Germany's "The Left" (Die Linke) party has made a 180 degree turn by suddenly rejecting SYRIZA's demand for repayment of a forced loan extended to Nazi occupation forces during WWII.

Pegged as a dress rehearsal in the run up to next week's general elections, Sunday's local election in Bavaria saw conservatives allied with chancellor Angela Merkel gain an absolute majority of seats in the local parliament, according to first results.

A week of mass mobilizations against staff mobility and availability in the public sector began with tension, as school guards besieging the government reform ministry clashed with riot police. Police used tear gas to drive away the protesters, resulting in two people being taken to hospital with respiratory complications.

Tensions ran high this afternoon, outside the Athens Economics University ASOEE) on Patission Street when police attempted to conduct spotchecks on street vendors inside and outside the campus.
According to police, the vendors withdrew inside the university premises, which are considered an asylum that police cannot enter without previous permission of the university board, and began throwing rocks and objects at police.
This caused Patission Avenue to close to traffic for a while. Police withdrew to a raesonable distance and traffic was reinstated.
Police forces remain in the area.
Most of the vendors are illegal immigrants without papers and without, obviously, trading licences.