Greek protests hit by violent clashes

A PROTEST march by 50,000 Greeks over planned government cuts to bring burgeoning debt under control ended in violent clashes with police yesterday.

The violence lasted about 30 minutes when scores of youths hurled rocks, paint and plastic bottles near parliament and officers responded by firing tear gas.

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