Rioters ran rampant in Athens and dozens of other Greek cities. Scores of people have been injured, cars and public buildings have been firebombed and schools have been occupied. Property damage reportedly exceeds $265 million.

Foremost among the problems in Greece is that the anarchist subculture has been allowed to grow with impunity - even when youths resort to violence. While it is undeniable that many Greek citizens have legitimate grievances, there must nonetheless be no tolerance for violence: dissenters must be encouraged to seek redress of their grievances through peaceful means. In the meantime, it is the government's primary duty to ensure that there is law and order. Mr. Karamanlis must act with determination to bring an end to the violence.

Riot police from Stockholm and Gothenburg are being sent to provide back-up for their colleagues in Malmö as tensions in the southern city continue to flare.

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Emotions have been running high in Malmö's predominantly immigrant Rosengård district since police forcibly removed three squatters from the basement offices of an Islamic cultural centre. The premises had been occupied since November 24th as part of a protest against the landlord’s decision not to renew the association’s lease for the space, which it had held for the past fifteen years.

Thursday night saw the most extreme rioting in Rosengård since the disturbances began. Police were pelted with Molotov cocktails and bomb threats were issued against a local petrol station.

Police spokeswoman Ewa-Gun Westford said she would not even hazard a guess as to how many police vehicles were damaged in the rioting, as locals were reportedly joined by left-wing extremists, or "autonomists", from outside the area.

More than 100 foreigners have been killed in apparent hate attacks this year, four times more than in 2004, according to the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights.

A group of skinheads gunned down Tajik migrant Salokhiddin Azizov on a Moscow region street, cut off his head and emailed a picture of the gruesome trophy to rights groups.