Digital's Brie Stimson and Fox News' Courtney Walsh-Annesi contributed to this report.