One man died at an anti-austerity rally in Athens held during a national general strike as EU leaders were to tackle the eurozone crisis at a summit in Brussels.

Senior judge Panagiotis Pikramenos was named Greece’s caretaker prime minister today, and new elections will be held on June 17, according to reports on state TV.

About 6,000 Greek Communist Party supporters marched through central Athens today to protest against austerity measures imposed by the socialist government.

With a massive wildfire now contained after raging for two days near Athens, the Greek government was facing a different kind of firestorm today as media lambasted its response.

A partial drop in gale-force winds early today offered hard-pressed Greek firefighters a brief respite from the wildfires which have raged for two days north of Athens.