Greek police fought a pitched battle on Thursday with around 100 young protesters which saw the center of Athens shut down for several hours amid a hail of stones and heavy clouds of tear gas.
Forty people were detained during the clashes in front of the parliament building that broke out on the sidelines of a student demonstration against higher education reforms, as deputies inside debated a new university law.
The youths, most wearing hoods or masks to avoid identification, burned down a guard post near parliament, destroyed two bank cash dispensers and threw stones at the Grande Bretagne, one of Athens' top hotels.
Police responded with tear gas and made 11 arrests among the 40 people detained.
Ten officers were slightly injured, the police said, and Greek media reported that at least 12 protesters were also hurt.
The clashes spread to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, forcing two presidential guards that normally mount a 24-hour vigil over the monument to flee.
"Every democratic citizen condemns the sacrilege that occurred today at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier," government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said.
The protesters also fired slingshots, breaking windows at the parliament building, state television reported.
A left-wing youth group that co-organized the demonstration accused police of "blind violence."
"This is a black day in the history of our country, when the center of Athens ran red with the blood of protesters ... defending their right for an education that serves real needs," the Left Coalition youth wing said.
The incidents occurred at the end of a protest march involving thousands of university students, the latest of a weekly series of demonstrations against the government's higher education reforms.
Another protest was held in Salonika, Greece's second-largest city. The students, backed by labor unions, left-wing parties and the union of university teachers Posdep, are demanding the withdrawal of a government bill tightening the academic and fiscal management of public universities.
The government's parliamentary majority approved the controversial university bill on Thursday.
"We will not back down, and even if this bill passes into law these reforms will not be applied," 23-year-old protest organizer Dimitris Fakalis said.
The students say the bill, coupled with plans to permit the operation of private universities -- a measure requiring constitutional amendment -- threatened to undermine public higher education. Under the current constitution, higher education is exclusively public and free tuition is guaranteed to all Greek citizens. The students say the changes introduce private-sector standards and would make higher education prohibitively expensive for poorer families.
More than 200 university faculties have been occupied by students for over two months, leading to concern the academic year will be lost.
also see story:
Greek Cypriots dismantle wall dividing capital
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in