Sri Lanka

BELGRADE - In the first nine months of 2016, the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) has lost almost a third territory it once controlled in Iraq and Syria, new data shows.

Analysis by defence analysts IHS shows that the area under the terror group's control has shrunk by 28 per cent since its peak in January 2015 as counter insurgents and air strikes push the terrorists back.

Novinite is publishing an interview with H.E. Mr Kahtan Janabi about the forthcoming battle of the Iraqi government to retake Mosul, the country's second-largest city that fell to the Islamic State (IS) group in 2014.

Mr Janabi has been the Iraq's Ambassador to Bulgaria since 2015.

The Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TİM) has called for some 181 envoys and civil servants from 73 countries across the globe to talk about Turkey's devotion to democratic rule and robust economy in their countries and to boost cooperation with Turkey during a three-day meeting hosted in the Aegean province of Çanakkale on Sept. 2-4, the association said in a statement.

Greece ranked 29th among the best countries in the world for visiting, according to the readers of British newspaper Telegraph.

It is also chosen as the second most popular tourist destination in Mediterranean by British travelers.

Bulgarian authorities detained on Thursday 21illegal migrants in a building from a former agricultural complex located in the neighbourhood of Dolno Ezerovo in the city of Burgas.

The men, who had illegally crossed the Bulgarian border, identified themselves as coming from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Syria.

The readmission operation of refugees and migrants from Greek islands to Turkey has begun with 202 people being already sent back, while the situation in Idomeni and Piraeus as well as in other hotspots remains tense.

Albania is to pay a British agency, Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, QAA, around 700,000 euros to rank the quality of its 35 public and private universities.

Mars announced it has recalled a selected group of its chocolate bars sold in Turkey and more than 50 other countries in a written statement on Feb. 25, after a piece of plastic was found in one snack made in its Dutch factory. 

The U.S.-based company said three different types of chocolate bars will be recalled in a limited number in the Turkish market as "a precautionary step." 

Bulgaria will be presented as an year-round tourist destination during hearings in the lower chamber of Russian parliament on Thursday, the Ministry of Tourism announced in a press release.

Chocolate giant Mars on Feb. 23 ordered a massive recall of Mars and Snickers bars from 55 countries after a piece of plastic found in one bar was traced back to its Dutch factory.