News archive of January 2019

Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chair Devlet Bahçeli has received a wolf head as birthday present. 

The first for the year government session begins at 10 o'clock, reported the Bulgarian National Television. 

Cabinet ministers will consider the proposal to set up a Transparency Commission under the Human Medicinal Products Act and determine its composition.

Brazil's newly inaugurated President Jair Bolsonaro said on Dec. 1 his election had freed the country from "socialism and political correctness," and he vowed to tackle corruption, crime and economic mismanagement in Latin America's largest nation.

The use of plastic carrier bags in Greece has dropped by up to 85 percent since the introduction of the eco-tax on lightweight bags a year ago, data by the Hellenic Recycling Agency (EOAN) show.

Meanwhile revenues from the levy, which was introduced to help reduce litter and protect wildlife, are estimated at 7.7 million euros, according to the same data.

Qatar's withdrawal from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) took effect on Tuesday, ending its nearly 60-year membership in the cartel.

Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi announced the withdrawal decision in December. OPEC responded that they respected Qatar's decision.

The peak of the flu will occur in the middle of January, Dr. Kunchev confirmed. According to him, there is a continuing rise in the disease rate.

However, accurate information on the number of patients will come after a full week after the holiday season, when people avoided visiting a doctor, explained the expert.

Romania has taken the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for the next six months.

The event was celebrated last night in the Bucharest capital with a light show. 

At least 14 people are confirmed dead from the New Year's Eve explosion at a high-rise apartment building in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk, news agencies reported Wednesday.

Citing local emergency officials, the RIA Novosti, TASS and Interfax news agencies said the number of dead had risen to 14 as rescuers pulled more bodies from the rubble of the collapsed building.

Somalia's government has ordered the UN top envoy to the troubled country to leave, accusing him of "deliberately interfering with the country's sovereignty", AFP reported.

The order comes days after the official, Nicholas Haysom, raised concerns at the action of Somalia's UN-backed security services in recent violence that left several people dead.

The suspect in the stabbings at Manchester Victoria Station on New Year's Eve has been detained under the Mental Health Act, police said, The Telegraph reports.

Police said the 25-year-old man arrested over the stabbings has been detained under the Mental Health Act on Tuesday evening after being assessed by medical staff.