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Summary More than 80,000 people protested against the government outside parliament house in Athens.
Tens of thousands of angry Greeks packed into several city blocks in Athens.The protesters packed into the main Syntagma Square outside parliament and the other main streets of the city to vent their frustration over rising joblessness as austerity bites, blaming the crisis on political corruption.Police said more than 80,000 people packed Syntagma square outside parliament on Sunday, although protesters accuse the authorities regularly of underestimating their numbers.Protesters, who came from all over Greece on the square rejected the austerity policies to cut the budget deficit that lead to layoffs, wage and pension cuts and a heavier tax burden.As Greece battles to avoid defaulting on its debt, which totals about 340 billion euros, unemployment has soared to almost 16 percent, inflicting misery on large numbers of Greeks.The extra austerity is the price for a new bailout agreed with the European Union and International Monetary Fund to replace the old one, which has proved overoptimistic in assuming that Greece could resume borrowing commercially early next year.
