Paris

By Evgenia Tzortzi

The issue of extending the foreclosure protection period for financially troubled homeowners struggling with debts will form part of the government’s negotiations with representatives of the country’s international creditors in Athens at the end of the month.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras intends to herald a raft of tax relief measures during his speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) on Saturday morning despite the fact that troika representatives meeting with government officials in Paris had not given their approval for such concessions by late on Thursday night, Kathimerini understands.

High sovereign debt and unemployment are the major issues plaguing Greece'a economy, eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem told the European Parliament's economic and monetary committee in Brussels on Thursday.

The hotels in Bulgaria's Sofia are in the Top 10 list of cleanest hotels in world capitals, shows a list of the Hotel.info portal. 

The ratings are formed on the opinions of more than 6 million users of the tourist portal, who rated hotels in world capitals.

Most clean are the hotels in Tokyo, while the dirtiest are in Kiev.

BELGRADE - A regional conference of national committees of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) on the topic of 'Museums and cultural tourism' will start on Monday, September 8, in Mona Hotel on Mt. Zlatibor, western Serbia.

France suspended Sept. 3 the delivery of the first of two Mistral-class warships to Russia "until November" after fierce criticism from its allies given the crisis in Ukraine.
      

Government officials spent a second day in talks with troika representatives in Paris on Wednesday, with sources indicating that Greece’s foreign creditors were pressing for changes to make it harder for labor unions to call strike action and for the introduction of legislation facilitating mass layoffs in the private sector.

Negotiations between a Greek delegation headed by Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis and troika representatives in Paris are being held in a “positive climate,” a government spokesman has said.

“It's a positive climate. It was confirmed that the budget in the first seven months of the year is within target,” Sophia Voultepsi told Antenna TV on Wednesday.

A government delegation headed by Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis met troika representatives in Paris on Tuesday, the first of three days of negotiations on the progress of reforms, with sources indicating that the climate had been positive.

French Ambassador Roland Gilles ended his four-year tenure in Bosnia by leaving Sarajevo on his bike on September 1, aiming to send a political message through sport.

Instead of going by car or plane, the ambassador's unusual choice of a two-wheeled vehicle also provided a platform for local cyclists to advocate for better cycling infrastructure.