News archive of April 2015

Former German FM Joschka Fischer, whose European leftist credentials are more-or-less without question, delves into the “could have”, “should have” debate swirling around Greece’s ruling SYRIZA party, given that the Greek government appears to have entered the “final stretch” in negotiations to clinch at least a bailout plan extension.

Is there such a thing as “bad publicity”? Asked differently, doesn’t a brand generate heaps of (free) publicity when media reports declare that advertisement has been “pulled” for being too racy?

Take American Apparel, which the Daily Mail describes as having build up a reputation as a “hyper-sexualized brand”.

Hollywood actor Jonathan Jackson, well-known from his stint on the American soap opera General Hospital and a current protagonist on the TV series Nashville, visited the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos last week with his 12-year-old son Caleb.

Jackson, who was baptized in the Orthodox Christian faith in 2012, met with Vatopedi Abbot Efraim over the weekend.

Bulgarian power distributors and heating utilities are seeking double-digit hikes in prices for end consumers from July, Nova TV reported on Thursday.

Convicted terrorist Savvas Xiros explained on Thursday that he refuses to wear an ankle monitor – a prerequisite to get out of prison – due to … religious reasons!

Bulgaria's consolidated budget showed a surplus of BGN 257.1 M at the end of March, equivalent to 0.3 % of the GDP projected for 2015, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday.

This compared with a consolidated budget deficit of BGN 874 M at the end of the first quarter of last year.

Cracks along the envisioned “southern European” leftist front appeared on its western end this week, with the leader of Spain’s Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, announced on Thursday that one of the anti-austerity bloc’s co-founders, Juan Carlos Monedero, had resigned from a leading post.

BANJA LUKA - Three persons were arrested and questioned at the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) of Bosnia-Herzegovina in connection with the terrorist attack on a police station in Zvornik, Republika Srpska (RS).

Romania's pavilion at the Universal Exhibition Expo Milano 2015 is ready and will open on May 1, Romania's general commissioner for the event Georgian Ghervasie announced on Thursday.

Photo credit: (c) Expo Milano 2015 website

Romania's Day at the exhibition will be celebrated on July 29.

BERLIN - A further normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina will be achieved through the formation of a community of Serb municipalities (ZSO), director of the Serbian government's Office for Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) Marko Djuric said in Berlin on Thursday.