Parthenon Sculptures take center stage

The Parthenon Sculptures were in the limelight again this week after a series of publications, mostly in the British press, rekindled the debate about their return to their homeland in Athens from the British Museum in London.

The barrage of reports ranged from Bloomberg's claim of an "agreement" on a rotating loan of the Parthenon Sculptures, the London Times saying "congratulations are due to the British Museum Chairman George Osbourne" for a compromise solution of an "open-ended loan," to a column in the Telegraph postulating moral, artistic and cultural arguments.

More specifically, Bloomberg said that an agreement is imminent for the return of part of the sculptures, through a long-term loan in exchange for "other objects" from Athens, with plaster copies to be put in their place in the British Museum. 

The report, which was denied by Greece, also referred...