21.   Greece and Turkey will begin exploratory talks on long-standing territorial problems in the Aegean Sea next week, the foreign ministry said Friday.

22.   He also confirmed that KLM is in exploratory talks about such a partnership with companies outside the Netherlands, including General Electric Co. of the United States.

23.   However, Arafat said Monday he was ready for a summit, and a senior Netanyahu adviser did not rule out such a possibility if exploratory talks go well.

24.   It held exploratory talks with Japan and floated the idea of an agreement with the Mercosur trading bloc of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

25.   It said it has had exploratory talks with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and has recently had contacts with Air France and Swissair.

26.   Last month, the alliance invited aspiring members to hold exploratory talks on how they could adapt to the requirements and costs of membership.

27.   Longtime rivals Greece and Turkey are launching exploratory talks to see if they can find enough common ground to consign their decades-old Aegean Sea disputes to history.

28.   Major differences remain, and it appeared the current round of diplomacy was limited to exploratory talks rather than substantial negotiations.

29.   Mayhew said the exploratory talks between Sinn Fein and government representatives would go ahead before Christmas, as planned.

30.   Meetings between Etienne Tshisekedi and a senior aide of leader Laurent Kabila appeared to be exploratory talks on including him in the new government.