Greece's beleaguered government is bracing for a 48-hour general strike as lawmakers debate a new round of austerity... (Associated Press) 
 
 The unpopular euro28 billion ($40 billion) five-year package of spending cuts and tax hikes was backed by a majority of the 300-member parliament Wednesday, including Socialist deputy Alexandros Athanassiadis, who had previously vowed to vote against. The bill needs a simple majority to pass and Prime Minister George Papandreou appears to have enough votes even though one of his deputies said he would not be backing the package. As deputies debated inside Parliament, riot police fired volleys of tear gas to push back protesters, who were pelting police with bottles and trash and overturning barriers. Greece vote won't end drama 
 
 He had faced wavering support from within his governing Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), which has a slim majority, with 155 seats out of 300 in parliament. An additional bill that details how the austerity measures will be implemented must also be passed in a vote Thursday. The vote comes against a backdrop of violent demonstrations and on the second day of a nationwide general strike that has brought much of Greece to a standstill. Demonstrators also hoisted ghoulish effigies of men they hold responsible for Greece's misfortune _ Papandreou, new Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos _ and shook them in the air on sticks. A day earlier, extensive clashes left at least 46 people injured, most of them police, as rioters pelted police with chunks of marble and ripped up paving stones, and authorities responded with repeated volleys of tear gas and stun grenades. Were his 28bn-euro austerity package to be rejected, Greece could run out of money within weeks, as the EU and the International Monetary Fund want the measures implemented before they release more funds to help Greece pay off its vast debts.
– It’s official: Greece’s parliament has approved a wave of sweeping—and wildly unpopular—austerity measures, paving the way for it to receive bailout loans from Europe to avoid defaulting on its debt, the AP reports. The bill passed 155-138, garnering even the support of Alexandros Athanassiadis, a Socialist deputy who had promised to vote nay. The package will move the country roughly $40 million closer to the black with a mix of spending cuts and tax hikes. "We must avoid the country's collapse at all costs. Now is not the time to step back.," Prime Minister George Papandreou said ahead of the vote, according to the BBC. The head of the country's central bank had earlier today warned that a "no" vote would be "suicide" for the country. The euro rose 0.2% in the minutes following the news, the Wall Street Journal reports. Click for more on the riotous protests the bill has sparked in Athens.