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Athens Cleans Up Following Violent Clashes

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A woman walks past a destroyed building in central Athens on Monday following a night of rioting in central Athens after lawmakers approved harsh new austerity measures. (AP)
A woman walks past a destroyed building in central Athens on Monday following a night of rioting in central Athens after lawmakers approved harsh new austerity measures. (AP)

By: The ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATHENS - Firefighters doused smoldering buildings and cleanup crews swept rubble from the streets of central Athens on Monday following a night of rioting during which lawmakers approved harsh new austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors to save the nation from bankruptcy.

The rioting began Sunday afternoon ahead of a landmark vote in Parliament on yet more austerity measures. The drastic cuts debated in parliament include axing one in five civil service jobs over the next three years and slashing the minimum wage by more than a fifth.

Lawmakers approved the bill in a 199-74 vote - to the relief of investors who pushed the Athens stock index up 5 percent on Monday.

The vote paves the way for Greece's international creditors to release (euro) 130 billion ($172 billion) in new rescue loans to prevent the country from a potentially catastrophic default next month - bankruptcy could push Greece out of Europe's euro currency union, drag down other troubled eurozone countries and further roil global markets.

Guest:

  • Tom Stoukas, Bloomberg News reporter

This segment aired on February 13, 2012.

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