Riot police clashed with demonstrators outside parliament today as a general strike paralysed Greece, shutting down schools, hospitals and international flights and raising pressure on a fragile government reeling from four days of riots.

Street violence eased early today after masked youths and looters rampaged through Greek cities for four days in an explosion of rage triggered by the police shooting of a teenager.

Hundreds of youths smashed, burned and looted their way through Greek cities in a third day of mayhem after the shooting of a teenager by police sparked the worst riots in decades.

At least two people died and 90 others were injured when a strong earthquake struck southwestern Greece today.

American film director Jules Dassin, whose Greek wife Melina Mercouri starred in his hit movie 'Never On Sunday' and six more of his films, has died in Athens at 96.

A new, smaller Greek Cabinet will be sworn in today, giving conservative Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis a streamlined governing team for his party’s second term.

Greece’s conservative prime minister has won re-election with a diminished majority in parliament after a financial scandal and devastating forest fires that killed more than 65 people last month.

Conservative prime minister, Costas Karamanlis, declared victory in Greece's parliamentary election tonight, although official results showed he would have a slimmer majority in parliament.

Official results with just more than 40% of the total vote in the Greek election today counted showed Karamanlis' New Democracy party ahead with 43.7% and the opposition socialist PASOK party in second place with 38.5%.

Polls opened at dawn today as Greeks began voting in snap general elections that will determine the fate of governing conservatives who have been hurt by deadly wildfires and a challenge from the far right.

Promises of aid poured in from Greece and abroad as firefighters managed to douse most of the massive fires that ravaged the Greek countryside for a week and killed 64 people.

All major blazes in Greece were under control today, and firefighters were working to extinguish smaller fires in the southern part of the country.

FIREFIGHTERS battled the country’s last big blaze in southern Greece yesterday after managing to bring under control hundreds of others that for one week ravaged large parts of the country and killed at least 64 people.

Firefighters battled the country’s last major blaze in southern Greece today, after managing to bring under control hundreds of others that for one week ravaged large parts of the country and killed at least 64 people.

Foreign firefighters and aircraft joined the battle today against blazes in southern Greece that have killed 64 people.

Forest fires that have claimed at least 40 lives raged uncontrolled across vast areas of southern Greece today as a new blaze threatened buildings on the fringes of Athens.

A Greek privacy watchdog today fined mobile-phone operator Vodafone £51m (€76.1m) over a wiretapping scandal that involved the illegal monitoring of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

Olympic chief Jacques Rogge’s Olympic venue tour roadshow rolled on today with a visit to the main press centre, with the IOC boss declaring the press have never had it so good.