" websites were not updated and today's papers were cancelled". Lawyers, too, were scaling back their work.
Two demonstrations are planned in Athens to vice opposition against austerity and the third rescue package. The main rally totaled 20,000 people.
Yet Greeks in several major cities still took part in the day-long strike, with an estimated 8,000 people turning up in the port city of Thessaloniki, the country's second largest population center. The march was marred when a group of about 300 masked people threw rocks and incendiary devices at police, who responded with tear gas and flash grenades, ending the confrontation, witnesses said.
A few bombs struck the Greek central bank.
Police said one policeman was slightly injured before the clashes when three men attacked him.
A previous strike from November 2-5 by the island ferry seafarer's union PNO halted the transportation of refugees from Syria and other countries, thousands of whom have arrived in the Greek islands this year. "My students are starving", Dimitris Nomikos, 52, a teacher in Athens told Reuters.
At the very least, they highlighted the difficulty of balancing citizens' concerns over further cuts to social services with demands from Brussels that Greece rein in spending or risk crashing out of the eurozone. "I don't know if we will ever see our pensions", said Nomikos.
Rockets call players-only meeting in effort to correct slow start
In the meantime, it would help if Terrence Jones would start knocking down a shot or two to approximate the same type of effect. We'll have to see how he does next to Harden , and which player head coach Kevin McHale will eventually give the reigns to.
Other protesters voiced similar frustrations. "Pensions have already been cut seven or eight times and taxes keep rising", Malkoutzis says.
In a surreal move for the government, Syriza called on Greeks to take part in the protest against neoliberal policies the Syriza government is implementing, distinguishing the government from the party. "I wish Tsipras had done what he promised (to end austerity) but they didn't let him ..." The debt-ridden country has been battling the terms of its third bailout with the creditors.
The ruling Radical Left SYRIZA Party of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for mass participation in Thursday's strike.
Strikers will rally in central Athens and march by parliament, close to a hotel where the bailout review talks are taking place. The €2 billion fund for loan payout and €10 billion in recapitalization for banks will be blocked unless the talks between the parties break out of the current impasse.
Although the government has met numerous conditions for the disbursement, dealing with non-performing loans and allowing the repossession of homes whose owners have fallen into mortgage arrears remain sticking points.
Greek government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili denied suggestions that leftist SYRIZA was trying to play both sides in supporting the anti-austerity strike.
