Europeans Rise Up Against Austerity Measures

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A passenger walks through trash during a strike by the cleaning staff against budget cuts at Barcelona's airport in Spain.

Manu Fernandez/AP

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Electoral workers begin counting votes in the fiscal treaty referendum in Dublin, Ireland. Residents voted in a key referendum on the EU fiscal pact; it was the only nation of the 25 to do so.

Peter Muhly/AFP/Getty Images

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People protest inside a bank as a police officer watches during the protest against cutback plans by Spain's government in Pamplona. The European Union urged Spain to come clean on how it plans to finance the overhaul of its banking sector, warning that uncertainty over this has contributed to the recent market turmoil and soaring borrowing costs.

Alvaro Barrientos/AP

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Demonstrators shout slogans against a bank during a protest demanding the stop of planned foreclosures in Barcelona, Spain.

Emilio Morenatti/AP

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Firefighters employed on short-term contracts protest as they block a bus in central Athens demanding to sign employment contracts.

Thanassis Stavrakis/AP

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Luz Maria Reyes Coral at her home with activists from the 'Stop Eviction' platform as she waits to be evicted in Madrid, Spain. The recently nationalized Bankia bank claims Reyes owes them $244.000.

Alberto Di Lolli/AP

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Members of the two biggest Spanish trade unions, General Union of Workers and Workers' Commissions, march during a protest against the government's labor reform, in Barcelona.

Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Images

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Two men are pinned to the ground by police and detained during a demonstration against education cuts in Madrid. Teachers and students from every level of Spain's education system went on strike to protest wide-ranging government spending cuts. The impact of the budget cuts has been brutal, however, and unemployment has swelled to nearly 25 percent.

Paul White/AP

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University students take part during a demonstration against education cuts in Barcelona, Spain. Teachers at all levels of Spain's education system went on strike to protest billions in spending cuts enacted as part of an austerity drive.

Manu Fernandez/AP

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'Blockupy' protesters demonstrate in Frankfurt, Germany. Organizers called on tens of thousands of activists to take part in four days of protests aimed at occupying the central Frankfurt financial district for an end to the imposition of austerity measures on debt-ridden European nations.

Carsten Koall/Getty Images

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A protestor is held by German riot police during an unauthorized blockade of the road by activists, as part in the Blockupy protests in Frankfurt, Germany.

Carsten Koall/Getty Images

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Activists take part in the Blockupy protests in front of city hall in Frankfurt, Germany.

Carsten Koall/Getty Images

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Protesters shout during an unauthorized blockade of a road in Frankfurt.

Carsten Koall/Getty Images

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German riot police wrangle with protesters during an unauthorized rally in front of city hall in Frankfurt.

Carsten Koall/Getty Images

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Riot police stand guard in front of a branch of the recently nationalized bank during a protest in Madrid, Spain. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy defended his government's harsh austerity measures aimed at correcting Spain's grim economic forecast.

Alberto Di Lolli/AP

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A demonstrator hits a pot during a protest to mark the anniversary of the "Indignados" movement in Sol square, Madrid, Spain.

Emilio Morenatti/AP

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Protesters gather under the rain during a demonstration against new austerity measures in front of the Greek parliament in Athens.

Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images

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A demonstrator is led away by a police officer at Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, Spain.

Alberto Di Lolli/AP

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"Indignant" protesters hold a banner reading "We will win the fight against precariousness. Austerity is not the solution," as they demonstrate in downtown Lisbon. A few thousand people marched in Portugal as part of a global day of action to mark the first anniversary of the "indignados" movement.

Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images

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Leftist demonstrators hold flags as they march in front of the Colosseum in downtown Rome to protest against Italian government reforms.

Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images

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Police disperse protesters demonstrating in front of the Greek parliament near Athens' Syntagma Square. An elderly man shot himself in the head in Syntagma Square, a focal point of anti-austerity protests, reportedly crying out that he did not want to leave his children in debt.

Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images

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A young man bleeds from his head as he shouts towards a line of policemen following clashes between the police and protestors during a demonstration in Lisbon. Portugal's largest trade union called a general strike to protest austerity measures and labor reforms.

Francisco Seco/AP

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Members of the Greek Communist Party shout slogans during a rally against the austerity measures in Athens.

Thanassis Stavrakis/AP

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