Bank torched, three dead in protests

Greek Prime Minister denounces “murders”

Three Greek bank workers are dead after their building was set aflame during protests against measures to cut government spending. “A demonstration is one thing and murder is quite another,” said Prime Minister George Papandreou, who vowed to find the people responsible. Tens of thousands participated in the national strike against the austerity measures, which include hiking taxes and slashing salaries and pensions for civil servants in order to in order to get a $144 billion bailout from the IMF and other countries. The protesters shouted “murderers” and “burn the parliament” as masked teens threw rocks at police and officers responded with tear gas. “Nothing less than the future of Europe … is at stake,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country is slated to give Greece up to $18.5 billion. “We are at a fork in the road.”

The Globe and Mail