Vladimir Chukov

According to Bulgarian Arabist Prof. Vladimir Chukov, the situation in the Middle East has escalated dramatically following the assassination of Hamas leader in Tehran with a cruise missile. Chukov described the region as being on fire, highlighting the significant shift in dynamics since the incident.

The US and Britain have launched air and sea strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen in response to the group's attacks on ships in the Red Sea. This is a dramatic expansion of the war between Israel and Hamas in the region, Reuters reported.

There are explosions all over the country, witnesses say, adds BTA. President Joe Biden has warned that follow-up action is possible.

There is still no contact with the crew of the hijacked ship "Ruen", owned by the "NAVIBULGAR" shipping company. No access to satellite phones either. There are 18 people on board the vessel, 8 of whom are Bulgarians, as well as sailors from Angola and Myanmar. The ship was boarded yesterday 380 nautical miles east of the island Socotra, in the waters of the Arabian Sea.

Iraq will return with an important role on the political map of the Middle East, Prof. Vladimir Chukov, an Arab World expert, told FOCUS Radio's morning show.

Some 800 migrants headed from Istanbul in Turkey to Edirne, a city to the northwest, as they are trying to cross into Bulgaria and thus reach the EU, media sources say.

According to a Turkey correspondent for the Bulgarian National Radio, they were trying to reach Bulgaria or Greece's borders by bus and give either border a try.

Bulgaria is ranking among worst destinations for asylum seekers in a handbook, with some saying "xenophobia and Islamophobia are widespread", Deutsche Welle has noted.

In a text titled Why do so many refugees avoid Bulgaria?, Alexander Andreev and Tatiana Vaksberg have given several examples of this.

Novinite.com has asked Prof. Vladimir Chukov, an expert in the Middle East, the Arab world and Islam, for a wrap-up of the latest developments related to the Sunni extremist group Islamic State, including the likelihood of a Bulgarian involvement.

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A Bulgarian man died in Pakistan while fighting on the Islamist insurgent group Haqqani network in 2013, an investigation of a leading Bulgarian channel shows.

The man known as "Anis the Bulgarian" was killed by a drone, according to private national channel bTV which carried out the investigation together with Vladimir Chukov, an expert in Arabic studies.