Protest

( Getty Images / January 15, 2012 )

Romanian police walk past a fire lit by protesters in the center of Bucharest during a demonstration against the government's austerity program and Romanian President Traian Basescu. Clashes erupted during the protest as demonstrators pelted riot police with stones, a day after a dozen people were injured when a similar rally turned violent. Around 1,000 Romanians gathered in central Bucharest to voice anger at falling living standards and call on Basescu to quit. But hours after the beginning of the peaceful demonstration, about 100 hooded youths started throwing stones, firecrackers and smoke bombs.