World News

Croatia plans to reduce budget gap in time for euro adoption in 2023

The Croatian government said it planned to reduce its budget deficit next year to 2.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) from this year's 3.8%, to bring it line with requirements…

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Death toll in Turkish wildfires rises to four, blazes rage on

The death toll from wildfires on Turkey's southern coast has risen to four and firefighters were battling blazes for a third day on Friday after the evacuation of dozens of…

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UPDATED: Three dead as wildfire in south Turkey rages on

Three people were found dead as a massive forest fire burned for a second day in southern Turkey on Thursday, the country's AFAD disaster agency and agriculture minister said, with…

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Turkey’s daily COVID-19 cases surge above 20,000

Turkey's new coronavirus cases jumped to 22,291 on Wednesday, the highest since early May, according to health ministry data that also showed the daily death toll reached a six-week high…

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Turkey detains 200 Afghan migrants en route to Italy

Turkish authorities detained a boat carrying more than 200 Afghan migrants in the Aegean sea heading for Europe, Turkey’s coastguard and the International Organisation for Migration said on Wednesday. The…

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Turkey’s COVID-19 cases surge above 14,000, triple early July level

Turkey's new coronavirus cases jumped to 14,230 on Sunday, more than triple the amount three weeks earlier and reaching levels last seen in the first half of May, according to…

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10 killed, 45 injured in a bus crash in Croatia

Ten people were killed and 45 injured when a bus driving from Germany to Kosovo slipped off the road near the Croatian city of Slavonski Brod on Sunday, police said.…

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Turkey’s daily coronavirus cases jump to 11,094, highest since May

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's new coronavirus cases climbed above 10,000 for the first time since mid-May on Friday and hit a level of 11,094, according to health ministry data which…

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Turkey’s coronavirus cases back up to mid-May levels

Turkey's new coronavirus cases have doubled in just over two weeks to 9,586, its highest since May 19, with 52 related deaths according to an official tally that prompted a…

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Migrant boat carrying 45 people sinks south of Turkey

A migrant boat carrying 45 people has sunk to the south of Turkey, and Turkish naval ships and an aircraft are carrying out search and rescue operations, the defence ministry…

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Croatia tightens controls on Adriatic coast to safeguard tourist season

Croatia has decided to tighten controls against the spread of COVID-19 along its Adriatic coast in an effort to safeguard its economically vital summer tourist season, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic…

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Bulgaria’s interim government offers to revamp budget and raise pensions

Bulgaria's interim government proposes to amend the 2021 fiscal budget and use surplus revenue to boost state pensions and prepare the Balkan country for any upsurge in the COVID-19 pandemic,…

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Belgrade residents tell rights court of nightlife noise ‘torture’

Serbia's capital is vibrating with nightlife again after over a year of pandemic restrictions. Cafes, bars and fun-hungry customers are celebrating a summer boom in business and entertainment options, but…

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Cyprus talks can resume only on two-state basis, Erdogan says

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday peace talks on the future of ethnically divided Cyprus can take place only between "the two states" on the Mediterranean island. In a…

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Turkey condemns EU court ruling on headscarf ban as violation of freedoms

Turkey slammed a ruling by a top European Union court allowing the banning of headscarves under certain conditions as a "clear violation of religious freedoms", adding the move would exacerbate…

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Bulgaria faces instability as poll suggests razor-thin win for GERB

Bulgaria faced prolonged political instability on Monday after a national election appeared to result in a razor-thin victory for the anti-establishment There Is Such a People (ITN) and no clear…

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UPDATED: Bulgaria’s centre-right GERB just ahead in election, unlikely to form government

The centre-right GERB party of former prime minister Boyko Borissov has a narrow lead in Bulgaria's parliamentary election, partial official results showed on Monday, but it is unlikely to be…

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Bulgaria’s centre-right GERB party seen narrowly leading in general election-exit polls

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centrе-right GERB party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov was seen winning Sunday's national election with around 22-23% of the vote, exit polls by Gallup International…

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Bulgarians vote in second national election in 3 months amid anger over corruption

Bulgarians vote in a parliamentary election on Sunday that will decide whether protest parties can form the next government after a decade of political dominance by long-serving premier Boyko Borissov.…

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Turkish company applies to explore for oil in east Mediterranean

Turkey's state-owned energy company TPAO has applied for a licence to explore for crude oil in the eastern Mediterranean, the Turkish Energy Ministry said in a statement in the country's…

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Bulgaria’s new anti-establishment party nearly tied with GERB in polls before Sunday vote

Bulgaria's new anti-establishment party There Is Such a People (ITN) is almost tied for support with the centre-right GERB, which has been in power for most of the past decade,…

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Slovenia pushes for Albania and N. Macedonia EU membership

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union should let Albania and North Macedonia move ahead with membership talks by October before a special Balkans summit organised by Slovenia, which holds the EU presidency, its…

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Merkel sees strategic case for Balkan states joining EU

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she sees the six Western Balkan states as future members of the European Union for strategic reasons. "It is in the European Union's very own interests to drive…

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Bulgaria considers incentives to boost COVID-19 vaccinations

Bulgaria is considering offering incentives to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, interim Prime Minister Stefan Yanev said. Bulgaria is one of the few countries where people can choose…

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Turkey to carry on searching for gas in Mediterranean

Turkey will carry on exploring for oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean, President Tayyip Erdogan said in comments that may revive tensions with the European Union and Greece amid…

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Serbia confirms cases of COVID Delta variant

The Serbian health Ministry revealed that two people in Serbia have been diagnosed with the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant, the country's first such cases. The ministry said the "two…

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Photo Story – Women protest against Turkey’s withdrawal from Istanbul Convention

Turkish police block women as they demonstrate against Turkey's decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, in Istanbul, Turkey, 01 July 2021. The Turkish President pulled Turkey out of the…

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Bulgaria sticks to plans to adopt the euro from Jan 1, 2024

Bulgaria is sticking to its target to adopt the euro currency from January 1, 2024 and plans to start payments in euros without any transitional period once it joins the…

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U.S. adds Turkey to list of countries implicated in use of child soldiers

The United States added Turkey to a list of countries that are implicated in the use of child soldiers over the past year, placing a NATO ally for the first…

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Supports for Turkish workers expire as COVID-19 measures lifted

Turkey's pandemic-era ban on layoffs and a government wage support system, both adopted in early 2020, expired on Thursday as most remaining coronavirus restrictions were also lifted, setting the stage…

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Serbia borrows 200 million euros from EIB to aid COVID-19 recovery

Serbia borrowed 200 million euros ($237 million) from the European Investment Bank (EIB) on Wednesday, and will use the money to help small and medium-sized enterprises recover from the COVID-19…

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UPDATED: Erdogan defends Turkey’s withdrawal from violence against women treaty

Turkey's withdrawal on Thursday from an international treaty to prevent violence against women is not a step backwards, President Tayyip Erdogan said, defending a move which has drawn condemnation from…

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Turkey to keep fixed tax on alcohol, tobacco until year-end to ease inflation

Turkey will keep a tax on alcohol and tobacco products unchanged until the end of the year, under a decree published in the Official Gazette on Friday, extending a practice…

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Bulgarian organized-crime police probing 14 illegal kidney transplants

Bulgarian organized-crime investigators are probing 14 cases of foreign nationals receiving kidney transplants in violation of law stipulating that donors must be family members, the interior minister said on Thursday.…

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Russians’ return boosts Turkish tourism prospects

Thousands of Russian tourists began arriving in Turkey on Tuesday, boosting hopes for its tourism sector after a two-month suspension in flights imposed by Moscow due to concerns about a…

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Three injured in explosion at Serbian ammunition plant

Three workers sustained light injuries in a strong explosion that rocked an ammunition plant's facilities in the Serbian town of Cacak on Saturday evening, state RTS television reported. Police blocked…

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Turkey steps up COVID-19 vaccinations

Turkey has sharply accelerated COVID-19 vaccinations this week, delivering more than 1 million a day since Monday, raising hopes of a strong economic performance in the second half of the…

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Bulgaria’s new ITN party neck-and-neck with GERB before July election

Bulgaria's new anti-establishment party There Is Such a People (ITN) stood neck-and-neck with centre-right GERB, which has been in power for most of the past decade, ahead of a snap…

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Montenegro in ‘final phase’ of talks with Europe to cut China debt

European state financial institution is ready to refinance $809 million of Montenegro’s debt to China, allowing the tiny Adriatic republic to make savings and cut interest rates, the country’s finance…

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Bulgaria’s GERB party keeps slim lead before July election

Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party has a slim lead over the anti-establishment ITN before a July 11 election, an opinion poll showed this week. It maintained its lead despite a drop…

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Bulgaria to ease rules for mask wearing indoors

Bulgaria plans to lift the compulsory wearing of face masks in gyms, hairdressing salons, small shops and offices where all workers are vaccinated as coronavirus infections decrease, a deputy health…

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Turkey says differences with France eased after new Libyan government

Differences between Turkey and France over the conflict in Libya have eased since the new Libyan government was sworn in, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, adding that ties between…

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Albania’s parliament votes to sack president

Albania's parliament voted on Wednesday to sack President Ilir Meta over statements which the ruling party said advocated violence and violated the constitution. Some 104 of parliament's 140 deputies voted…

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Bosnia’s Mladic, commander of Europe’s worst atrocities since World War Two

Ratko Mladic was dubbed the "Butcher of Bosnia" for terrorising the capital Sarajevo with a 43-month siege and presiding over the 1995 massacre of up to 8,000 Muslims in a…

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UN court upholds genocide conviction against Bosnian Serb military leader Mladic

War crimes judges on Tuesday upheld a genocide conviction and life sentence against former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic. In 2017, the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the Former…

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Sarajevo siege survivors hope for closure with Mladic verdict

Survivors of the 43-month siege of Sarajevo are hoping for closure when Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic receives a final verdict on Tuesday (June 8) in his appeal against conviction for genocide and war crimes during the 1990s. In 2017,…

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Bulgaria to set up its own ‘blacklist’ after U.S. graft sanctions

Bulgaria will set up its own "blacklist" of companies and people associated with three Bulgarians and 64 entities that the United States has imposed sanctions on over alleged corruption, preventing…

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Photo Story: Marmara Sea covered by sea snot in Istanbul

Fishing boats on the Marmara Sea covered by sea snot in Istanbul, Turkey. Because of global warming, the blanket of mucus-like substance in Marmara Sea increasing day by day threatens…

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Turkey discovers 135 bcm of additional natural gas in Black Sea

Turkey has discovered 135 billion cubic metres of additional natural gas in the southern Black Sea, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, raising the total discovery in the region to…

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Bulgaria launches $1.55 bln guarantee scheme to support small businesses

Bulgaria will launch a new 2.5 billion levs ($1.55 billion) guarantee scheme to help small and medium businesses get bank loans and speed up its economic recovery, interim Economy Minister…

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Turkey’s Erdogan expected to announce new gas find in Black Sea

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is expected to announce a new gas discovery in the Black Sea on Friday, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported late on Thursday. In an interview with…

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Bulgarians welcome U.S. corruption sanctions, EU nods approval

Leading Bulgarian politicians welcomed U.S. sanctions on three Bulgarians and 64 companies linked to them over alleged corruption on Thursday, while the European Union signalled its approval by saying it…

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Turkey’s Erdogan woos Egypt, Gulf states in push to repair ties

key hopes to maximize its cooperation with Egypt and Gulf nations "on a win-win basis", President Tayyip Erdogan said, as Ankara works to repair its strained ties with Cairo and…

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Croatia yacht holidays in demand once again

Sailing holidays may well be one of the best ways to avoid any crowds this summer and Croatian yacht charter companies say they have seen a strong increase in bookings…

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Anti-abortion protesters stage a ‘Walk for Life’ in Croatia

A march against abortion and euthanasia drew in thousands in Croatia's Zagreb on Saturday, with feminist groups staging smaller counterdemonstrations. Organizers of the sixth annual "March for Life" said they…

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Turkish mobster’s videos targeting top politicians draw millions of views

When Sedat Peker, a convicted Turkish mob boss, began posting videos on social media earlier this month in which he made uncorroborated claims of corruption, murder and drug running against…

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Diplomats say Turkey pushed NATO allies into softening outrage over Belarus plane

Turkey pushed NATO allies into watering down an official reaction to the forced landing by Belarus of a passenger plane and the detention of a dissident journalist on Sunday, two…

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