New Year's Day

According to preliminary data of Bulgaria's Finance Ministry, the country will register a budget surplus of BGN 250 M for the first quarter of the new year.

This will be the first surplus recorded in the first quarter of the year since 2009, the ministry's press service reports.

Since the beginning of the new year, 281 migrants have been detained as they attempted to cross the Bulgaria-Romania border illegally.

This was announced by the department of the Border Police in the Bulgarian city of Ruse, private bTV station reports.

It is all about a shift of dates. The idea came upon Charles IX, the King of France, to announce the start of the New Year on Jan. 1 in an attempt to unite all New Year's celebrations on a single day.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)  has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks across Syria that left dead dozens of people, in an announcement on its radio station.
      

The death toll from attacks on Kurdish new year celebrations in Syria has risen to 45, including five children, a monitor said March 21, accusing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) of responsibility.

One of the earliest references to Nevruz is in the 11th century Divanü Lügati't-Türk, and one of the earliest legends points to its Kurdish origins All sorts of flowers open in spring
The bed of silk cloth has been spread out
Paradise's place has been spied, its sides warm
Cold won't come now.
-    Dîvanü Lügati't-Türk (11th century)

The IMF called for better banking supervision in Bulgaria in the concluding statement of its mission to the country, which was released on Friday.

The IMF notes that the collapse of Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) and the deterioration in the fiscal balance tested the country's macroeconomic and financial stability.

Fireworks illuminated the skies across China as millions around Asia ushered in the Year of the Sheep on Feb. 19, kicking off festivities with an annual televised gala that got a thumbs down on social media for heavy Communist Party propaganda.
      

An article published on the website of Turkmenistan's oil and gas ministry Monday attacked Russia's energy giant Gazprom, calling the company an unreliable partner for the reclusive Central Asian state.        

The euro weakened Tuesday after the showdown debt talks between Greece and its creditors collapsed, raising the prospect the country will be dumped out of the eurozone.

However, many equity markets were unfazed by the trouble in Europe as trade begins to wind down in several Asian bourses before the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of the week.