Closing summary
OK, it’s time for a recap after a fairly dramatic day.
The first general strike since Alexis Tsipras took power in Greece has been marred by isolated violence in Athens.
Riot police fired tear gas after a group of extremists launched Molotov cocktails at them, in scenes reminiscent of the 2012 debt crisis.
Petrol bombs were also thrown at bins, a van, roadblocks, and the front of the Bank of Greece’s offices. Reporters on the scene said groups of youths were behind the disruption.
Riot police hit back with teargas and stun grenades, sending demonstrators - and at least one group of holidaymakers from the UK - scattering.
Before the clashes, more than 20,000 people marched through Athens to urge the government to abandon the austerity measures demanded by its lenders. Here’s a selection of photos from the day.
Demonstrators told us that they fear for Greece’s future, as winter approached.
Marilena Pavlou, a nursery school teacher, warned:
“The situation is tragic and soon when the government pushes us more on the tax front, more on the cuts front it won’t be good natured at all.
And 63-year-old Maria Athanassiadou told AFP:
“I am protesting against the government because they are making fools of us. I am a pensioner and I have no idea what my pension will be.”
Unions say that today’s general strike was well-observed across Greece, as the public show their anger over Greece’s third bailout package.
But small businesses have criticised unions for calling the walkout. They fear it will harm the country’s attempts to end the financial crisis.
Transport connections have been shut down today, along with some museums, schools and pharmacies. Many travellers arrived at rail stations or ports to find trains cancelled, and ferries tied up.
Belgium’s finance minister criticised Tsipras’s Syriza party for supporting the protests, against a bailout which Tsipras signed up to this summer.
But a government spokesman denied that this was inconsistent, as:
“We are implementing an agreement which includes (bailout) measures which are unfair.”
And while the protests took place, officials from Greece and its lenders battled to reach a deal on mortgage arrears rules. Athens still wants to protect more homeowners from losing their houses if they can’t meet their repayments.
A deal must come before Monday, if Greece is to unlock €10bn of aid to recapitalise its banks, plus €2bn in loans.
#Greece gov saying it hopes to conclude negotiations with creditors by Saturday so that 2 bn loan & bank recap funds can b unlocked
— Helena Smith (@HelenaSmithGDN) November 12, 2015
We’re hearing that petrol bombs were thrown at the headquarters of the left-wing Pasok party in downtown Athens, and that no-one was hurt.
About 10 people, around 4.30 pm, threw Molotov cocktails in front of PASOK offices, in the area of Exarchia #12ngr
— Alexia L. (@AlexiaGH20) November 12, 2015
Greece’s unions are declaring today’s general strike a success.
Helena Smith has the details:
ADEDY, the civil servants’ trade union which reckons the strike’s turnout was at least 65% across Greece.
Grigoris Kalomoiris, who sits on the union’s executive committee, tells me:
“As industrial action goes it was very successful. We estimate at least 65% and perhaps as much as 70% participated. Rallies in regional towns outside Athens was especially high.”
Updated
In pictures: Today's protests
These photos show how the anti-austerity demonstration in Athens began in a good-hearted, peaceful fashion, before a group of extremists clashed with riot police:
Not everyone in Greece backs today’s general strike, reports Helena Smith.
Those in the private sector, now generating most of the country’s wealth, are furious at what they regard as the indulged antics of pampered public sector workers widely seen as the root cause of Greece’s economic woes.
Shopkeepers in central Athens this morning were irate that they should be made to bear the brunt of yet more protests – and appalled that the GSEE, the union representing private sector workers was actually backing it.
“All I want to do is get on with the business of selling [eye] glasses,” said Spyros Gerakidis, an optician whose family-run business is within walking distance of Syntagma square.
“Every time there are strikes and rallies it messes up the market.”
I have been getting an extraordinary rap for my piece earlier today citing trade unionists and far left activists who organized the strike. Greece, say critics, is moving ever closer to becoming a failed state precisely because of its failure to modernize and deal with its cumbersome state apparatus.
“It is no secret that the Greek public sector not only represents a terrible burden on taxpayers (various tax and social security withholdings represent approximately 50% of payroll cost), but in addition is profoundly corrupt,” wrote one prominent Athenian business lawyer, in an email today.
He claims that, by not reforming, the Greek public sector is causing “economic regression and social decay”.
“The Greek public sector serves not the interests of our society but the interests of public sector employees, both by the extraction of favourable employment terms and the absolute lack of effective management (including any form of evaluation.”
As a result, Greece’ mammoth fiscal adjustment had moved predominantly to the private sector which had also borne the brunt of record unemployment.
Tear gas and petrol bombs are not what you hope for during a holiday.
So Katie Wallace, from Glasgow, had an unpleasant surprise today when the violence kicked off in Athens.
She tells me that she hadn’t known about the protests until Wednesday, when she asked a barman to translate one of the posters that had been stuck up around the capital.
Their hotel assured Katie that Athens would be “completely safe”, so she happily visited a cafe...and Molotov cocktails landed close by.
Trust us to be like 50yards away #wrongplacewrongtime https://t.co/IPA1jkkpnh
— katie wallace (@KtotheTdawg) November 12, 2015
@graemewearden Bit shaken thrown out of cafe as soon as first petrol bomb went off but swiftly made our way bk to hotel #tothebar Thank u 👌
— katie wallace (@KtotheTdawg) November 12, 2015
Updated
We now have video footage of today’s clashes:
Not every young person in Greece went round chucking petrol bombs today.
In the city of Patras, school students led a protest march against the new austerity measures which include budget cuts to education.
The small group of protesters behind today’s violence have moved back to the Exharchia region of downtown Athens, leaving quite a mess behind:
#Greece gen strike "anti-establishment" protestors have receded to Exharchia after disrupting protest rallies marking 2day's gen strike
— Helena Smith (@HelenaSmithGDN) November 12, 2015
#Greece same depressing site of smashed bus stands, flaming rubbish bins, smashed shops/bank/marble steps at end of otherwise peaceful rally
— Helena Smith (@HelenaSmithGDN) November 12, 2015
More photos of the clashes which broke out earlier are coming in:
Updated
Greece’s prime minister may not see the protests in Athens first-hand.
He’s attending the EU/Africa summit on migration in Malta today, where he’s shared a joke with German chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Greek prime minister’s increasingly cosy relationship with the woman he once vilified has unnerved Greeks who once gave him their unqualified support, reports Helena Smith. Aides have reportedly told the leftist leader to smile less!
Tsipras doesn’t have much to smile about when it comes to the crisis -- the Commission is reportedly putting pressure on Greece not to push refugees on into the EU.
Updated
Bank offices hit by petrol bombs
Petrol bombs have also been thrown at the offices of the National Bank of Greece.
#Athens #now #generalstrikegr attack against the National Bank of Greece #apergia pic.twitter.com/KI2PW2UVHw
— Souidos (@Souidos) November 12, 2015
There’s a video clip of the incident here, on Naftemporiki’s website.
Video showing petrol bombs thrown at entrance of #Greece's central bank in #Athens during rally https://t.co/tS5kYhHLU0 via @naftemporikigr
— Daphne Papadopoulou (@daphnenews) November 12, 2015
Updated
(Expensive looking) Shoe shop targeted by violent protesters #Greece pic.twitter.com/wde8D2wtcv
— Derek Gatopoulos (@dgatopoulos) November 12, 2015
The AFP newswire has more details about how the violence unfolded one hour ago:
As the demonstration kicked off, scores of youths began vandalising shops, bus stops and traffic lights, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
The violence began when around 150 youths attacked police stationed in front of a row of luxury hotels on central Syntagma square, then quickly retreated.
During the unrest, youths also set a car alight with Molotov cocktails.
This video appears to show the OTE van which was hit by a petrol bomb today (see earlier post).
Despite being burned out, the van’s windscreen wipers are still defiantly working.
#12ngr #apergia pic.twitter.com/cUU0SVQx6I
— Speira Perez ★ (@SpyrosLeon) November 12, 2015
Updated
#Greece gen strike: burning road blocs and burning van now focus of clashes as youths mar otherwise peaceful protests rallies in #Athens
— Helena Smith (@HelenaSmithGDN) November 12, 2015
Another photo of the moment that petrol bombs were thrown in Athens:
Petrol bombs +stones hurled to riot cops in Syntagma. Cops throw stun grenades+ chemicals pic.twitter.com/pAGj3AN5HQ @MakisSinodinos @doleross
— Joanna P. (@JoannaP___) November 12, 2015
The clashes have now moved from Syntagma Square to nearby Omonia Square.
Helena Smith reports from Athens.
Youths belonging to the “anti-establishment” black bloc have set fire to road blocks and a van belonging to the partly owned state telecommunications company OTE.
Greek police, who I encountered in Syntagma, said the protestors “deliberately targeted” the tomb of the unknown soldier.
Video: Greeks march through capital during general strike
Here’s a video clip of this morning’s demonstrations:
Clashes briefly break out during Athens demonstration for general strike. Some Molotovs, tear gas. #Greece
— Elena Becatoros (@ElenaBec) November 12, 2015
AP: Clashes sparked by youths with Molotovs
Associated Press reports that the petrol bombs were thrown by a group of ‘youths’, triggering a predictable response from the riot police:
Clashes have broken out between riot police and youths at a demonstration in central Athens during the first general strike since the country’s left-led government initially came to power in January.
Youths broke away from a protest march Thursday, throwing Molotov cocktails at police who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
#Greece general strike plumes of black smoke wafting over central Athens skyline after clashes in front of Greek parliament
— Helena Smith (@HelenaSmithGDN) November 12, 2015
The protests had been proceeding peacefully, before the (sadly familiar) sight of petrol bombs and tear gas in Athens.
AP’s Derek Gatopoulos reports that the violence was “limited”, and that some paving stones in Syntagma Square were broken up too:
(Limited) violence at strike demo. Paving stones smashed, tear gas #Greece pic.twitter.com/SpTwctJgxV
— Derek Gatopoulos (@dgatopoulos) November 12, 2015
Here’s Reuters early report from the Greek capital:
Greek police fired tear gas to disperse anti-austerity protesters hurling petrol bombs in central in Athens on Thursday.
Earlier, thousands took to the streets to protest against EU/IMF-imposed austerity measures in the first nationwide strike called by Greece’s main public and private sector unions since leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras came to power in January.
Updated
Some demonstrators are now reforming into groups, as the situation calms down.
The demonstrators who had been protesting peacefully outside the Greek parliament are now leaving quickly, as scores of riot police clear the area.
Updated
Petrol bombs and tear gas in Athens
Explosions are suddenly ringing out across the Greek capital.
Petrol bombs have just been thrown at the Greek riot police in Syntagma Square, who have also fired tear gas at protesters.
Another group of demonstrators just arrived at Syntagma Square, to join the large group of banner-waving protesters already outside the parliament building:
Updated
Athens police reckon that around 24,000 people have taken to the streets in the capital, according to AP’s Elena Becatoros:
Police figures: About 24,000 people in 3 separate protest marches in Athens as part of general #strike. #Greece pic.twitter.com/u0FODaAXJl
— Elena Becatoros (@ElenaBec) November 12, 2015
We’re asking the unions if they agree....
Twitter user Joanna P is tweeting photos from the protests in the city of Thessaloniki, including shots of riot police:
People have taken to the streets in Thessaloniki too amid the 1st general strike under #Syriza led gov pic.twitter.com/O3328CJAOu @alterthess
— Joanna P. (@JoannaP___) November 12, 2015
At least 30 police motorcycles & 5 riot squads behind anarchist groups in Thessaloniki pic.twitter.com/GBSzzhPJae @alterthess #12ngr #strike
— Joanna P. (@JoannaP___) November 12, 2015
She’s also spotted some anti-Tsipras slogans:
Baloon reads "Alexis Words". I guess it implies that #Tsipras does a lot of air talking pic.twitter.com/YGyYm2HeyQ @sapienchia #12ngr #strike
— Joanna P. (@JoannaP___) November 12, 2015
Watch the protests here
Russia Today are carrying a live TV feed from Athens.
It currently shows groups of protesters with banners massing at Syntagma Square, outside the Greek parliament.
Updated
It looks like a solid turnout in Athens, and a peaceful protest too:
Protesters march past parliament during first general #strike under SYRIZA-led government. #Greece pic.twitter.com/n2sos82GtR
— Elena Becatoros (@ElenaBec) November 12, 2015
Thousands protest outside Greek parliament
Thousands of people have now gathered in Syntagma Square, the site of the Athens parliament, to protest against the third Greek bailout package:
#Greece: Thousands in front of the Parliament now for the general #strike pic.twitter.com/jz9whwKEtz
— Savvas Karmaniolas (@SavvasKarma) November 12, 2015
Pame trade unionists have also managed to draw big crowds to a well-attended rally in the northern Greek capital of Thessaloniki.
Our correspondent Helena Smith reports.
Thousands are reported to have gathered in central Thessaloniki with online news media (those which are working, anyway) describing the protest as a blow against the “defeatism” that has marked Greece’s debt crisis to date.
The newsit.gr site reported demonstrators as saying.
“The time has now come to take matters into our hands, to wage war to avert a new crime.
No submission to defeatism, fatalism, the logic that nothing can happen.”
By waging an “organised battle,” protestors could prevent new cost-cutting measures from being taken and win back lost rights, organisers were quoted as saying.
Dimitris Karageorgopoulos, press secretary of the GSEE union, has told CNBC that the Greek government cannot backtrack on its pledges to ease austerity:
Before the elections, there were some promises to society. If the tactic of the government is ‘whatever we said, holds no more’, they will find the workforce in front of them.
We owe it to our families, our pensioners, and the young people who are leaving Greece. We can’t take this anymore. Not just the measures, but being fooled”.
My latest update on the #Greekeconomy, as #Greece's #Tsipras faces general strike https://t.co/Qj6STmxGbU
— Nefeli Agkyridou (@nefeliagk) November 12, 2015
Kathimerini’s cartoonist has taken a pop at prime minister Alexis Tsipras, over Syriza’s support for today’s protests:
Cartoon https://t.co/h54J3zO77j pic.twitter.com/WMbOhWmfmh
— Kathimerini English (@ekathimerini) November 12, 2015
Updated
When it comes to an organised protest, you can’t beat Greece’s PAME union:
Associated Press confirms that public services have shut down across Greece today, in the first general strike since Syriza won power in January.
Public transport was severely disrupted, with the Athens metro not running, bus and trolley routes reduced and ferries tied up in port, severing connections between islands and the mainland. The strike shut down museums, schools and pharmacies, while state hospitals were functioning with emergency staff.
More than a dozen domestic flights were canceled, while journalists also walked off the job, pulling news bulletins off the air except to report on the strike. News websites were not being updated, while no Friday newspapers were to be printed.
Here's @AP story on #Greece's general strike https://t.co/pDiB67oXGw pic.twitter.com/lbxp2MjWMr
— Derek Gatopoulos (@dgatopoulos) November 12, 2015
Rail travellers are also out of luck:
Members of PAME, the Communist-affiliated union, are now marching through Athens:
Updated
Syriza’s decision to publicly support today’s strike is being widely commented on in Athens, and abroad:
#Greece gen strike: so far good-natured & much hilarity that governing #Syriza party in surreal move also supporting the walk-out!
— Helena Smith (@HelenaSmithGDN) November 12, 2015
Today in Greece, #Syriza has called for a 24hr general strike against the austerity measures imposed by #Syriza. We do have fun. #Greece
— Katerina Vrana (@Vranarama) November 12, 2015
It shows who actually holds the levers of power in Athens, argues Bruno Waterfield of The Times:
It's all about who is really in charge - eurozone rules the province once known as the Hellenic Republic https://t.co/gOgl1ChS8E
— Bruno Waterfield (@BrunoBrussels) November 12, 2015
Updated
Mario Draghi’s defence of the eurozone’s austerity programmes is being challenged by MEPs from Ireland:
Irish MEP flips back Draghi's phrasing - 'The ECB wasn't a firefighter in our crisis. It was one of the arsonists'
— Mike Bird (@Birdyword) November 12, 2015
Ireland was controversially forced to nationalise its failed banks under pressure from the ECB, sparing bondholders from losses at the expense of the Irish taxpayer.
Greek protesters fear for the future
Protestors representing the country’s two biggest unions in both the public and private sector are converging on Klafmonos square in central Athens now for today’s protest rally
Helena Smith reports:
Their central slogan; “No to new and old memorandums.” Under bright sunshine Klafmonos - so named for the workers who wept in the square more than a century ago when successive governments swept them from their public sector jobs - has become a sea of good-natured resistance.
Marilena Pavlou, a nursery school teacher told me that the mood will soon darken.
“The situation is tragic and soon when the government pushes us more on the tax front, more on the cuts front it won’t be good natured at all.
“Everyone I know is dreading this winter. We are caught up in a vicious cycle, the government knows that, the people know that, the Europeans know it too. All my friends who supported Syriza are beginning to leave en masse. It’s scary.”
By 10:45 AM local time central Athens had been turned into a vast mass of protestors with Pame, the militant communist-backed union, drawing thousands onto the streets in a march on parliament, up from Omonia square.
Taxes, salaries and what is widely perceived as the ransacking of the social security system in the form of pension cuts, are the focus of the protests - and the myriad banners held aloft by protestors.
Giorgos Tsoukas, an erstwhile factory manager, says he spent 40 years contributing to social security payments only “to see it all collapse before I could enjoy any of it.”
“Every month my pension has been cut by 50 euro or more and the government expects me to keep coughing up more in taxes.”
Updated
Tourists hoping to visit the legendary Acropolis in Athens today are in for disappointment. It’s closed today, as staff take part in the walkout:
Back in Greece, government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili has denied that Syriza is wrong to support today’s protests against the bailout programme it signed up to.
Reuters has the details:
The party has said it will implement its side of the bargain with lenders, but has long maintained that the bailout terms are excessively harsh.
“We are implementing an agreement which includes (bailout) measures which are unfair,” Gerovasili said.
Draghi: Don't blame us for bailout misery
It’s wrong to blame the European Central Bank for the austerity misery suffered by bailed-out eurozone members, Mario Draghi claims.
The ECB chief is defending the way events unfolded in Ireland, Greece, Cyprus and beyond, arguing that things would have been even worse without the ‘adjustment programmes’ demanded by creditor.
During his testimony to the European Parliament, Draghi says:
Since 2010, three countries have now successfully completed their programmes, and Ireland is a particularly good example of how such programmes can deliver the necessary adjustment and restore financial stability, economic competitiveness and fiscal sustainability. It has shown that a country which takes strong ownership of its programme can come out of it with robust growth and a more stable financial system, and that eventually employment will also rebound.
There is no doubt that the adjustment process was painful. But we should keep in mind that the adjustment would have caused significantly more hardship in the absence of financial assistance. The programmes had to address excessive macroeconomic imbalances which had accumulated over several years in the run-up to the crisis, often reflecting misguided national economic policies.
As we have said before: don’t blame the fire damage on the fire brigade.
#Draghi on harshness of euro-area bailout programs: "don’t blame the fire damage on the fire brigade" https://t.co/TzQ4hV3Oc5
— Maxime Sbaihi (@MxSba) November 12, 2015
Draghi: Let's not forget that Ireland's banking crisis was "entirely home-made"
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) November 12, 2015
Central bankers are never wrong about anything, of course.
But critics will argue that some of the austerity measures forced on Greece actually threw petrol, not water, on the flames, helping to wipe out 25% of GDP.
Updated
Euro hits new seven-month low
#Draghi talks, the euro tanks. Now below 1.07, new 7-month low.
— Maxime Sbaihi (@MxSba) November 12, 2015
European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has begun testifying to the European Parliament, and sent the euro falling.
Draghi began by warning that the eurozone faces clear ‘downside risks’ from the global economy, and weakening inflation pressure too.
Euro draghid lower as #ECB's Draghi sees downside econ risks. pic.twitter.com/MyFQYuc7m4
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) November 12, 2015
Here’s the key quote:
Downside risks stemming from global growth and trade are clearly visible.
Moreover, inflation dynamics have somewhat weakened, mainly due to lower oil prices and the delayed effects of the stronger euro exchange rate seen earlier in the year. In addition, price pressures – such as from producer prices – remain very subdued.
And he followed up with a hint that further stimulus may be required, perhaps as soon as next month:
#Draghi At our December monetary policy meeting, we will re-examine the degree of monetary policy accommodation #ECB #QE
— Shaun Richards (@notayesmansecon) November 12, 2015
ECB's Draghi: QE would run beyond end-September 2016 if needed
— DailyFXTeamMember (@DailyFXTeam) November 12, 2015
Updated
Greek unions pledge to fight austerity
Today’s walkout could be the start of a winter of discontent in Greece.
Unions are vowing to intensify the pressure against further austerity measures being implemented, arguing that Greek citizens cannot take any more.
Our Athens correspondent Helena Smith reports:
“The winter is going to be explosive and this will mark the beginning,” said Grigoris Kalomoiris, a leading member of the civil servants’ union Adedy.
“When the average wage has already been cut by 30%, when salaries are already unacceptably low, when the social security system is at risk of collapse, we cannot sit still,” he said.
Here’s her early report on the general strike:
Back in the City, shares in UK engineering group Rolls-Royce have plunged by a fifth at the start of trading.
The company has shocked investors with another profits warning, saying that the outlook for 2016 has deteriorated sharply and is now ‘very challenging’.
Transport disruption in Greece
All Greece’s public services, including tax offices and utilities, are due to be closed today to mark the general strike:
The Kathimerini newspaper has the details:
Public hospitals will be operating with skeleton staff. Pharmacists, doctors, teachers and bank employees will also walk off the job.
The Athens metro will be shut throughout the day, as will the Proastiakos suburban railway and intercity trains. The Kifissia-Piraeus electric railway (ISAP) will only operate between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Buses in the capital will be out of service before 9 a.m. and after 9 p.m. There will be no ferry connections between the mainland and the islands as the Panhellenic Seamens’ Federation (PNO) is also joining in the strike. Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air have announced flight cancellations for Thursday.
Museums and archaeological sites will be shut as guards will not be working.
Belgian finance minister criticises Syriza for supporting strike
Belgium’s finance minister has just blasted Greece’s ruling party for backing today’s general strike, against a bailout it signed up to.
Johan Van Overtveldt tweeted that the move “strange and dangerous”, at a time when Athens should be racing to meet its bailout targets.
Strange & dangerous logic in Athens: Syriza organises strike against program its own government pledges to execute. Sense of urgency needed.
— Johan Van Overtveldt (@jvanovertveldt) November 12, 2015
Updated
In what may be a first for the eurozone, today’s general strike is actually supported by the ruling party, Alexis Tsipras’s Syriza coalition.
Yesterday Syriza’s Labor Policy Department called on all workers, unemployed, pensioners and students to join the general strike on Thursday.
They urged citizens to “actively respond” to the pressure of creditors who continue “the dynamics of extreme, unpopular neoliberal policies.”
These policies, though, were accepted by Tsipras under huge pressure this summer, when Greece finally caved into a third bailout deal.
It’s quite a paradox...
#greek general strike is supported by the key Government party against the measures of which it is targeted. #oxymoron #surreal
— Teemu Lehtinen (@TJELeh) November 12, 2015
Today’s walkout is the first general strike to hit Greece under prime minister Alexis Tsipras’s leadership:
It will be a new experience for the left-wing leader, as Bloomberg reports:
As Greek workers take to the streets in protest on Thursday, Alexis Tsipras will for the first time be on the other side of the barricades.
Unions -- a key support base for the prime minister’s Syriza party -- will chant the same slogans Tsipras once used against opponents. Doctors and pharmacists will join port workers, civil servants and Athens metro staff in Greece’s first general strike since he took office in January, bringing the country to a standstill for 24 hours.
ADEDY and GSEE, Greece’s biggest unions, have called for a rally at 11 am local time [9am GMT], accusing Tsipras of bowing to creditors and imposing measures that “perpetuate the dark ages for workers.”
Greece comes to a standstill as general strike sees unions turn against PM https://t.co/8rVybGgsqr pic.twitter.com/K7vrR5WVH2
— Bloomberg Business (@business) November 12, 2015
Updated
The agenda: General strike in Greece, Draghi faces MEPs
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
Public anger over Greece’s third bailout will hit the streets today, as its biggest unions call a 24-hour walkout and protests in Athens.
Greece will grind to a standstill as workers demonstrate against the tax rises and pension reforms agreed with its creditors this summer, in return for a third bailout. Shops and offices will be shuttered, and transport links disrupted, as Greeks vent their frustrations over the state of play.
The scale of the protest will highlight how much public anger and disappointment is bubbling away in the country.
A year which began with prime minister Alexis Tsipras promising to end austerity draws to an end with more painful cuts and tax hikes looming.
The protests comes as the Athens authorities try to reach agreement with creditors to unlock the next tranche of aid from July’s bailout deal.
They are still at odds over how to implement laws covering mortgages in default and other bad debts.
Greece has until Monday to reach a compromise, and unlock €2bn in loans plus €10-bn to recapitalise its banking sector. The stakes are rising again.....
Also coming up this morning
Mario Draghi, the ECB president, is due to testify at the European Parliament this morning, from 8.30am GMT (9.30am Brussels). He’ll be fielding questions on the eurozone economy, the deflation threat, as well as Greece I imagine.
A flurry of top Federal Reserve officials are also speaking today, including Fed chair Janet Yellen.
That should set ears waggling in the City and on Wall Street, for hints that US interest rates may be hiked in December.
Plenty of Fed speakers today: #Yellen,Evans, #Lacker, #Dudley.First peep from Yellen since last week's #payroll blockbuster. @newsdotmarkets
— David Cottle (@DCottleDJN) November 12, 2015
While in the City, engine maker Rolls Royce has just cut its profit guidance for 2016 - more on that shortly....
Engine maker Rolls-Royce cuts profit forecast again - fourth profit warning in just over a year
— Julia Kollewe (@JuliaKollewe) November 12, 2015
Fashion group Burberry and cars-to-cycles group Halfords are also reporting results.
Burberry, which issued a profits warning last month, has posted a 5% rise in adjusted profits for the last six months. But it also cautions that “the external environment became more challenging in key markets over the period”. That’s the slowing Chinese economy.
And Halfords has warned that its cycling sales are down again, due to weakness in July and August.
We’ll be tracking all the main events through the day...
Updated
