Greece's economic downturn 'substantially worse than forecast' - live

[xchrom]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/blog/2011/oct/20/eu-crisis-emergency-talks

3.05 pm: The word from Athens is that, following violent clashes between rival groups of protesters (anarchists and communist party unionists), the streets are calmer.

There has again been heavy use of teargas and stun grenades, with the 'boom' of explosions echoing around the city, according to reports from the scene.

Theodora Oikonomides (who we interviewed yesterday) says ambulances have been arriving to pick up some of the wounded.

2.42pm: Afternoon all. Quick peek at the financial markets first. Wall Street has just opened for trading -- despite the gloomy news coming out of Europe today, the Dow Jones is up 27 points at 11,531.

[xchrom]

1. Greece austerity plan draws thousands of protesters onto streets - video

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/oct/20/greece-austerity-protesters-video

ens of thousands demonstrate outside the Greek parliament building in Athens to demonstrate against a new austerity package which politicians are expected to approve. The protest ended in ferocious street fighting on Wednesday after riot police fired tear gas into the crowd and youths responded with a volley of rocks and petrol bombs

[Dover]

2. the dow is probably up today because they bet against Greece and recovery..

It's all a game. Will corporations and financial institutions destroy the planet? Place your bets now!

[FarCenter]

3. With all the strikes and rioting, it is no wonder that the economy is down

I'd think that tourism, particularly, is hard hit.

I know of at least one couple who decided against a vacation in Greece.

[xchrom]

4. um...no. nt

[CaliforniaHiker]

5. From what I've heard

The Greeks have kept the riots out of the most popular tourist areas for the most part. I have no doubt that some have decided against visiting Greece due to the strikes and riots, but Greece has tried to stay tourist friendly.