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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Hundreds of protesters battled with riot police in one of the Greek capital's main shopping districts. No injuries or damage have been reported.
About 500 protesters, which included retail employees but also several anarchists, closed access to shops on a central Athens street and handed leaflets protesting the extension of Sunday shopping and longer opening hours for the shops.
A large throng of passers-by protested the action and in the end it was riot police who dispersed the protesters pushing them back using pepper spray, which also sent passers-by scrambling to avoid the noxious fumes.
Despite the protest, which lasted about three hours, shop owners claimed business was brisk before and after.
Left-wing activists and the Greek Orthodox Church oppose the extension of Sunday shopping for different reasons.
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