Athens is rioting again

While Angela Merkel is in London telling us we shouldn't leave the EU and cooking up the latest plan for avoiding a referendum whilst giving away as much power as possible to the EU, the Greeks are rioting once again.

The usual Syntagma Square webcam on a hotel has been taken down but there is a low quality video feed available that looks like it's being streamed off a mobile phone.

Greeks are protesting against EU-imposed austerity measures again with a vote being taken now in the Greek parliament on new crippling austerity measures which will further decimate the Greek economy and drive them further into depression.

The europhile Greek president, Antonis Samaras, says that the vote is to ensure Greece stays in the €urozone and that the alternative is to "return to the drachma and isolation".  Returning to the drachma is exactly what Greece needs - ditch the €uro for the drachma and devalue to drive up exports and domestic production.

Update:
The Greek parliament has passed the austerity bill by 153 votes to 147.

Athens burns while Greek MPs debate EU austerity demands

Greek MPs are currently debating the EU's austerity demands while outside their parliament building, thousands of Greeks are rioting.

There has been so much violent unrest in Athens today that the Greek police have run out of tear gas and are asking for more supplies.  There is an unconfirmed report that the EU's private paramilitary, Eurogendfor - known to have been in Greece since the end of last year - are in Athens.

There are apparently at least 12 buildings on fire in the vicinity of the Greek parliament, including 2 banks and a Starbucks.  Metro stations near the parliament building have been closed by the police to keep protesters away but there are a few small groups of protesters milling round, presumably waiting for something to happen.  Worryingly, the Communist Party seem to be the most effective group at mobilising supporters on the streets and the Communist-affiliated PACE union have announced their intention to fill Syntagma Square where the parliament building is located with protesters tonight.

There is considerable opposition to the austerity bill in the Greek parliament, although not as much as there is on the streets of Athens.  The bill is unlikely to fail because nobody has the balls to admit that Greece has to default and leave the EU and the €urozone to survive but it is likely to bring down the government in the process.

You can follow events on the Athens News website and live cams are available here and here (cams are going up and down).