News archive of December 2019

Turkey's defense minister expressed his hopes to resolve an ongoing disagreement with Russia on Libya through dialogue, days before the Turkish Parliament is to vote for the deployment of Turkish troops to the war-torn country.

Knezevic, a fierce critic of the three-decade-long rule of Djukanovic, was one of two Front leaders, along with Andrija Mandic, convicted in the first-instance ruling of involvement in a failed coup in 2016, which the authorities claim originated in Russia. They have appealed their sentences. 

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has put forward his objection to the environmental impact report for the Kanal Istanbul project, a planned artificial waterway planned to connect the Black Sea and Marmara Sea northwest of Istanbul.

Weather conditions in the lower parts of the mountains are good for tourism today, the Mountain Rescue Service with the Bulgarian Red Cross told Focus News Agency.
In the higher parts, over 2,300 m, there are snow drifts. Temperatures are below freezing - between -3C and -10C. The weather is clear and calm.
Facilities at most resorts are in operation.

People in Bulgaria have set a shopping record, spending EUR 1.2 billion ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays, BNR reported.

Large crowds thronged Sydney harbor on Dec. 31 to watch Australia's famous New Year's Eve fireworks, even as smoke from deadly wildfires turned skies in nearby coastal towns blood-red.

Some 200 Afghani asylum seekers blocked the main road leading from the entrance of the Moria camp to the community of Larsos on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos shortly after noon on Tuesday.

Protestors said they mobilized to demand  better living conditions at the camp, namely electricity and heating.

Turkish security forces on Dec. 31 seized 202 kilograms (445 pounds) of marijuana in the country's east, according to the provincial governor's office.

The drugs were seized in a stream bed in Genç in the Bingöl province in a sniffer dog-aided operation, said a statement.

It added that the fight against illicit drugs would continue across the province.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will pay a formal visit to Athens from January 2-4 and sign the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between Greece, Israel and Cyprus for the East Med pipeline with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

Stefanovic added that if Vucic retires from politics, he will do the same.
"If he retires, I would not hold any public or party position either", Stefanovic said in a New Year's interview with Novosti.