Hooded youths firebombed banks and businesses in pre-dawn attacks across Athens Saturday in the eighth day of civil unrest triggered by the shooting of a 15-year-old boy by police, according to dpa. Angry youths hurled firebombs at four banks in the southern Athens suburb of Paleo Faliro as well as a supermarket, the offices of newly privatized telephone company OTE and the local party offices of the ruling conservatives. One more bank was reportedly torched in central Athens. The riots, which have spread to all corners of the country, have been the worst in decades, destroying hundreds of shops, banks, buildings and cars in more than eight cities across Greece, including Athens and the port cities of Thessaloniki and Patras. Gangs of hooded youths and self-styled anarchists have been smashing windows, looting shops and setting up flaming barricades in streets across the country. The violence was triggered by the police shooting of a 15-year-old boy on December 6, but students have also been protesting growing corruption and economic and education reforms.
