Biggest strike paralyses Greece

Angry public and private sector workers in Greece walked off the job on Thursday, grounding flights, shutting schools and freezing public transport in the second nationwide strike in as many weeks against austerity plans.
Police estimate some 20,000 demonstrators joined a protest march through Athens as opinion polls showed increasing opposition to many of the measures. But the 24-hour strike is unlikely to halt government plans to slash spending and hike taxes to rein in a yawning deficit that has shaken the euro.
Greeks largely see the plan as unfair and not hitting the right people, in a country where corruption and tax evasion are widespread.
The major public and private sector unions – representing about half of the country’s five million workforce – organised the march and say the EU-backed austerity plan will only hurt the poor and aggravate the recession-hit country’s economic problems.