| Bulgaria in Brief: |
French Army Might Be Stripped of Uniforms Due to Strike in Bulgaria Vidin A seamstress strike in the town of Vidin in Northwest Bulgaria could leave many French soldiers without uniforms. 300 workers from the "Vida Style" factory, a big clothing manufacturer, abandoned their sawing machines Thursday and blocked the factory's entrance. The seamstresses are frustrated by ... |
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| Bulgarian Construction Companies to Work in VenezuelaThere are increasing opportunities for Bulgarian construction firms to work in Venezuela as the demand for construction there is increasing. This was announced by the Chair of Bulgaria-Venezuela Chamber of Commerce Stefan Zlatorov, who met Thursday with the Deputy Chair of the Bulgarian Chamber of... |
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| Half EU Goes to Court Because of Bulgaria and Romania DiplomasAlmost half of the EU states will have to go to Court because those countries' legislatures are yet to recognize the secondary diplomas issued by colleges and universities in Bulgaria and Romania. The news came from the Romanian Information Agency NewsIn and was confirmed by the Bulgarian Informati... |
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| US and EU Experts to Help Bulgaria Reform Interior MinistryThe Bulgarian Prime Minister announced Friday that his government had requested expert aid from the EU and USA for the reforms in the Interior Ministry. Stanishev made the announcement in the Parliament during his weekly session of answering questions of the deputies. The newly appointed Interio... |
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| Majority of Bulgarians See Country Economy as WorseningTwo thirds of the Bulgarians are defining the general economic situation in the country as worsened or deeply worsened. The information comes from a research conducted by the National Statistics Institute. 67,2% of the Bulgarian households barely make the ends meet, shows the research. 16,3% of t... |
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| Tourism Investors' Union Advertises Bulgaria in SpainThe Bulgarian Union of Tourism Investors (UTI) is starting a massive advertising campaign in Spain presenting Bulgaria as a tourist destination, its press service announced on Friday. The UTI is currently presenting Bulgaria in the Spanish capital Madrid during the Day of Europe celebrations, whic... |
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| Bulgaria Defense Minister Promises Strict Measures for His JurisdictionBulgaria's new Defense Minister, Nikolay Tsonev, promised that all necessary measures, provided by the standing orders of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, would be taken to establish if wrongdoings in the military indeed exists and to impose harsh penalties. The statement was made today, after the offic... |
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| Number of Finland Tourists Visiting Bulgaria DropsFinland's Ambassador to Sofia Kauko Jämsén announced Thursday that the number of Finnish tourists visiting Bulgaria had dropped in the last two years, the Bulgarian National Radio reported. Even though Bulgaria is still the third most popular foreign holiday destination in Finland, the number of... |
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| Future of Bulgaria Military Mission in Iraq to Be Decided in One WeekThe decision regarding the future of the Bulgarian military contingent in Iraq could be made as early as a week from today. This statement was made Friday by General Zlatan Stoykov, Chief of Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, after the official ceremony commemorating the end of World War II. The... |
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| Rightist MP: Production of Synthetic Drugs Finances Parties in BulgariaThere are suspicions synthetic drugs are produced in the pharmaceutical plant in the southern Bulgarian town of Dupnitza and the money goes to party accounts, former head of National Security Service, Atanas Atanasov said Friday. "These suspicions have not been checked by the police and that is the... |
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| New Metallurgic Factory to Open in Bulgaria's KurdzhaliA new zinc plant equipped with the latest environment-friendly technology will be built in the southern Bulgarian city of Kurdzhali. The contract for the construction of the new factory was signed on Friday by the Executive Director of the Kurdzhali Lead-Zinc Complex JSC Yordan Yordanov and the man... |
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| Bulgaria Consumers Alarmed by InflationConsumers in Bulgaria have a strong and alarming sense about the growing inflation in the country. This serious drop in the consumers' confidence is expressed in the results from a poll conducted by the National Statistics Institute. Data from the poll demonstrates that in April the consumers are w... |
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| Bulgaria PM Speaks in Parliament about Customs and CorruptionCustoms in Bulgaria are subject to serious monitoring and control, Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev declared during the parliamentary control session on Friday. The Premier based his statement on a finding of the European Commission revealing that the fight against corruption at the Bulgarian border... |
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| Bulgaria Commemorates End of World War IIPresident Georgi Parvanov laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Sofia in commemoration of the 63rd anniversary of the World War II V-day. Both May 8 and May 9 were declared by the United Nations' General Assembly time of remembering the end of the Second World War in Europe. May 9, 1... |
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| Liv Tyler Splits from HusbandActress Liv Tyler has split from British rocker Royston Langdon after five years of marriage. "Liv Tyler and Royston Langdon have confirmed their separation. They remain good friends and devoted parents to their son Milo and are requesting that their family's privacy be respected at this time," a s... |
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| UN Chief Calls for Calm as Violence in Beirut ContinuesUN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has been calling on all parties in Lebanon to show restraint, as gunbattles in the capital Beirut continue for a second day. Ban Ki-moon's Middle East envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, said the U.N. chief is very concerned about clashes this week between Shiite supporters o... |
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| Russia Celebrates Victory DayOn May 9 Russia marks the victory over Nazi Germany and the end of World War II with a massive military parade on Moscow's Red Square and celebration events all over the country. For the first time since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, the annual parade is to include heavy military equipment... |
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| Bulgaria PM Discusses Cabinet Changes with EU AmbassadorsBulgaria's Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev is scheduled to have a work meeting with ambassadors of EU member states in the country, in order to discuss the structural and staff changes in the Cabinet. According to the press service of the government, the engagements of Bulgaria in relation to its E... |
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| Bulgaria Road Carnage Claims Two Lives OvernightTwo passengers died as 19 heavy car crashes were reported overnight across Bulgaria, according to the data of the country's Interior Ministry. Other 16 people were injured in the hits, as two of them are in critical condition. In the capital city of Sofia, the number of traffic accidents during th... |
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| Top Investigator: Much of Bulgaria's Capital Comes from Money LaunderingThe Director of the National Investigation Service (NIS) Boyko Naydenov stated Thursday that much of the capital in Bulgaria came from "dirty money", that were turned into fresh investments though laundering. Naydenov participated in a round table on the topic "Money Laundering: the Response of th... |
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| Burma Stalls International Aid Efforts Creating More ConfusionThe United States has announced today that they are yet to receive permission to send a military aircraft to Myanmar also known as Burma. The flight was supposed to bring humanitarian relief to the area devastated by the Cyclone Nargis. The news comes despite an earlier account about the permissio... |
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| Bulgaria Eco-Activists Protest in Brussels against Illegal Construction in RilaBulgarian eco-activists supported by international NGOs staged Thursday a demonstration in Brussels against the illegal resort construction under way in the Bulgarian Rila Mountain. The environmentalists carried slogans saying "Let's Save Rila". They tabled a petition to the European Commission as... |
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| Bulgaria 2008 Economy Slow Down Forecasted by Bank AustriaThe Bulgarian economy is expected to experience a slow down in 2008, according to experts from Bank Austria. The expected growth rate for 2008 is 5,6%, compared to the growth of over 6% registered in the last several years. For the year 2009, the forecast is even grimmer - 4,8%. The prognosis i... |
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| Bulgarian Muslims Demand Sofia City Court Chair's DismissalThe Muslim Cleric Council in Bulgaria have demanded the dismissal of Sofia City Court chair Svetlin Mihailov, accusing him of abuse of authority. Clerics also want judge Rumyana Palikarova dismissed over forging documents related to the legal registration of the recent Muslim conference. Muftis an... |
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| Josef Fritzl: I am Not a MonsterAustrian Josef Fritzl, who admitted he fathered seven children from his daughter while keeping her imprisoned in a cellar for 24 years, complained media coverage was "unfair" and "entirely one-dimensional." "I am not a monster," Fritzl said, according to the German tabloid newspaper Bild, as quoted... |
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| Factory for Chinese Cars to Be Built in Bulgaria's LovechA factory for the assembling of Chinese cars of the Brilliance brand will be constructed in the northern Bulgarian city of Lovech, the Lovech Municipal Administration announced. The factory will be built by the newly founded company Litex Motors, which has a capital of BGN 20 M. The Lovech busin... |
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| Bulgaria Opens Embassy in EstoniaBulgaria's government has decided to open an embassy in Estonia, the press service of the cabinet announced. The EU membership of Bulgaria and Estonia has strengthened bilateral relations and increased business dialogue, which provoked opening an embassy in Tallinn, authorities said. The embassy i... |
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| Court Rules against Destruction of Downtown Park in Bulgaria Sea Capital VarnaThe Administrative Court in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna stopped Thursday the cutting of trees in the downtown Sevastopol garden, which started on May 1, and alarmed the public that the park would be destroyed. The suit was filed by civic organizations including the environmentalist "Zele... |
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| Hundreds of Driving Instructors Protest against New Regulations Downtown SofiaMore than 200 driving instructors from all over the country staged a rally in downtown Sofia on Thursday to protest against newly adopted laws that are believed to aim at imposing monopoly of the branch. Professionals from the cities of Varna, Burgas, Stara Zagora and Haskovo entered the capital ci... |
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| New Mayor Bans Alcohol on London TransportLondon's newly elected mayor Boris Johnson has announced that alcohol would be banned on the capital's transport system from next month. "I firmly believe that if we drive out so-called minor crime then we will be able to get a firm grip on more serious crime," Johnson said as cited by the Telegrap... |
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| Putin Appointed Russia's Prime MinisterA day after the new Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev was sworn in, his predecessor Vladimir Putin was officially appointed Prime Minister of the Russian Federation on Thursday, ITAR-TASS reported. The state Duma approved Putin's appointment earlier on Thursday with 392 deputies voting in favor a... |
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| Bulgaria Finance Minister Presents First Trimester Budget ReportOver BGN 610 million have been received from the European funds by the end of March. The data comes from a report about the national budget execution for the first trimester of 2008, prepared by Plamen Oresharski, Finance Minister of Bulgaria. The budget revenue has increased with 33,5% for the fi... |
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| Milan Gives up Security Project to Bulgaria's PlovdivItalia's Milan is to give up its security plan to Bulgaria's second city of Plovdiv for free, the two cities' mayors Letizia Moratti and Slavcho Atanasov agreed at a meeting on Thursday. About EUR 150,000 should be allocated to the project's development, the officials announced. "We will use the m... |
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| European Central Bank Warns of Rising Inflation in BulgariaThe European Central Bank (ECB) has published its Convergence Report 2008 that states there is considerable risk of inflation in Bulgaria to continue rising. Over the reference period from April 2007 to March 2008, Bulgaria recorded a 12-month average inflation rate of 9.4%, which is considerably a... |
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| Latvia, Lithuania Ratify Lisbon TreatyThe parliaments of Latvia and Lithuania ratified Thursday the Treaty of Lisbon. A total of 70 Latvia MPs voted in favour, three of them stood against and one abstained from voting at the session. In Lithuania, the ratification was backed by 83 parliament representatives as 23 other opposed the id... |
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| Bulgaria Heating, Power, Water Prices May Go Up By SummerThe key heating companies in Bulgaria have asked the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation to raise heating prices with another 15% to 20% by the summer. They have cited the raising price of natural gas - 24% for the last three trimesters, as the main reason for such demand. The Commissi... |
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| Bulgaria State Administration Employees with a Longer WorkdayThe state and municipal sections servicing the public will be open for business for additional two hours after their official closing time if they still have customers. This is included in the changes in the Administrative Services Decree. According to Nikolay Vassilev, Minister of State Administr... |
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| Stoichkov Receives Star on CSKA Alley of FameFootball mega star Hristo Stoichkov has received a star on CSKA's alley of fame near the Bulgarian Army stadium in Sofia. Among the other renowned players of the red club to receive a star on the alley were Dimitar Penev, Petar Zhekov, and Dimitar Yakimov. Along with football players sport shooter... |
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| Bulgarian Govt Updates Visa Regime with Ukraine, Moldova, AlbaniaBulgaria's government signed Thursday the agreement for abolishment of the visa regime for Bulgarians traveling to Ukraine, Moldova and Albania. Bulgarian citizens could travel freely to the countries and stay for 90 days without a visa, Darik Radio reported. Ukrainians, Moldavians and Albanians w... |
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| Zimbabwe Becomes Too Violent for Runoffs - ReportWith delayed election results already announced Zimbabwe has become too violent to hold a presidential run-off, the head of a South African observer mission says. "We have seen it, there are people in hospital who said they have been tortured," Kingsley Mamabolo said, as cited by BBC. Meanwhile, t... |
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| Bulgaria Allocates BGN 87,000 to Interior Ministry for Palestine Police TrainingBulgaria's government decided Thursday to grant the additional sum of BGN 87,000 to the Interior Ministry for training Palestinian police officers. The money will be allocated from this year's central state budget. At a Paris conference held in the end of 2007 Bulgaria engaged with training Palest... |
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| Bulgaria Social Policy Min Tightens Grip over Labour MarketBulgaria's Social Policy Ministry is to propose increasing fines over violating labour conditions as part of the measures to be taken in the fight against the grey economy on the market. The proposal will be discussed at the meeting of the three-way ruling coalition to be held during the weekend in... |
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| Bulgaria's Parliament Debates over Sofia Traffic System ComputerizingBulgaria's MPs are to discuss Thursday the proposal of allocating money from driving fines and fees to developing the traffic system in the capital city of Sofia. "At least BGN 30 M could be invested in the system's elaboration," Transport Committee's Chairman Yordan Mirchev explained. The measure... |
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| Driving Instructors to Block Sofia Center in Protest against New RegulationsDriving instructors from all over the country threatened to block the center of Bulgaria's capital on Thursday in protest against newly adopted laws that are believed to aim at imposing monopoly of the branch. Professionals from the cities of Varna, Burgas, Stara Zagora, Haskovo, etc. are to enter ... |
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| Bulgaria, Netherlands Discuss Justice, Interior Affairs CollaborationBulgaria's Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin is to meet Thursday a delegation from the European Affairs Commission with the Netherlands' Parliament Second Chamber to discuss the collaboration between the two countries in the spheres of justice and interior affairs. Representatives of the Agriculture C... |
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| Bulgaria Mayor Betrays Borisov's GERB, Joins Socialist PartyThe Mayor of the Vetrino Municipality in northeast Bulgaria Georgi Andreev, who was elected from Sofia Mayor Boyko Borisov's GERB party, became officially member of the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) on Wednesday. Andreev was given his party membership card by the Chair of the BSP - the Pr... |
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| Bulgaria Socialists Suggest Raising Health Insurance without Additional FeesThe Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) is going to propose a plan for increasing the universal health insurance payments from 6% to 8% but without the introduction of additional fees for the workers and their employers. The Socialists are going to look for ways to increase the funding of the universa... |
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| Most Roma Leave Voluntarily Illegal Sofia Ghetto Designated for DemolitionMore than half of the Roma living in the illegally constructed shantytown in the Mladost 4 Quarter of the Bulgarian capital have moved out from the site voluntarily. Thus, they have obeyed the order of the District Mayor Petko Dyulgerov for demolition of the ghetto located on municipal property. ... |
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| EC and ECB Give Slovakia Green Light to Join the Eurozone in 2009The European Commission and the European Central Bank approved Slovakia's joining of the Eurozone on January 1, 2009. Thus, Slovakia is to become the 16th Eurozone member after Malta and Cyprus joined on January 1, 2008, and the second Eastern European state to do so after Slovenia's accession on ... |
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| Bulgaria's President: I Want to See CSKA in Champions League in 2009Bulgaria's head of state Georgi Parvanov said Wednesday he wanted to see the football team of CSKA playing in the next year's Champions League tournament at the ceremony of awarding the club the Presidential order on the occasion of its 60th anniversary. "It is an honour for me to award all those p... |
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| Bulgaria Eco-Activists Petition EU Commission to Help Save Rila MountainBulgarian environmentalists are going to table Thursday a petition to the European Commission and to other EU institutions to stop the illegal resort construction in the Bulgarian Rila Mountain. The petition is signed by 145 000 Bulgarians, and is supported by international eco-organizations, and ... |
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| Most Bulgarian Tourists Spent Recent Holidays AbroadAbout 36,000 Bulgarian tourists chose to spend their May vacation in foreign destinations, while three times fewer holidaymakers preferred to stay in their homeland, survey of the National Tourism Board revealed. Employees across Bulgaria enjoyed a six-day holiday in the period May 1 - 6 to celebra... |
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| France Ambassador to Bulgaria: We Hope for Action against Organized CrimeFrance's Ambassador to Sofia Etienne de Poncins said Wednesday that the EU was hoping Bulgaria would soon take action to combat organized crime. De Poncins made this statement in the northeast city of Shumen, where he is on a visit for Europe's Day, May 9, the Bulgarian private Darik Radio reporte... |
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| Bozhkov Drops to Second Place in Bulgaria Richest People ChartBulgaria's Vassil Bozhkov, former owner of football club CSKA Sofia and chief of Nove Holding, dropped to second place in the rankings of Slava magazine aiming to make an objective chart of the richest people in the country. The richest Bulgarians are said to be Tihomir Mitev, Martin Mitev and Ivo ... |
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| 5 Roma Arrested, 8 Hospitalized after Mass Fight over Stolen Belt in BulgariaA total of five Roma were detained and eight more - hospitalized after being involved in a mass fight in Bulgaria's town of Dimitrovgrad on Wednesday. The row flared up after a 20-year-old man refused to give a belt back to another Roma citizen. As the brawl grew into a fight, about two dozens of ... |
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| Citizens of Bulgaria's Varna Protest against Destruction of Downtown ParkAbout 200 citizens of Bulgaria's sea capital and top tourist destination Varna besieged the Municipal Administration Wednesday morning to protest against the cutting of trees in the downtown Sevastopol garden, which took place during the May 1-6 holidays. "The City Is Not a Playground for Incompet... |
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| Obama Closer to Presidential Nomination after N Carolina and Indiana PrimariesThe Illinois Senator Barack Obama has come closer to winning the Democratic Party nomination for the 2008 US Presidential Elections after he won decisively the North Carolina primary and lost Indiana by a narrow margin to his opponent Senator Hillary Clinton on Tuesday. Obama expectedly carried No... |
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| Levski's Coach, President FiredHead coach of Bulgarian football club Levski, Stanimir Stoilov, and president Nasko Sirakov have been fired on Wednesday. The news was announced minutes after Stoilov and Sirakov came out of a meeting with the club's chairman Todor Batkov. "The meeting went smoothly. I can only say that I have bee... |
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| Scandal in Courtroom Postpones Trial against Ataka Leader, WifeSofia City Court postponed the hearing over the case of nationalist Ataka party leader Volen Siderov and his wife Kapka, charged with incitement to perjury, after party followers started hissing and booing in the courtroom. In the beginning of Wednesday's hearing Siderov's lawyer demanded that the ... |
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| Britney's Progress Earns Her More Time with SonsPop princess Britney Spears was allowed by court to spend more time with her two sons during visitation, People Magazine reported. "We are so pleased with Britney's progress, and we are appreciative of the court's recognition of this progress," singer's parents, Jamie and Lynne Spears, said in sta... |
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| Case against Alleged Serbian Drug Trafficker Postponed for Fifth TimeThe case against the Serbian citizen Budimir Kujovic and three Bulgarians, charged with organizing a criminal network for drug trafficking, was put off once again on Wednesday after one of the lawyers failed to appear in the courtroom. Kujovic's lawyer Eleonora Dolendarova presented before judges a... |
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| Moderate Earthquake Shakes Southeast BulgariaAn earthquake measuring 4,8 on the Richter scale shook the territories of Dobrich and Silistra districts in South-eastern Bulgaria on Wednesday. The epicentre of the quake was registered 620 kilometres of the capital city of Sofia, out of Bulgaria's border seismologists reported. The tremor did n... |
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| Bulgarian Appellate Court Confirms Skater Staviiski's Suspended SentenceThe Appellate Court in Bulgaria's coastal city of Burgas confirmed Wednesday the suspended sentence given to the ice skating champion Maxim Staviiski over involuntary manslaughter and aggravated bodily harm. In the beginning of February, the sportsman was imposed a 2,5-year suspended sentence and f... |
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| Drug Bust Nets 100 at San Diego UniversityAbout 100 people, most of them students, were arrested Tuesday in an undercover drug sting at San Diego State University in the US. During Operation Sudden Fall two kilograms of cocaine were seized in all, along with 350 Ecstasy pills, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, hash oil, methamphetamine, il... |
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| Perjury Trial against Bulgarian Nationalist Leader, Wife in Court AgainSofia City Court is scheduled Wednesday to hold a hearing over the case of nationalist party's leader Volen Siderov and his wife Kapka, who are charged with incitement to perjury. Sofia City Court hearings have been repeatedly postponed after either the defendants or their lawyer failed to turn up... |
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| Austria's Fritzl Scared Brothel's ProstitutesJosef Fritzl, who locked his daughter in a dungeon for 24 years and raped her repeatedly, was said to be an "extreme pervert" who scared prostitutes in a local brothel. Fritzl was in the top "two per cent" of deviants who would often be refused by prostitutes, a barman revealed. "Ninety-five per c... |
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| CSKA Sofia to Have New Owner - ReportA day after CSKA Sofia celebrated its 60th birthday, chairman Alexander Tomov announced the football club would probably have a new owner. The president of the red team declared negotiations have been completed but refused to provide details about the new owner, saying that finalising such major de... |
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| Myanmar Cyclone Death Toll Rises to 22,000At least 22,000 people have died in Myanmar after the devastating Cyclone Nargis struck on May 2, with the death toll continuing to rise. Authorities are still trying to reach islands and villages that have been cut off from the rest of the country, NDTV reported. The enormous scale of the natural... |
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| Medvedev Becomes Russia's Third PresidentDmitry Medvedev was inaugurated Wednesday as Russia's third president since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Kremlin Palace ceremony took place in front of 2,400 invited guests, ITAR-TASS reported. Medvedev, 42, won the first round of the presidential elections on March 2 and will re... |
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| Bulgaria Road Carnage Claims Another Life OvernightOne passenger died as 28 heavy car crashes were reported overnight across Bulgaria, according to the data of the country's Interior Ministry. Other 40 people were injured in the hits, as three of them are in critical condition. In the capital city of Sofia, the number of traffic accidents during t... |
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