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☆ Kenya launches first operational satellite into space
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A model of a prototype of a 3U Earth observation satellite, the Taifa-1, is displayed ahead of the launch of Kenya's first operational satellite, at the University of Nairobi's Taifa Hall in Nairobi, Kenya April 14, 2023. REUTERS/Monicah MwangiNAIROBI, April 14 (Reuters) - Kenya launched its first operational earth observation satellite on Saturday onboard a SpaceX rocket from the United States, a live feed from Elon Musk's rocket company showed. The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Taifa-1 satellite, took off at about 0648 GMT without incident from Vandenberg Base in California, after three postponements due to bad weather. Alloyce Were, an aeronautical engineer and deputy director of Navigation and Positioning at the government-run Kenya Space Agency, told Reuters on Friday before the satellite's launch. The satellite was put together with the help of Bulgarian aerospace company Endurosat at a cost of 50 million Kenyan shillings ($372,000) over two years, the space agency said.

☆ Romanian farmers block borders in protest over Ukrainian grain imports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUCHAREST, April 7 (Reuters) - Thousands of farmers protested across Romania on Friday over the impact of Ukrainian grain imports on prices, blocking traffic and border checkpoints with tractors and trucks and urging the European Commission to intervene. Anger is rising among farmers in Central and Eastern Europe over a flood of cheap Ukrainian grain imports, exempt from customs fees until June 2024, which have hurt prices and sales of local producers. Across the country, thousands of farmers used tractors, trucks and other machinery to block roads and borders. It decided to hand out compensation worth 56.3 million euros to Polish, Bulgarian and Romanian farmers, with more to come. On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he expected decisions to be announced in coming days and weeks to alleviate anger among Polish farmers.

☆ Bulgarian election runner-up rules out coalition with first-placed GERB party
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SOFIA, April 4 (Reuters) - The runner-up in Bulgaria's parliamentary elections will not form a coalition with the winning GERB party, the leader of We Continue the Change (PP) said on Tuesday, signalling a likely continuation of the country's political deadlock. "The National Council of the party has decided that We Continue the Change will not support a Cabinet with... the participation of the political party GERB," Assen Vassilev, co-leader of PP told reporters. "The National Council mandates the Executive Council to send representatives to hold policy talks with all parliamentary parties." Preliminary results show GERB won 26.5% of the vote, while PP received 24.6%. Reporting by Stoyan Nenov; Writing by Alan Charlish; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ex-PM Borissov's GERB nudges ahead in Bulgarian election - partial results
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] Boyko Borissov, former Bulgarian Prime Minister and leader of centre-right GERB party, leaves from a polling station during the parliamentary election, in Sofia, Bulgaria, April 2, 2023. REUTERS/Stoyan NenovSOFIA, April 3 (Reuters) - A bloc led by the centre-right GERB party of former prime minister Boyko Borissov narrowly won most votes in Bulgaria's parliamentary election, according to partial official results on Monday based on 87% of ballots counted. The results from Sunday's election, Bulgaria's fifth in just two years, showed GERB and its small SDS ally winning a combined 26.6% of the vote, just ahead of the pro-Western reformist bloc led by We Continue the Change (PP) on 24.5%, while the nationalist Revival party had 14.4%. The outcome points to further lengthy coalition talks that are unlikely to produce a stable government due to personal antipathy among the leaders of the two main blocs, analysts say, possibly leading to a sixth election later this year. Writing by Gareth Jones Editing by Justyna PawlakOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Credit Suisse has violated U.S. tax evasion deal, Senate Committee finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) violated a 2014 plea deal with U.S. authorities by continuing to help ultra-wealthy Americans evade taxes and concealing more than $700 million from the government, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee found on Wednesday. After concluding a two-year investigation into Credit Suisse - which this month agreed to a rescue takeover by rival UBS (UBSG.S) - the committee said it had uncovered "major violations" of the 2014 agreement between the Swiss lender and the U.S. Department of Justice for enabling tax evasion. In an emailed statement, Credit Suisse said it did not tolerate tax evasion and had been cooperating with U.S. authorities. Credit Suisse in 2014 became the largest bank in 20 years to plead guilty to a U.S. criminal charge, agreeing to pay a $2.5 billion fine to authorities for helping Americans evade taxes in a conspiracy that spanned decades. Swiss authorities engineered the rescue of Credit Suisse earlier this month as they scrambled to prevent the lender from collapsing.

☆ Hungary's foreign minister holds energy talks with Russia's premier
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BUDAPEST, March 29 (Reuters) - Hungary's foreign minister held telephone talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak about gas and oil shipments as well as nuclear co-operation, the Hungarian minister said late on Tuesday. In a statement, Peter Szijjarto said Novak had reassured him that despite international sanctions, the Russian party would be able to do maintenance work on the Turkstream pipeline. "Thus Hungary's gas supply will continue without any disruptions," the statement added. The Turkstream gas pipeline will be stopped for maintenance from June 5 to 12, according to data on the website of Bulgarian gas transmission operator Bulgartransgaz. Szijjarto reiterated in his statement that Hungary would block any European Union sanctions that would affect nuclear energy.

☆ A police raid uncovered a previously unknown Jackson Pollock painting worth an estimated $54 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A previously unknown painting by Jackson Pollock was discovered last week, per officials. Authorities found the painting in an art-trafficking bust, Bulgarian National Radio first reported. Experts estimated the painting could rack up to $54 million at an auction, according to BNR. A photo of part of the painting can be viewed at Bulgarian National Radio's website. Previously, Pollock's most expensive painting sold for $61,161,000, in 2021, according to the art market website Mutual Art.

☆ Unknown Pollock painting found in Bulgaria police raid
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 22 (Reuters) - A previously unknown painting by famed U.S. artist Jackson Pollock has been discovered in Bulgaria by police investigating international art smugglers, officials said. The work could be worth up to 50 million euros ($54 million), Bulgarian National Radio reported, citing experts. Several people, including Bulgarian citizens, were arrested in the international operation, state news agency BTA reported on Tuesday. The report did not give a description of the painting or any other details on the work. "This is an international operation with the participation of Europol, Greece and other countries," Petar Todorov, Bulgaria's Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said, according to the Novinite news agency.

☆ From spying to Swiss bailout: How years of turbulence at Credit Suisse came to a head
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen at an office building in Zurich, Switzerland February 21, 2022. The announcement that Credit Suisse would borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($54 billion) from the central bank came after consecutive sessions of steep drops in its share price. It made Credit Suisse the first major bank to receive such an intervention since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Scandals Credit Suisse is currently undergoing a massive strategic overhaul in a bid to address these chronic issues. These oversight failures resulted in a massive shakeup of Credit Suisse's investment banking, risk and compliance and asset management divisions.

☆ Factbox: Credit Suisse's troubles - spies, money laundering and takeover
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Credit Suisse has said it expects the case, which it is appealing, to cost it around $600 million. The hedge fund's highly leveraged bets on certain technology stocks backfired and the value of its portfolio with Credit Suisse plummeted. Swiss regulators have rebuked Credit Suisse for "serious" failings in its handling of the multi-billion dollar business with Greensill. Switzerland's financial regulator said Credit Suisse had misled it about the scale of the spying. In response, Credit Suisse said it condemned the spying and had taken "decisive" steps to improve its governance and strengthen compliance.

☆ Factbox: FACTBOX Credit Suisse's troubles - spies, money laundering and central bank cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Lescaudron was convicted by a Swiss court in 2018 of having forged the signatures of former clients, including Ivanishvili, over an eight-year period. Credit Suisse has said it expects the case, which it is appealing, to cost it around $600 million. The hedge fund's highly leveraged bets on certain technology stocks backfired and the value of its portfolio with Credit Suisse plummeted. Swiss regulators have rebuked Credit Suisse for "serious" failings in its handling of the multi-billion dollar business with Greensill. In response, Credit Suisse said it condemned the spying and had taken "decisive" steps to improve its governance and strengthen compliance.

☆ Russia's Navalny dedicates his part in Oscar movie to those fighting dictatorship
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Evgenia NovozheninaMarch 15 (Reuters) - Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny on Wednesday dedicated his part in an Oscar-winning film about him to those fighting against dictatorship and war. Director Daniel Roher's film "Navalny", about the poisoning that nearly killed Russia's most prominent opposition figure and his detention upon returning to Moscow in 2021, won the Oscar for best feature documentary on Sunday. In the film, Navalny and Grozev pinned responsibility for the poisoning episode on a team of agents from the FSB state security service. After returning from Germany, where he recovered from the poisoning, Navalny was immediately detained. He is now serving time on charges of fraud and contempt of court that he says were trumped up to silence him.

☆ Not so quiet on the BAFTA front as anti-war remake tops the billing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Marie-Louise Gumuchian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Albrecht Schuch, Edward Berger, and Malte Grunert arrive at the world premiere of "All Quiet on the Western Front" at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 12, 2022. REUTERS/Mark Blinch/File PhotoLONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - A German remake of anti-war classic "All Quiet on the Western Front" leads the contenders at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, the country's highest accolade for the industry. "Banshees", about two feuding friends on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, and "Everything Everywhere" each have received 10 nominations. Bill Nighy ("Living"), Paul Mescal (Aftersun") and Daryl McCormack ("Good Luck to You, Leo Grande") complete the leading actor nominees list. BAFTA Chief Executive Jane Millichip said while Grozev would not attend the ceremony, the film's nominated producers would.

☆ Six charged after 18 migrants found dead in truck in Bulgaria
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SOFIA, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Bulgarian prosecutors have charged 6 people with human trafficking after 18 Afghan migrants were found dead inside a truck dumped on an dirt road near the capital Sofia on Friday. The truck driver and his companion were also charged over the deaths of the migrants, prosecutors said. The 18 victims died of a combination of lack of oxygen in an enclosed space and difficulty breathing as they had been crammed into the truck "like in a tin can", Sarafov said. The other 34 migrants, who were rushed to hospitals on Friday, remain in stable condition, officials said. Prosecutors said the ring had trafficked migrants from the border with Turkey across Bulgaria to Serbia, from where they continued their journey mainly to Britain, Germany and France.

☆ Former Bulgaria energy minister charged with mismanagement of gas deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SOFIA, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Bulgarian investigators charged former energy minister Alexander Nikolov on Wednesday with mismanagement that led to losses of more than 88 million levs ($48.36 million) at state gas firm Bulgargaz, related to Russia cutting off gas supplies to the country. Russia cut the gas supplies on which Bulgaria was almost fully reliant at the end of April 2022 after the European Union country refused to pay for deliveries in roubles. Former deputy energy minister Danail Nikolov has been charged with malfeasance as part of the same probe. The centre-right GERB party has accused the former government of reformist Kiril Petkov of paying higher prices to secure alternative gas supplies after it refused to pay for Russian gas in roubles. Petkov's coalition government, where Nikolov was energy minister, was toppled in a no-confidence vote six months after taking office in December 2021.

The gathering of the 27 national EU leaders was called after Austria and the Netherlands led a growing choir of complaints about increasing arrivals. In a call ahead of the summit with his Polish, Belgian, Finnish, Maltese and Bulgarian counterparts, Orban called for EU financing for such projects, saying that "fences protect all of Europe", according to his press chief quoted by state news agency MTI. In a joint letter ahead of the summit, the leaders of Malta, Denmark, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Austria and Slovakia said the EU's "current asylum system is broken." "Irregular migration has once again become one of the most pressing issues in the EU," they said. "Without renewed and successful efforts ... irregular migration to Europe can only be expected to continue and increase in the coming years."

☆ Property documents for a London apartment suggest wanted 'crypto-queen' is alive after allegedly vanishing in 2017 with $4 billion from investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Wanted fugitive Ruja Ignatova hasn't been seen since October 2017. A recent property listing hints that Ignatova is alive and still on the run, reports say. Bulgarian-born Ignatova, 42, is wanted by the FBI for allegedly scamming investors out of $4 billion between 2014 and 2016 in a Ponzi scheme using her now-defunct company OneCoin. In October 2017, she vanished until documents related to a penthouse apartment in London seemingly pointed to her whereabouts, the New York Post reported. "It suggests she is still alive, and there are documents out there somewhere which contain vital clues as to her recent whereabouts," Bartlett said.

☆ Bulgaria gears for its fifth election in two years on April 2
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SOFIA, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on Tuesday said he would set April 2 as the date for the country's fifth parliamentary election within two years after inconclusive October polls failed to produce a working government. Radev has to dissolve the parliament after the Socialists became the third political party to refuse to form a regular government in a deadlocked parliament. Bulgaria, European Union's poorest and one of its most corrupt member states, has been rocked by political instability since anti-graft protests in 2020. "I will issue a decree to dissolve the National Assembly on Feb. 3 and will appoint the parliamentary election on April 2," Radev told reporters. The political crisis is likely to delay much needed reforms to combat high-level graft and hamper Bulgaria's ability to use efficiently EU funds.

☆ How 'Cryptoqueen' Ruja Ignatova ended up as the only woman on the FBI's most-wanted list
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Faith Karimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Ruja Ignatova is one of the FBI's 10 most-wanted fugitives -- the only woman currently on that list. FBIShe is now one of the FBI’s 10 most-wanted fugitives, alongside accused gang leaders and murderers, and is the only woman currently on that list. The bureau declined to provide additional details to CNN beyond court documents from the US Department of Justice, which did not list an attorney for Ignatova. “The cryptocurrency OneCoin was established for the sole purpose of defrauding investors,” IRS Special Agent John R. Tafur said in a statement. Less than two weeks later, on October 25, 2017, she boarded a commercial flight from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece, court documents said.

☆ Djokovic dismisses Dimitrov to soldier on at Australian Open
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Shrivathsa Sridhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 21, 2023 Serbia's Novak Djokovic in action during his third round match against Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov REUTERS/Hannah MckayMELBOURNE, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic continued his charge towards a 10th Australian Open title with a superb 7-6(7) 6-3 6-4 victory over Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov to reach the fourth round on Saturday but fears about the durability of his injured left hamstring only grew. The Serbian, who is eyeing a 22nd major to match Rafa Nadal, looked uncertain in his movement in a roller-coaster opening set where he began with a break, squandered three set points at 5-3 and dropped serve late on before edging a thrilling tiebreak. A heavily-strapped but more aggressive Djokovic emerged from a medical timeout and built pressure with his relentless returns from the back, going up 4-2 as 27th seed Dimitrov hit the net to surrender his serve, and went on to wrap up the second set. A half-fit Djokovic can still be a handful for most players but the fourth seed looked a little more certain of his mobility in the third set and a double break to start helped him subdue the error-prone Dimitrov who failed to make a late comeback. Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Djokovic backs up Murray's concerns over 'gruelling' schedule
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

When asked for his opinion on Murray's comments, nine-times champion Djokovic told reporters: "I think that players' input is always important for tournament organisation. "I would agree with his (Murray's) points... For the crowd, it's entertaining, it's exciting, to have matches (end at) midnight, 1, 2, 3 am. "Even if you go through and win, prevail in these kind of matches, you still have to come back. Yeah, something needs to be addressed I guess in terms of the schedule after what we've seen this year." Djokovic next faces Australian Alex de Minaur in the fourth round on Monday.

☆ Man on a mission, Djokovic comes through Couacaud test
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Fourth seed Djokovic changed his shirt and brought in the heavy artillery to whip through the final two sets, setting up a third-round date with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. Djokovic's half of the draw opened for him earlier on Thursday when second seed Casper Ruud was knocked out. The 35-year-old took a medical timeout at 4-4 in the second set to have the strapping changed and later conceded that it had been troubling him. The Mauritius-born 27-year-old continued to throw everything at Djokovic and played a brilliant second set, finally coming back from 3-0 down to take the tiebreak 7-5. One fan attracted his ire in the fourth set, however, after repeatedly making noise while Djokovic was preparing to serve.

☆ Bulgarians ward off evil spirits in ancient winter festival
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The festival, held every January in the village of Kosharevo, is known as "Surva" and is a mixture of Christian and pagan rituals that can be traced back to Thracian times. Some of the dancers, known as Survakars, or kukers (mummers), wear hand-made wooden masks decorated with feathers, which can be up to two metres high. The loud clanging of the bells on their belts is believed to ward off evil and diseases. During the two-day festival, the village, 50 km west of the capital Sofia, is brimming with life as extended families gather to greet the Survakars and offer them traditional dishes. Determined to pass the tradition on, he makes masks and outfits not only for himself, but for his young children too.

☆ Four accused in Bulgarian probe of crypto lender Nexo -investigators
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SOFIA, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Investigators looking into crypto lender Nexo on Friday said that four citizens of Bulgaria had been accused of participating in an organised crime group for money laundering as well as tax and computer fraud. Nexo had said after Thursday's operations that the raided office was not customer facing but has only back office functions. Some 35 artworks, including from Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, had been seized from one of the accused, investigators said. According to Bulgarian prosecutors $94 billion has gone through the Nexo platform in the past five years. Crypto lenders act like banks for the crypto world, offering customers interest on cryptocurrencies they deposit with the platform.

☆ IMF chief heading to Zambia, says new debt 'roundtable' to meet in February
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Georgieva, the first person from an emerging market economy to head the International Monetary Fund, told reporters debt relief was critical for heavily indebted nations to avoid cuts in social services and other repercussions. The Bulgarian economist, who has pushed hard for quicker movement on debt relief, said she would travel to Zambia in two weeks, and hoped the African country would become the second nation after Chad to complete a debt treatment process under the Common Framework. China, for its part, argues that multilateral institutions should also required to accept reductions in the debt they are owed. "The main objective of the roundtable ... (is to) bring everybody around the table at the most senior levels," she said. Additional meetings were expected in April at the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank, she said.

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