Forget the Hillary and Barack snake-and-mongoose act; I would like to see UK home secretary Jacqui Smith and Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev debate the question of “special surveillance means” against criminals. In Bulgaria, that strange and somehow sinister phrase “special surveillance means” tends to refer to wiretapping. Amid the Interior Ministry debacle, Stanishev reportedly said after a meeting with newly appointed minister Mihail Mikov that he favoured a reduction in the number of orders to wiretap suspects. Apparently, of the 5000 such orders issued in recent years – no specific timeframe was given – no more than a handful resulted in convictions. It would, of course, be mischievous to suggest that there may be reasons other than the surveillance being unproductive that resulted in such a low conviction rate. read more

During the six days of holiday around May 6, some friends and I decided to set off on an adventure to the southern coast of the Black Sea and Strandja Nature Park. We packed bags, bicycles, a dog and even a four-year-old and headed east. The first beach that we visited, after a late arrival in Malko Turnovo in Strandja and a strange night in a hospital transformed into a hotel, was Tsarevo’s southernmost bay of Nestinarka. It is out of town and is the last sandy beach before kilometres of rocky coast that reaches to Ahtopol. read more

Most of us enjoy consuming alcohol on a casual basis, say, while dining out with friends, while others enjoy a more regular amount with an evening meal or business meetings throughout the week. Consumption varies for each person. Alcohol is widely used and enjoyed throughout the world. There is no right or wrong amount of alcohol to consume; however, there are guidelines that allow us to monitor alcohol use, preventing increased health risk. read more