Public sphere

The choices of citizens of a country on various issues are important parts of the inputs that governments receive during their decision-making process, so governments try to gauge the perceptions of the public more or less accurately. In democratic societies, public opinion becomes even more significant and effects the policy choices of governments.

Bulgaria's Privatization and Post-Privatization Control Agency (PPCA) registered revenues of BGN 2.35 M in the first half of 2014, according to a report of the PPCA submitted to Parliament.

The sum includes compensatory instruments with a nominal value of BGN 1.7 thousand.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble reiterated on Wednesday that whoever wins the upcoming election in Greece will have to stick to a path of austerity.

"The election won't change the basic conditions," Schaeuble said in an interview broadcast on N-24 television.

The Turkish government has launched measures to bring "transparency" to public spending, with provisions aimed at transparency and accountability in funding for political parties and election campaigns.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu announced the "Program for Transparency in Public Administration" at a press conference on Jan. 14, accompanied by members of his cabinet.

Local activists, who had begun to camp near the protected ?ztuzu beach on the Mediterranean Sea to denounce a privatization deal, halted their protest early on Jan. 9 after a new court order to suspend the sale process was issued.

US stocks were slightly slower in opening trade Tuesday, falling with European equity markets on political uncertainty in eurozone member Greece.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 18,008.31, down 29.92 points (0.17 percent).

Most Constitutional Court judges in Macedonia have sided with a call to abandon the new system of transparent hand markings, at the start of a debate on scrapping the provision.

Judges argue that the practice, which was introduced for this year's March-April general and presidential elections, is contrary to constitutionally guaranteed rights concerning the secrecy of voting.

The European Commission approved Friday an operational program envisaging the allocation of EUR 104.8 M to the most deprived in Bulgaria.

The program spans the period 2014-2020 and it will provide basic material assistance for the poorest citizens of the country.

So at the end of the day journalism has not died in Turkey.

If it had died as some of our colleagues have been saying lately out of pessimism, there wouldn’t be any need felt to issue the publication ban to the news about the commission’s corruption investigation for the four former ministers.