Trash cleanup to begin as politicians promise no layoffs

A man walks past an overflowing garbage dumpster in Athens on Thursday following nearly a week of strike action by municipal workers protesting the government’s plans to make it easier for private contractors to undertake municipal sanitation projects. Teams were expected to start a cleanup Thursday though unionists have not ruled out further action. Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis pledged  that no municipal employee will lose their job due to the reform, while Interior Minister Takis Theodorikakos made the same promise in a meeting with unionists. [Costas Baltas/Reuters]