Provinces of Bulgaria

The forest fire in Bulgaria's Rila Mountain has been contained from three sides, the blaze continues only on the northwestern slopes, Nova TV station reported on Sunday.

The advance of the fire front to the south towards the famous St. Ivan Rilski Monastery has been halted.  

More than 40 new wildfires have occurred in Bulgaria over the past 12 hours as a result of hot summer weather, strong winds and human neglect of fire safety rules, BGNES reported on Friday afternoon.

The new multi-purpose Bulstrad Arena was unveiled in the Bulgarian city of Ruse on Thursday.

The opening was attended by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Regional Minister Lilyana Pavlova and the sports ministers of Bulgaria and Romania - Krasen Kralev and Gabriela Szabo.

A German tourist, aged 32, drowned in the Black Sea off the Bulgarian resort of Slanchev Bryag (Sunny Beach) on Tuesday.

This is the ninth person to fall victim to drowning on the southern Black Sea coast, daily Dnevnik informs.

The body was recovered near the lifeguard tower at the beach situated in front of the Burgas Beach hotel in the resort.

Greek Ambassador to Bulgaria Dimosthenis Stoidis has underscored that Greece has been an EU Member State for 30 years, adding that this relationship could not change just because of the current government.

Stoidis told journalists in Bulgaria's Kardzhali that the next Greek government would probably continue the positive relations with the EU.

A Swedish tourist died in Slanchev Bryag after falling off a hotel balcony late Wednesday evening. The tourist was 19 years old and had arrived in Bulgaria on July 13.

The emergency medical crew established his death immediately after the fall, at around 11:30 pm.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has asked the Bulgarian government to stop the demolition of illegal dwellings in the Roma neighbourhood of the village of Garmen until housing has not been provided for the vulnerable families.

A 31-year old British tourist tried to kidnap an 11-month old baby in a stroller from its mother in the center of the Black Sea resort of Slanchev Bryag, as reported by the press office of the Bulgarian Interior Ministry.

Code yellow has been issued in 23 municipal regions of Bulgaria because of the heat wave expected Wednesday.

The warning concerns the regions of Vidin, Montana, Vratsa, Sofia, Pernik, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad, Pazardzhik, Smolyan, Haskovo, Kardzhali, Yambol, Sliven, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv, Lovech, Pleven, Gabrovo, Veliko Tarnovo, Ruse, Razgrad and Silistra.

A recent article on Bulgaria on the Insider Monkey website has listed seven "best places to visit" in the country.

The Srebarna Nature Reserve, the resort of Sunny Beach, the northeastern town of Ruse, the Seven Rila Lakes (glacial lakes in the Rila Mountains in the southwest), the Ledenika cave, the Iskar river, and the capital Sofia, according to the website's own rankings.