Protests Go on Across Europe

After a weekend where tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets to denounce corporate¹ greed and budget cuts, some protests are still lingering across Europe.

CRI's Ding Lulu has more.

 
Hundreds of police officers, fire-fighters and members of the Greek coast guard have gathered together in Athens, holding up banners and waving flags in demonstration² against the mounting austerity measures in Greece.

Dimitris Georgatzis is the President of the Hellenic Police Association.

"We are forced to come out to the streets to protect our dignity. Services are not operating as they should be, because there is a cutback in funding with the result that people are blaming police officers of who are not to blame."

Meanwhile, activists³ in Frankfurt are continuing their protest in front of the European Central Bank, sleeping overnight in a make-shift tent city outside the ECB headquarters.

And they are not alone.

In Britain, protesters, angry with what they view as 'corporate greed,' have also begun making their tent city more organised on day three of their occupation in London.

Around 100 tents have been pitched around St Paul's Cathedral, a stone's throw from the London Stock Exchange.

Demonstrators there say they have been inspired by what took place earlier this year in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

"we are in solidarity⁴ with the people of Cairo who threw off an oppressor. But that oppressor, Mubarak, was bankrolled by companies that are based in this city…those companies want a part of what's happening now, so they need to stand their ground. And one of the reasons they found it so hard to throw off their oppression, and for us too, is because the companies that are based here are bankrolling oppression."

Meanwhile, Portugal's two largest umbrella unions are now proposing that their member unions hold a general strike to protest the Portuguese⁵ government's austerity plans.

Those cuts are needed to meet the terms of Portugal's 78 billion euro EU/IMF bailout.

Many European Union leaders are on record as saying they understand the frustration⁶ people are voicing, promising⁷ to make the financial sector⁸ share the pain in dealing⁹ with the debt crisis.

EU leaders are expected to ask the private sector, which already agreed to take a 21 percent cut on Greek bonds in July, to take an even bigger loss when they meet this coming weekend to discuss making banks beef up their capital buffers¹⁰.

For CRI, I'm Ding Lulu.

1 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

2 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

5 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

6 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

7 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

8 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 buffers   

起缓冲作用的人（或物）( buffer的名词复数 )； 缓冲器； 减震器； 愚蠢老头

参考例句：

• To allocate and schedule the use of buffers. 分配和计划缓冲器的使用。
• Number of times the stream has paused due to insufficient stream buffers. 由于流缓冲区不足导致流程暂停的次数。