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G20-Pittsburgh Dispatch: Those loud bangs aren't fireworks after all...

By Susan Bonner, CBC News

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Demonstrators march in the Lawrenceville section in Pittsburgh on Thursday in protest of the G20 summit. (Matt Rourke/Associated Press)

For a brief moment this afternoon, the media room at Pittsburgh's Alcoa Center sprang into high alert. The sound of small explosions startled everyone.

Explosions at the G20!!! We began to scramble, and then word came that it was simply the sound of fireworks at the baseball game next door.

Wrong again.

The real story? The popping sound was the noise from tear-gas canisters being fired by police at protesters. It was the first clash between protesters and police at the summit.

For the most part, protesters have appeared fewer in number and less active than expected.