BTA

South Korea's Hyundai Engineering and Construction won backing from Bulgaria's parliament on Friday to proceed with talks on building two nuclear reactors, beating out a bid from US firm Bechtel.

The two had been short-listed for the engineering, construction and commissioning of units 7 and 8 at the Kozloduy nuclear plant using Westinghouse's AP 1000 technology.

As Bulgaria prepares to enter Schengen by air on March 31, Jesus Caballero, CEO of Sofia Airport's operating company, foresees faster terminal transitions for over two-thirds of passengers. In an interview with Sega news, Caballero revealed that the passport control-free corridors at Sofia Airport would be operational overnight, promising expedited passenger flows.

The ground offensive by Israeli forces now covers all parts of Gaza. The authorities ordered a new evacuation to the south, but there are also operations against Hamas, AP and BTA reported.

Representatives of the governments of Bulgaria and North Macedonia laid wreaths at the grave of Gotse Delchev in the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Savior in Skopje, as part of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of his birth.

150 Years Since the Birth of Gotse Delchev: Bulgarian President and PM together in Blagoevgrad

UN General Assembly members adopted a resolution Monday calling for"equitable, efficient and timely" access to future vaccines. This happened through a special procedure related to Covid-19, which gives them an unprecedented veto power in the organization, BTA reported.

Several species of grasses, ticks, mussels, amd crabs will settle in the northernmost regions of Antarctica in the coming years. This is predicted by scientists cited by the British Antarctic Institute and the BTA.

Too harsh conditions will not yet allow the ice continent to be colonized by rodents, but they will be able to co-exist near polar research stations.

Spanish parliament approved Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez as prime minister, according to BTA news agency.

Sánchez's nomination received 167 votes in favour of the 350-member Congress. 165 members of the lower house of parliament voted against and 18 abstained.

At least 90 people have been detained in Paris during another protest of the "Yellow Vests" movement, BTA reported.

Police officers checked more than 1,200 people and fined 104 people for trying to organize protests in unauthorized locations.

In 2020, Sofia will host over 200 sports events as part of its European Capital of Sport campaign. This emerged at a news conference Tuesday with Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova and Elen Gerdzhikov, chairman of the Sofia Municipal Council and head of the European Capital of Sport Foundation, BTA reported.

However, it is not yet certain whether Rajoy will also participate in the EU-Western Balkans summit on May 17, BTA agency quoted the daily.

The report also stated that "Romania, Slovakia, and Cyprus, which, like Spain, do not recognize Kosovo, will participate in the summit."