Norway

Bulgaria has joined the Schengen area for free travel, but initially only by air and sea routes. This entails the elimination of border controls for air travel among member countries of the agreement. Here are some key questions and answers for travelers regarding this development:

What is Schengen?

United Nations peacekeepers said three military observers and a translator were wounded Saturday in a blast in southern Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah militants trade frequent cross-border fire.

After 13 years of waiting, Bulgaria and Romania are to partially join the Europe's vast Schengen area of free movement on Sunday, opening up travel by air and sea without border checks.

But land border controls will remain in place due to Austria's opposition to the eastern European countries becoming full members of the Schengen zone for fear of an influx of asylum seekers.

The 38th International Ankara Music Festival, organized by the Sevda-Cenap And Music Foundation, will be held between April 4 and 30.

VALJEVO - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic said in Valjevo on Friday she believed Rio Tinto's Jadar lithium mining project was good for Serbia economically as well as when it comes to accelerating the country's green transition.

Bulgaria's Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT) has achieved a historic milestone, with an unprecedented 16 articles accepted for the prestigious Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), the world's foremost forum for AI and computer vision.

Denmark has announced sweeping reforms to its military, marking a historic shift by extending conscription to women for the first time and increasing the standard service time, BBC reported. These changes come alongside plans to bolster the country's defense budget by nearly $6 billion (£4.6 billion) over the next five years to meet NATO targets.

KOPAONIK - Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said at the Kopaonik Business Forum on Tuesday Serbia's lithium reserves were the third-largest in Europe and that the country could supply as much as 20 pct of a market comprised of the EU, the UK and Norway, helping to produce around a million electric vehicles a year.

Sweden plans to send its units, helicopters and fighter planes. That country is also ready for official NATO accession, probably in a few days, after it received the final and crucial confirmation of the other members last week.

As Sweden edges toward formal NATO membership, the nation's involvement in the alliance's extensive military maneuvers underscores its evolving defense ties. Joined by Finland, the region embarks on the "Nordic Response 2024" exercises, marking a significant step towards bolstering collective security in Northern Europe.