Reuters’ Axel Threlfall roams the streets of Athens as Greeks cast their ballots for a party that wants to remain in the euro zone. (June 18, 2012)
Torchbearer Dimitrios Chondrokoukis, a Greek high jump athlete, lights a cauldron with the Olympic Flame atop the Athens Acropolis May 16, 2012. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis
FULL FOCUS: The best photos from the past 24 hours
She told me that every day she spends up to six hours trawling the internet for job opportunities and applies for any job she can find – she gets few replies. “I sit in my office for hours on end looking for work. I rarely go out and I am nearly always on my own.”
She has tried everything – even recruitment agencies that specialize in jobs in Australia – but she says they exploited her. “They took hundreds of euros from me for administration fees and then said I wasn’t eligible to work in Australia as I don’t score enough points for a visa. They said I could pay more money and apply again.”
Natassa is divorced and she has no family. Her mother and father, a university professor and a lawyer, died several years ago. Her brother died last year plunging her further into depression.
Her once affluent lifestyle has slipped slowly from her grasp and who knows where she will end up?
Photo blog: Homeless by August? A hopeless situation
![Civilians and firemen run inside a burning cinema in Athens February 12, 2012.
Historic cinemas, cafes and shops went up in flames in central Athens on Sunday as black-masked protesters fought Greek police outside parliament, while inside lawmakers looked set to defy the public rage by endorsing a new EU/IMF austerity deal. [REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzavhdGCh11qmaoalo1_1280.jpg)
Civilians and firemen run inside a burning cinema in Athens February 12, 2012.
Historic cinemas, cafes and shops went up in flames in central Athens on Sunday as black-masked protesters fought Greek police outside parliament, while inside lawmakers looked set to defy the public rage by endorsing a new EU/IMF austerity deal. [REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis]
![A cinema is burning out during anti-austerity demonstration in central Athens February 12, 2012. Greek lawmakers looked set to endorse a new and deeply unpopular austerity deal on Sunday to secure a multi-billion-euro bailout and avert what Prime Minister Lucas Papademos warned would be “economic chaos.” [REUTERS/Panayiotis Tzamaros]
Read more: Athens buildings burn as lawmakers weigh austerity](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzar4iuSeD1qmaoalo1_1280.jpg)
A cinema is burning out during anti-austerity demonstration in central Athens February 12, 2012. Greek lawmakers looked set to endorse a new and deeply unpopular austerity deal on Sunday to secure a multi-billion-euro bailout and avert what Prime Minister Lucas Papademos warned would be “economic chaos.” [REUTERS/Panayiotis Tzamaros]
Read more: Athens buildings burn as lawmakers weigh austerity
Rocks, molotov cocktails and tear gas flew threw the air Friday as protesters and police clashed in the streets of Athens, Greece.
The violence erupted at the start of a 48-hour general strike against new austerity measures imposed by eurozone finance ministers that would further cut jobs and pay. The Greek parliament is expected to vote on the harsh austerity plan by Sunday or Monday.
![Riot police grapple with a demonstrator during protests against planned reforms by Greece’s coalition government in Athens, February 10, 2012. [REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis]
» Live Blog: The Greek Debt Crisis](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz6p0dYm3o1qmaoalo1_1280.jpg)
Riot police grapple with a demonstrator during protests against planned reforms by Greece’s coalition government in Athens, February 10, 2012. [REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis]
» Live Blog: The Greek Debt Crisis
![A defaced Bank of Greece sign is seen during protests against planned reforms by Greece’s coalition government in Athens, February 10, 2012.
The grafitti says “cops they will eat your children” (referring to the Bank of Greece sign the grafitti entours). [REUTERS/John Kolesidis]
» Live Blog: The Greek Debt Crisis | Latest from Reuters.com](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz6nbsMXFW1qmaoalo1_1280.jpg)
A defaced Bank of Greece sign is seen during protests against planned reforms by Greece’s coalition government in Athens, February 10, 2012.
The grafitti says “cops they will eat your children” (referring to the Bank of Greece sign the grafitti entours). [REUTERS/John Kolesidis]
» Live Blog: The Greek Debt Crisis | Latest from Reuters.com
![Riot police stand guard in front of the parliament during a protest against austerity measures in Athens February 9, 2012. Greece’s two major labour unions called a 48-hour strike for Friday and Saturday against the reforms. [REUTERS/John Kolesidis]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz54pbynkw1qmaoalo1_1280.jpg)
Riot police stand guard in front of the parliament during a protest against austerity measures in Athens February 9, 2012. Greece’s two major labour unions called a 48-hour strike for Friday and Saturday against the reforms. [REUTERS/John Kolesidis]
