Spaniards protest for economic reform

ATHENS/MADRID — Trains and ferries were cancelled and hospital staff walked off the job in Greece on Wednesday and thousands were due to demonstrate across Spain as May Day triggered protests against harsh government spending cuts. Separately, Turkish riot police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds gathering in central Istanbul for a rally on what has become a traditional labour holiday.

Tens of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Madrid Sunday blaming bankers and politicians for causing a financial crisis that forced the country to adopt painful spending cuts.Demonstrators of all ages linked to a protest movement called the "indignants" assembled early Sunday in several neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Madrid.They then formed six columns and converged on the city centre, gathering near Spain's parliament where they met various forms of police resistance, including 12 vans blocking several major roads.

Spain's "indignants" will take to the streets Saturday to mark the birth a year ago of their protest movement against government spending cuts, economic inequality and sky-high unemployment.The activists, who once led hundreds of thousands into the streets, plan to protest in 80 towns and cities across the country, including Madrid and Barcelona.The marches will launch a four-day protest that will end on May 15, on the anniversary of the movement's birth in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square.

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey’s prime minister on Sunday rejected claims that he is a “dictator,” dismissing protesters as an extremist fringe, even as thousands returned to the landmark Istanbul square that has become the site of the fiercest anti-government outburst in years. Over the past three days, protesters around the country have unleashed pent-up resentment against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who after 10 years in office many Turks see as an uncompromising figure with undue influence in every part of life.