Athens is witnessing a general strike and nationwide demonstrations against planned austerity measures by the government. Hundreds of thousands protesters across Greece claim that austerity measures agreed by the Greek government with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are unfair to the poor.

Greece's parliament passed an austerity bill on Thursday that will allow the country to receive a joint European Union-International Monetary Fund emergency loan. The bill was passed just as thousands of Greeks gathered outside parliament during the vote showing their anger at the austerity bill, which include salary and pension cuts as well as tax hikes.

The two day general strike started on Tuesday and has resulted in a breakdown of normal life in Greece, including schools, hospital, public transportation and air traffic. On Tuesday, civil servants were protesting over having their pays and pensions cut. The government is imposing the spending cuts demanded by the IMF and other European countries so that debt-ridden Greece gets the 110-billion-euro bail-out package of loans to keep it from defaulting.

The protestors, armed with slabs of marble, bottles and Molotov cocktails fought with police, put fire on buildings and cars, destroyed shops and tried to attack the parliament. The bodies of three people, including a pregnant woman, were discovered inside a bank in central Athens after ...