Bulgaria

Bulgaria seizes 70-kilo heroin shipment

Bulgaria seizes 70-kilo heroin shipmentSofia - Bulgarian police seized a 70-kilo shipment of heroin and arrested a German national carrying it, the authorities in Sofia said Monday.

The man with two packets of the drug in a bunker of his car was arrested in Ruse, a town with the only bridge linking Bulgaria with Romania across the Danube.

Bulgaria straddles the key routes of international trafficking in narcotics, chemicals for drug-production and people. It incinerated 19 tons of various drugs over the past eight years.

Head of Roman emperor’s statue discovered in a package

Sofia (Bulgaria), Nov 17: The marble head of a statue of a Roman emperor was delivered in the National History Museum (NHM) in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, from “Sofia Airport – Customs”.

Quakes jolt Bulgarian capital

Quakes jolt Bulgarian capitalSofia - Officials in Sofia ordered checks on buildings Sunday after two small earthquakes jolted the Bulgarian capital overnight, causing minor damage but no casualties. 

Some 2,000 worried residents called an emergency number for advice after the quakes measuring 4 and 3.5 on the Richter scale struck on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. 

The capital lies in an area at risk from earth tremors. Many buildings in the city have been converted to restaurants and business premises in recent years, raising fears about their safety. 

Bulgarian steel workers launch new protest

BulgariaSofia  - Workers at the Kremikovtzi steel mill in Bulgaria launched a further protest Monday, demanding backlogged salaries and a programme to save the company from liquidation.

Apart from salaries unpaid since July, labour unions want the state, which holds a 25-per cent stake in the bankrupt mill and holds most of its liabilities, to step in and save it from liquidation.

The majority-71-per-cent stake belongs to Pramod Mittal, the brother of the Indian-born steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal.

Hungary, Bulgaria and South Korea to pull out of Iraq

Hungary, Bulgaria and South Korea to pull out of Iraq Baghdad - Hungary, Bulgaria and South Korea will each withdraw their troops from Iraq by the end of 2008, a spokesman for Iraq's Ministry of Defence told the Voices of Iraq news agency on Friday.

The troops will leave after finishing their tour of duty, said spokesman Mohamed al-Askary adding that most of the soldiers duties were "humanitarian."

Bulgarian Minister of Defence Teodor Melescanu was quoted by US media as saying some Bulgarian personnel would stay in Iraq to work as advisors to the Iraqi national authorities.

Protesting Bulgarian farmers block highways

Bulgaria farmersSofia - Some 3,000 Bulgarian farmers on Thursday blocked several key highways in protest against the government's agricultural policy, the national radio said.

Grain producers, joining the months-long protest of dairy farmers, are demanding subsidies which they claim the state owes them and are demanding more money than what is planned in the 2009 draft budget.

They also are demanding the resignation of Agriculture Minister Valeriy Cvetanov, saying he did not meet promises he made.

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