In Athens, they are buying rocks...

How much tear gas can a nation take? How many stones can it collect? To ask such questions of an EU member state that is supposed to be as sophisticated as it is modern might seem far-fetched, even silly. 

To ask them four years after that country basked in the glory of staging one of the most successful Olympic Games might be considered absurd. But yesterday, as Greece entered a second week of pitched battles between rock-throwing protesters and riot police - with security forces turning to Israel and Germany to replenish depleted reserves of toxic gases to contain the angry crowds - such questions did not seem foolish. Or, I'm sad to say, remotely absurd. More...

See also:

1. Greece: Athens is burning...
2. Icelanders protest as the economy crumbles...
3. China: angry crowd attacks police...