Thousands defy police

VLORE, Albania - Tens of thousands of Albanians, blaming the government for the collapse of investment schemes, swept through…

VLORE, Albania - Tens of thousands of Albanians, blaming the government for the collapse of investment schemes, swept through lines of riot police yesterday to occupy the city centre in a second day of protests.

An angry crowd of some 10,000, with women and children at the front and swelling by the hour, brushed aside a thin cordon of police in mid-morning to reach the main Independence Square. Within hours, the numbers had swelled to 30,000 as residents of surrounding mountain villages swarmed into the

Adriatic port.

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