GREECE REVOLT - Clashes erupt as thousands of Greeks protest austerity

Greek police clashed with hooded rioters hurling petrol bombs as tens of thousands took to the streets of Athens on Wednesday in Greece's biggest anti-austerity protest in more than a year.

Violence erupted after nearly 70,000 people marched to parliament chanting "We won't submit to the troika (of lenders)" and "EU, IMF Out!" on the day of a general strike against a new round of cuts demanded by foreign lenders.

As the rally ended, dozens of black-clad youths threw stones, petrol bombs and bottles at riot police, who responded with several rounds of teargas. Police chased the protesters through Syntagma square in front of parliament as helicopters clattered overhead. Smoke rose from small blazes in the streets.

About 120 people were detained after angry protesters smashed bus stop kiosks and set fire to garbage cans.

"We can't take it anymore - we are bleeding. We can't raise our children like this," said Dina Kokou, a 54-year-old teacher and mother of four who lives on 1,000 euros a month.

"These tax hikes and wage cuts are killing us."

The 24-hour nationwide strike, called by the country's two biggest unions representing half the four-million-strong work force, is shaping up to be the first test of whether Prime Minister Antonis Samaras can stand his ground.

Police officials estimated the demonstration was the largest since a May 2011 protest, and among the biggest since near-bankrupt Greece first resorted to aid from international lenders in 2010 - which has come at the price of painful austerity cuts.

The traditional summer break has allowed the fragile conservative-led coalition to enjoy relative calm on the streets since narrowly coming to power on a pro-euro, pro-bailout platform, but unions say the lull is over.

"Yesterday the Spaniards took to the streets, today it's us, tomorrow the Italians and the day after - all the people of Europe," Yiorgos Harisis, a unionist from the ADEDY public sector group told demonstrators.

"With this strike we are sending a strong message to the government and the troika that the measures will not pass even if voted in parliament, because the government's days are numbered."

About 3,000 police - twice the number usually deployed - stood guard in the centre of Athens, which last saw serious violence in February when protesters set shops and banks ablaze as parliament approved an austerity bill.

Police formed a barricade outside parliament, and officers blocked a pensioner who tried to move towards Samaras's office holding a banner with pictures of Greek prime ministers under the title: "The biggest traitors in Greek history".

Ships stayed docked, museums and monuments were shut to visitors and air traffic controllers walked off the job for a three-hour stoppage. Train service and flights were suspended, public offices and shops were shut, and hospitals worked on skeletal staff as part of the general strike.

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Greece Molotov Rampage: Video of protesters fire petrol bombs at police

SPAIN REVOLT - Spain prepares more austerity, protesters battle police

Protesters clashed with police in Spain's capital on Tuesday as the government prepared a new round of unpopular austerity measures for the 2013 budget to be announced on Thursday.

Thousands gathered in Neptune plaza, a few meters from El Prado museum in central Madrid, where they formed a human chain around parliament, surrounded by barricades, police trucks and more than 1,500 police in riot gear.

Police fired rubber bullets and beat protesters with truncheons, first as protesters were trying to tear down barriers and later to clear the square. The police said at least 22 people had been arrested and at least 32 injured, including four policemen.

As lawmakers started to leave the parliament shortly after 2100 GMT in official cars or by foot, a few hundred people were still demonstrating in front of the building. Most dispersed shortly afterwards.

The protest, promoted over the Internet by different activist groups, was younger and more rowdy than recent marches called by labor unions. Protesters said they were fed up with cuts to public salaries and health and education.

"My annual salary has dropped by 8,000 euros and if it falls much further I won't be able to make ends meet," said Luis Rodriguez, 36, a firefighter who joined the protest. He said he was considering leaving Spain to find a better quality of life.

With this year's budget deficit target looking untenable, the conservative government is now looking at such things as cuts in inflation-linked pensions, taxes on stock transactions, "green taxes" on emissions or eliminating tax breaks.

The 2013 budget is the second conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has had to pass since he took office in December. Spain must persuade its European partners that it can cut the budget shortfall by more than 60 billion euros by 2014.

Rajoy has already passed spending cuts and tax hikes worth slightly more than that over the next two years, but half-year figures show the 2012 deficit target slipping from view as tax income forecasts will not be hit due to economic contraction.

He said earlier this month the 2013 budget would cut spending further in all areas of government apart from pensions and borrowing costs.

Spain is at the center of the euro zone debt crisis on concerns the government cannot control its finances and those of highly indebted regions, bitten by a second recession since 2009 which has put one in four workers out of a job.

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Surround Congress clashes: Dramatic footage of night violence in Spain

SPAIN REVOLT - Spanish Rallies Turn Violent as Million People Protest in 80 Cities

Spanish police have clashed with protesters marching against the latest batch of austerity measures. Over a million public employees, trade union members and fed-up citizens have taken to the streets in over 80 Spanish cities.

­Violence erupted in Madrid around midnight after dozens of protesters reached the city’s Puerta del Sol square and clashed with riot police. Security forces used batons, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd as it tried to enter the congress building located on the square. Some of the protesters lobbed bottles at officers.

In some urban areas, activists set trash cans on fire and tried to block police vehicle access with barricades of plastic bins and cardboard boxes. No injuries or arrests have been reported.

Demonstrators carried flags and banners decorated with scissors, symbolizing the country's harsh spending cuts. The streets of Madrid were paralyzed by the boundless crowds of people bellowing “Hands up, this is a robbery!” An estimated 100,000 people participated in the demonstrations in the capital.

In Barcelona, similar scenes were reported. About a dozen protesters were arrested outside the local parliament building.

Eight firemen stripped naked in the northern town of Mieres near Oviedo. "With so many cuts we have been left naked," declared a banner on the wall above them.

The demonstrations were organized by unions who have been outraged by the government’s new measures. One such measure is an end to Christmas bonuses for civil servants, which amounts to a 3.5 to 7 per cent reduction in annual pay.

"There's nothing we can do but take to the street. We have lost between 10 and 15 per cent of our pay in the past four years," demonstrator Sara Alvera, 51, a worker in the justice sector, told AFP.

"We are two and a half million votes. I hope they are thinking about that," said Jose Luis Martinez, 52, who works at the interior ministry, told Reuters.

"We have to make some noise, because they're making fun of us and of all working people," said Iria, 34, an auditor in the treasury.

­Earlier Thursday, Spanish Parliament approved a new package of spending cuts and tax hikes aiming to save $80 billion in a bid to take a bite out of the budget deficit. Since the measure was announced last week, Spain has witnessed a series of daily demonstrations,
some of which have erupted into violence.

Europe's fourth-largest economy also has the EU's highest unemployment rate. About a quarter of working-age Spaniards are unable to find work.

Meanwhile, Germany’s lower house approved a $122 billion rescue package for Spanish banks in a bid to help the country cope with "excessive" market fears and prevent the eurozone's debt crisis from spreading further.

Source: Spanish Rallies Turn Violent as Million People Protest in 80 Cities

Protest Video: Over a million march across Spain against harsh austerity


Spain Clashes Video: Violence erupts as million-plus protest in 80 cities


19J Madrid arde de nuevo: cargas en el centro