Provinces of Bulgaria

Environmentalists have achieved a major victory after a court battle to stop a Bulgarian national park being turned into a ski resort, reported the Independent. 

Bulgaria's top court ruled that Pirin National Park, a world heritage site and home to bears and wolves, must be protected from development.

Greek political leaders Thursday paid homage to Maritsa Mavrapidi, one of the three "Lesvos grannies" who became a symbol of the Aegean islanders' solidarity with refugees after their image sitting side by side bottle-feeding a refugee baby went viral at the peak of the migration crisis in 2015.

Environmentalists in Bulgaria scored a victory Wednesday in a long-running court battle to prevent enlargement of a ski resort in the Pirin mountains, a UNESCO World Heritage site, reports AFP. 

In 143 schools and kindergartens in the country, the educational process was stopped, the press center of the Ministry of Education and Science announced.

The five Macedonian snowboarders who had fallen into a furrow in Pirin were successfully rescued. They were snowboarding and skiing outside designated areas, Mountain Rescue Service (MAS) said.

Plovdiv, the oldest city in Bulgaria, has been officially inaugurated as the European Capital of Culture for 2019, reported USA TODAY. 

Some 50,000 people gathered on a central square Saturday to watch the opening show dubbed "We are all colors" with 1,500 local and foreign artists on several stages.

Two people died after an avalanche in Pirin in the Bansko area, announced the Mountain Rescue Service at the Bulgarian Red Cross. The dead were fond of extreme winter sports and were on the western slopes of Todorka peak, reports Dnevnik.

Code orange weather alert is in effect for 5 districts of Bulgaria for 10th of January, reported the Bulgarian National Television. Road traffic situation is complicated due to heavy snowfall in West and South Bulgaria.

Roads are being cleared and sanded. Traffic is temporarily restricted at the time of snow ploughing.

The centre of Plovdiv will be closed to traffic on January 12 for the official opening of the city's status as European Capital of Culture. Only 7 bus lines will run in the city, with the Monday - Friday schedule, reports BNT. 

Before noon today the snowfall will begin to taper off, last in the Rila-Rhodope and the southwestern regions. Strong wind in Eastern Bulgaria from north-northeast, stormy in the southeast regions, weakening in the afternoon.