Police in Thailand have fired tear gas to disperse a demonstration by thousands of anti-government protesters in Bangkok.
A senior government minister in Thailand has resigned after violent clashes between police and protesters.
At least 65 people were injured as police intervened in the dawn protest in front of parliament.
Deputy PM Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said he was stepping down to take responsibility for the clashes, which injured at least 65 people.
The clashes came just hours before new PM Somchai Wongsawat was to deliver a key policy statement.
The clashes came just hours before new Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat delivered his inaugural speech.
The protesters say he is a proxy for ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra and want the government to resign.
Police fired teargas to disperse anti-government protesters trying to block the road leading to parliament.
The protesters have occupied the grounds of government buildings for six weeks in a largely peaceful demonstration.
The protesters say Mr Somchai and his recently ousted predecessor, Samak Sundaravej, are both just proxies for former PM Thaksin Shinawatra.
Regrouped
Mr Thaksin, Mr Somchai's brother-in-law, was forced from office in a military coup in 2006.
A medical officer told reporters that 65 people had been injured and several were in critical condition.
The protesters have been occupying the grounds of government buildings for six weeks, but the demonstration had so far been largely peaceful.
Petpong Kumtonkitjakarn, from the Erawan Medical Centre, told Associated Press two were seriously hurt. "One of them lost his leg, another was hit with shrapnel in the chest."
They are members of the People's Alliance for Democracy, a group that wants to replace the one-man, one-vote system with a system in which some of the representatives are chosen by professions and social groups rather than the general electorate.
Somchai Wongsawat is a softly spoken former judge
Television showed protesters trying to build tyre barricades outside parliament.
Maj Gen Anan Srihiran told Reuters: "It was absolutely necessary for police to use tear gas to break up the crowd.
"We only wanted to open up a road for the cabinet to enter parliament. We will not do anything else to the protesters for the rest of the day."
However there were later reports of fresh tear gas firing near parliament.
The protesters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have regrouped outside the building.
They had marched to parliament late on Monday to try to seal off the building.
The alliance says the government must resign because of its links to Mr Thaksin, who lives in exile. It accuses him of corruption.
Protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul said this was the "final battle".
Loudspeakers pleaded with people to "come out and join" the fight.
Correspondents said the confrontation comes after two PAD leaders had been arrested in recent days, and may have been engineered to rally supporters to the protest movement.
Mr Somchai insisted the address would go ahead.
"It is not right for the PAD to obstruct the representatives of the people," he said.
The alliance turned its attention on Mr Somchai after he replaced Samak Sundaravej, who was dismissed on a conflict of interest charge.
The protesters want to replace one-man, one-vote with a system that has some representatives chosen by professions and social groups.
The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says the new government has indicated it wants to start negotiations with the PAD - but it is also pushing ahead with controversial plans to amend the constitution, a key grievance of the protesters.
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