Pensioner shoots self in Athens over debts

A cash-strapped Greek pensioner shot and killed himself outside parliament in Athens, saying he refused to scrounge for food in the rubbish.

The tragedy has touched a nerve among Greeks feeling the brunt of the country’s economic crisis.

The public suicide of the 77-year-old retired pharmacist quickly triggered an outpouring of sympathy in a country where one in five people are jobless and a sense of national humiliation has accompanied successive rounds of salary and pension cuts.