Coming To America? Clashes Break Out at Greek Crisis Protests

ATHENS, Greece — Police fired tear gas and clashed with demonstrators in Athens after some 50,000 people finished a peaceful march against cutbacks intended to fix the country's debt crisis.

The violence lasted about 30 minutes, when scores of youths hurled rocks, red paint and plastic bottles near parliament. Police said at least two people were detained, while several storefronts were vandalized.

Windows were smashed at the Finance Ministry's General Accounting Office, which has been accused by the European Union of slipshod statistics-keeping that made the financial crisis worse.

The day's protests were otherwise peaceful. Labor unions organized the protest march amid a 24-hour general strike that grounded flights, shut schools and crippled public services, in a show of strength against the government.

The walkout comes as Greece is considering tougher austerity measures to ward off a financial crisis that has undermined the euro and raised fears that financial market contagion will spread to other weak economies such as Portugal, Spain and Italy.
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