Garbage piles up in streets of Athens

A woman walks past piles of garbage that have accumulated on sidewalks in the capital due to a shortage of municipal sanitation workers. About 6,500 municipal employees on short-term contracts working in the sanitation sector fear losing their jobs following a ruling by the Court of Auditors banning the extension of temporary contracts. The union representing local authority workers, POE-OTA, has called on members to join a 24-hour strike on Thursday after talks with Interior Minister Panos Skourletis collapsed. [Orestis Panagiotou/EPA]