Verona

A remnant of İzmir's Franciscan heritage, the Catholic Church of Santa Maria stands modestly near the city's most famous church, Saint Polycarp. Ever since its construction in 1341, Santa Maria's sober building has shaken with several earthquakes and stood against a few city fires.

Sixteen people have died and 39 have been injured in an accident in northern Italy with a bus full of Hungarian pupils who were on holiday.

The bus hit a pole and burnt down at the exit of the A4 highway near Verona on Friday night. The driver, who is assumed to be French, is among the dead.

In an era of intense political division, the new production of "Romeo et Juliette" at New York's Metropolitan Opera brings the classic tale of warring families to a universe of palpable power and ostentation.

Santorini is among the 10 most popular destinations for couples, according to Travel Smart survey of global hotel reservation platform, Agoda (property of the Priceline Group).

The research is based on millions of bookings and reviews on Agoda taken from couples and singles.

Santorini ranked fifth in list of the most attractive destination for couples in the world.

Bulgarian football player Valeri Bojinov signed on Sunday a two-year contract with Serbian club Partizan Belgrade.

Bojinov became the second Bulgarian player in the current squad after defender Ivan Bandalovski had joined the team in the beginning of the year.

The Bulgarian striker was officially presented and posed with the jersey of his new team, daily Dnevnik reports.

The second edition of the summer festival OPERA OPEN in Plovdiv will be taking place outside the stage of the Ancient Theater. The purpose is for the art to find new fans and the organizers will be attempting to gather close to 10,000 people at the events.

TOKYO - Serbian former football player Dragan Stojkovic has been decorated with the Order of the Rising Sun, the Japanese government stated on Wednesday.

Stojkovic is among more than 50 recipients of this decoration from Japan and Serbia, who were selected for their contribution to the relations between the two countries.

NexT International Film Festival, in its 9th edition, brings to Bucharest, starting on Wednesday, 146 of the newest short films, special guests, seminars and parties, in eight different venues - Studio Cinema, Elvire Popesco Cinema, CinemaPRO and the Romanian Cultural Institute, Control Club, J'ai Bistrot, Carturesti, Ciclop Garage (Magheru Boulevard, 6-8).

Three Greek international soccer players were slightly injured on Monday in a car crash as they travelled by taxi to Budapest airport following Greece's Euro 2016 qualifying goalless draw against Hungary on Sunday.

Romanian forward Adrian Mutu has announced his retirement from activity on Thursday, on his 36th birthday, according to private broadcaster Digi Sport. "I don't want to talk about football anymore, I'm retired from activity", Mutu said, upon refusing to join the live broadcast of a TV show.

Photo credit (c) AKEX MICSIK / AGERPRES ARCHIVE