Greece: MPs pass second austerity vote

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The BBC's Jon Sopel says tour buses have returned to Syntagma Square

Greece's parliament has passed a second vote on its austerity programme, which was needed to secure the country further financial support.

The vote approved putting into practice the tax hikes, pay cuts, privatisations and public sector redundancies approved in principle on Wednesday.
Greek PM George Papandreou hailed its passage as "a crucial step" for Greece.
The EU welcomed the result, which came despite a two-day nationwide strike and violent protests in Athens this week.
Had the package been rejected, Greece could have run out of money within weeks.

The EU and the International Monetary Fund had demanded that the measures be implemented before they extend further loans to Greece.
With the votes passed, Greece can now receive the latest 12bn-euro (£10.8bn) tranche of a 110bn-euro loan, instead of defaulting.
"We have still many difficult and crucial battles ahead of us," Mr Papandreou told a cabinet meeting after Thursday's bill was passed by 155 votes to 136.
His ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) has a slim parliamentary majority, with 154 out of 300 deputies.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy hailed the result as a "decisive step Greece needed to take in order to return to a sustainable path".
"In very difficult circumstances, it was another act of national responsibility," they side, in reference to the violent protests in Athens that injured some 300 people.