Parts of central Athens were closed to traffic Wednesday as protesters took to the streets, but they reopened later.

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There were no queues outside bank branches in central Athens or its suburbs.

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The suicide of 77-year-old retired pharmacist Dimitris Christoulas in April, in central Athens' Syntagma Square, also underscored the pain of the austerity measures.

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The quick-fix solution now being considered is to transform a derelict factory in Votanikos, a scruffy central Athens district with lots of Muslim residents, into a temporary mosque.

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Elsewhere thousands of Greek protestors have gathered in central Athens as unions hold a general strike against government austerity measures aimed at reducing the country's huge public debt and stabilising the euro.

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"Unfortunately, my opinion is that they happen so often, almost on a daily basis, that they have lost their meaning, " private sector worker Dmitris Papastathis told the Associated Press news agency in central Athens.

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Athens, Greece (CNN) -- An elderly man took his own life near the Greek parliament building in central Athens, police said Wednesday, in what was apparently a protest over the austerity crisis gripping the nation.

CNN: Reports: Suicide victim cites Greek austerity

But Greece was jolted even more Wednesday after a 77-year-old man took his own life in the busy Syntagma Square, central Athens, the scene of several violent clashes between anti-austerity protesters and the police in recent months.

CNN: Austerity drives up suicide rate in debt-ridden Greece

On June 15, a swelling demonstration in Athens's central square veered out of control.

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Greece can now capitalize on its central Mediterranean location, says Harris Siganos, a managing director at Alpha Asset Management in Athens.

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Athens, Rome, Madrid, Paris and now Tokyo are demanding tax increases and hounding their central banks to buy even more of their nation-al debt.

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