Politico says Parthenon Marbles talks 'stall' as Athens rejects a loan; the British Museum tells Greek press its willingness to reach a deal is 'unchanged'

Two accounts, eight minutes apart. Politico Europe published at 13:10 UTC on 24 September. Efimerida ton Syntakton (EfSyn) published at 13:18.

What Politico carries. In the text we hold, Politico's only line is that the Greek prime minister "has previously compared the removal of the sculptures from Athens to cutting Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa' in half." It does not say when he said it. That line does not back up the headline's claim that talks stalled.

What EfSyn carries. A museum spokesperson answered a question from ANA-MPA, the Greek state news agency. The agency asked whether the museum shared the Telegraph's view that the talks had stalled. EfSyn also says the answer followed an article by Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the Guardian.

What is not settled - Whether a loan was offered, and on what terms. Neither report gives them. - Whether Athens rejected it. Only Politico's headline says so, and neither report quotes the Greek government. - What the Telegraph and the Guardian articles said. We could not read either one.

What this is about. Greece wants back the sculptures that were taken from the Parthenon in Athens. They are held by the British Museum in London.

How it got here. In the early 1800s, when Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire, agents of the British ambassador Lord Elgin removed about half of the Parthenon's surviving sculptures and shipped them to Britain. Whether the Ottoman authorities truly allowed this is still disputed. In 1816 the British Parliament bought the sculptures and gave them to the British Museum, where they have been on display ever since. Greece has asked for them since it became independent. It made a formal request in 1983, when Melina Mercouri was culture minister. In 2009 Athens opened the Acropolis Museum, with space left for the missing pieces.

The actors. - The Greek government. Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been prime minister since 2019. Greece's long-standing position is that the sculptures belong to Greece. So it will not accept a deal that treats them as British property lent to Athens. That is why the word "loan" matters. - The British Museum. Its trustees run it. The British Museum Act 1963 largely bars them from giving away objects in the collection. Any deal has to fit inside that law. - The British government. It owns the law. It has said it has no plans to change it.

What is at stake. If a deal is agreed, the sculptures could be shown together in Athens for the first time in two centuries. The price is a legal formula that each side can accept. If there is no deal, a dispute that has outlived many governments continues.

Where it stands. Talks between the museum and Greek officials have been reported for several years. On 24 September Politico Europe's headline said they had stalled. The museum told the Greek state news agency that its willingness to reach a deal had not changed.