Violent protests in Greece over austerity measures
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Saturday, March 06, 2010
Athens saw its most serious unrest since the financial crisis began, as MPs passed austerity measures.
Greek police clashed in front of parliament with stone-throwing youths protesting against austerity measures on Friday but lawmakers still passed the bill in an emergency vote. Police fired teargas to disperse dozens of demonstrators who hurled stones, burnt garbage containers and scuffled with other protestors. Strikes also shut schools and brought public transport in Athens to a halt.
In spite of the protests, lawmakers passed much of a 4.8 billion euro (4.2 billion pound) package including cuts on public servants' bonuses and a 2 percentage hike of VAT.