Greek PM says on final stretch towards deal with lenders

ATHENS:  Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Saturday his leftist-led government was on the final stretch of negotiations with its international lenders on a cash-for-reforms deal that would not involve further pension cuts and harsh austerity.

"We are on the final stretch of a painful period shaped by the government's negotiations with the institutions," Tsipras, back from an EU leaders summit in Riga, told his party's central committee.