Protesters, Cops Clash as Greek Protests Turn Ugly

Marchers are angry over austerity cuts
By Liam Carnahan,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 26, 2012 1:47 PM CDT
Protesters, Cops Clash as Greek Protests Turn Ugly
A fire bomb explodes among riot police during clashes in Athens Wednesday Sept. 26, 2012.   (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis)

Between 50,000 and 70,000 raging Greeks took to the streets today, trading gas bombs and chunks of concrete with police tear gas and pepper spray as demonstrations amid a 24-hour nationwide strike turned violent, reports the AP. Demonstrators marched on the nation's parliament to protest austerity measures taken by Greece's coalition government, which formed in June. "We can't take it anymore—we are bleeding. We can't raise our children like this," one protester tells Reuters.

Chants of "People, fight, they're drinking your blood!" rang out at the protests, as the nation's prime minister and financial minister struggled to work out a $14.87 billion package of austerity measures—definitely not a crowd-pleaser. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal notes that Spain, which saw its own mass protests yesterday, has unveiled a fresh round of economic overhauls, including limiting early retirement. (More Greek debt crisis stories.)

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