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Bulgaria to Provide more Evidence on Alleged Hizbullah Hand in Burgas Attack

Bulgaria's caretaker prime minister Marin Raykov has said Sofia will provide more evidence that Hizbullah planned a deadly attack on Israeli tourists last year to convince European Union countries to put the party on its terror list.

Raykov said on a visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday that some EU countries were ‘‘not sufficiently convinced’’ by Bulgaria’s evidence that Hizbullah was behind the July 18 bus attack in the Black Sea resort of Burgas that left 5 Israelis dead.

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Italian-Style Coffee Philanthropy Takes Hold in Bulgaria

Can't afford coffee? No matter. In Bulgaria, an old Italian tradition that sees good souls buying hot drinks for those who struggle to make ends meet has taken hold after weeks of tensions over deepening poverty.

More than 150 cafes across Bulgaria have joined a goodwill initiative modeled on the Italian "caffe sospeso" tradition, which literally means "suspended coffee", according to a Facebook page devoted to the movement.

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Bulgaria Plans Bomb Tests to Advance Burgas Bus Attack Probe

Bulgarian investigators said Monday they will conduct test explosions to help move forward a probe into last year's airport bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian, as media reported dead ends in the case.

Bulgaria had accused Hizbullah in February of being behind the Burgas attack.

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Bulgarian PM: We Will Not Request Labeling Hizbullah 'Terrorist Organization'

Interim Bulgarian Prime Minister Marin Raykov announced on Saturday that he will not take any steps to encourage to European Union to impose sanctions on Hizbullah after it has been accused of being behind the July 2012 Burgas attack.

"Bulgaria will evaluate the facts and we will leave the decision to our European partners,” Raykov said in an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio.

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Political Crisis Threatens Bulgaria's Fragile Economy

After weeks of protests, Bulgaria's new technocrat caretaker government must urgently restore trust in state institutions or risk exacerbating an already dire economic situation in the European Union's poorest country, analysts say.

"If protests continue and political instability drags on, it is set to pose problems for the economy by pushing new investors away and prompting those already here to postpone any development plans," Institute for Market Economics analyst Kaloyan Staykov told Agence France Presse.

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Peres Urges EU to 'Save Lebanon' from Hizbullah's 'Terrorist Madness'

Israeli President Shimon Peres appealed to the European Union on Tuesday to review its stance on Hizbullah to save Lebanon from its “madness,” saying the party is a terrorist organization and not a political movement.

“They collect missiles. They are trigger-happy. They hide missiles in peaceful towns and villages. By doing so, they turn them into a war target,” Peres said in a speech at the European Parliament.

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Bulgarian Bishop Fails to Sell Rolex to Pay Power Bill

A top Bulgarian cleric on Sunday failed to sell his gold Rolex to pay the electricity bill of his cash-strapped church as there were no takers for the watch in the EU's poorest country.

Metropolitan Nikolay of the southern city of Plovdiv decided to sell the watch late last month to pay the almost 3,000-leva (1,538-euro/ $2,000) power bill of the Saint Marina church.

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Third Bulgarian Dies after Setting Himself Ablaze

A third Bulgarian man died on Sunday after setting himself on fire amid protests against growing poverty and corruption in the EU's poorest country, hospital officials said.

Ventsislav Vasilev, a 53-year-old unemployed father of five, had doused himself with fuel and set himself ablaze outside the mayor's office in the central town of Radnevo on February 26.

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Bulgaria Admits Failing to Save Thousands of Jews

Bulgaria's parliament for the first time admitted Friday failing to save over 11,000 Jews from territories under its control as it commemorated the start of deportations 70 years ago.

Bulgaria, an ally of Nazi Germany during World War II "refused the deportation of over 48,000 Jews -- Bulgarian citizens -- to the death camps," parliament said in a declaration.

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Israel's Counterterror Bureau Warns of Iran-Hizbullah Plots

The Israeli National Security Council’s counterterrorism bureau has warned that Iran's Quds Force operatives and Hizbullah are plotting attacks ahead of the Passover vacation season.

Twenty-seven countries have been designated by the bureau as being under a travel alert of varying severity, the Jerusalem Post reported.

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