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The United States has asked NATO member Bulgaria to house detainees from its prison camp at Guantanamo in Cuba, Bulgaria's Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said on Saturday.

Note: The following text is a quote: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, December 3, 2009 Two Foreign Nationals Sentenced for Roles in International Money Laundering Scheme Involving Online Sales Two Bulgarian nationals have been sentenced in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia for their roles as money launderers for a transnational criminal group based in Eastern Europe, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. Ivaylo Vasilev Pletnyov, 39, of Svishtov, Bulgaria, was sentenced yesterday to four years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman for conspiracy to commit money laundering. Pletnyov was...

A boffin at the Bulgarian national Space Research Institute has stated that not only are aliens living among us, but that they object strongly to "immoral behaviour" by humanity - such as causing global warming. "Unnatural" acts such as use of cosmetics and "artificial insemination" are also frowned upon by the extraterrestrial visitors. Luchezar Filipov, deputy head of the space institute at the government's Bulgarian Academy of Science, made these startling assertions to Bulgarian media earlier this week. The Sofia Echo, referencing other local media, quotes the eminent space brainbox as stating that "they [aliens] are here right now, among...

A team of Bulgarian archaeologists led by Veselin Ignatov formally presented Tuesday their finds from the tomb of an aristocrat from Ancient Thrace near the southern town of Nova Zagora. In October and November 2009, Ignatov's team found a burial tomb of dated back to the end of 1st century and beginning of 2nd century AD, located outside of the village of Karanovo, in southern Bulgaria. The finds at the lavish Thracian tomb include gold rings, silver cups and vessels coated with gold and clay vessels. Those include two silver cups with images of love god Eros, and a number...

Uncontrolled mass immigration had been a deliberate, covert policy to change the country’s demographics, according to the Sunday Times. Labour's “open door” immigration policy knowingly risked allowing dangerous people to settle in Britain unchecked. This is revealed by documents of the Home Office, seen by The Sunday Times, which also mention Bulgarian organized criminal groups. “The Whitehall correspondence, which was illegally withheld by the Home Office for four years, shows how ministers were told by the country’s most senior immigration official that his staff were to be “encouraged to take risks” when granting visas, work permits and extended residency to...

An 11-year-old girl became one of the world's youngest mothers - and went into labour on the way to her wedding. Kordeza Zhelyazkova, from Sliven in Bulgaria, was still wearing her wedding dress and tiara as she was rushed to hospital, where she gave birth to 5lb 8oz Violeta. Proudly displaying her baby, she told reporters: 'I'm not going to play with toys any more - I have a new toy now.'

An Open Letter to the Obama Administration from Central and Eastern Europe 2009-07-15 by Valdas Adamkus, Martin Butora, Emil Constantinescu, Pavol Demes, Lubos Dobrovsky, Matyas Eorsi, Istvan Gyarmati, Vaclav Havel, Rastislav Kacer, Sandra Kalniete, Karel Schwarzenberg, Michal Kovac, Ivan Krastev, Alexander Kwasniewski, Mart Laar, Kadri Liik, Janos Martonyi. Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Adam Rotfeld, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Alexandr Vondra, Lech Walesa. We have written this letter because, as Central and Eastern European (CEE) intellectuals and former policymakers, we care deeply about the future of the transatlantic relationship as well as the future quality of relations between the United States and the countries of...

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — An exit poll says that Bulgaria's right-wing opposition GERB party has won the country's parliamentary election by a wide margin. The Alpha Research poll shows the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, or GERB, led by Sofia Mayor Boiko Borisov claiming 38.5 percent of the vote Sunday.

Bulgarian archaeologists have discovered a 7 000-years-old settlement close to the northeast city of Shumen. The village dates back to the Stone-Copper Age, and is located in the locality of Chanadzhik, near the village of Sushina and the Ticha Dam. The archaeologists have discovered over 300 finds, most of which are made of marble. "These items are extremely rare. They were worn by very specific people. These are decorations that were not available to the masses. There are also others that are made of clay or bone," explained Stefan Chohadzhiev, an archaeology professor at the Veliko Tarnovo University, as quoted...

Belgrade, 26 June (AKI) – Serbian leaders have reacted angrily to a Bulgarian court's decision to release former Kosovo prime minister and war crimes suspect Agim Ceku, whose extradition is being sought by Belgrade. Deputy prime minister Ivica Dacic said that the decision of Bulgaria’s court would not help “good neighbourly relations” between the two countries. Ceku was arrested on Tuesday at a border crossing between Macedonia and Bulgaria by police acting on a Serbian Interpol arrest warrant. But he was set free by a Bulgarian court on Thursday. “Obviously, the work of Interpol is burdened by political pressures on...

SOFIA (AFP) — Bulgaria on Thursday released former Kosovo premier Agim Ceku, arrested on a warrant from Serbia, where he is wanted on war crimes charges, an AFP photographer in the court reported. Ceku walked free after a prolonged hearing into whether or not Sofia should extend his detention. He was initially held in custody only for a period of 72 hours. The former Kosovo premier was, however, asked to remain in Bulgaria until July 2, in case the prosecution appealed his release, judge Sonya Kocheva was cited by national radio as saying. Prosecutors hinted they would not appeal. Serbia's...

A former Kosovo prime minister, Agim Ceku, has been arrested in Bulgaria on an international warrant issued by Serbia for alleged war crimes. The Bulgarian interior ministry said Mr Ceku was detained as he crossed the border from Macedonia and a court would consider his case in the next few days. Serbia accuses Mr Ceku of committing war crimes in 1998-99. At the time he was commander of the ethnic-Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which was fighting Serbia. He has dismissed the charges as politically motivated, and says the arrest warrant has no legal basis. He was arrested at the...

BANGKOK, Thailand - A Russian dubbed the "Merchant of Death" for allegedly supplying weapons to Africa's bloody conflicts over power and diamonds was arrested Thursday in Thailand on suspicion of conspiring to smuggle guns to Colombia's leftist rebels. Viktor Bout, 41, whose dealings reportedly inspired a 2005 movie about the illicit arms trade, was arrested at U.S. request in his hotel room in Bangkok, said police Lt. Gen. Pongpat Chayapan. Bout had eluded arrest for years and was finally seized after a four-month sting organized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. In New York, federal authorities unsealed a criminal complaint...

Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion. Arrest of Kenyan Exposes Massive Global Arms Trade The East African Africa News February 25, 2002 Monday Kenya L AST WEEKEND'S arrest of Kenyan-born Sanjivan Ruprah, who is alleged to be a part of a major arms smuggling operation to Africa, has brought into the open the extent of the multi-million dollar illegal business. The whereabouts of Bout remain unknown. Some media reports say he is in Moscow, while others say he is in the Congo or the United Arab Emirates. An international ...

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - The South Stream pipeline, which the European Union fears will increase Europe's reliance on Russia for energy, faces a setback after demands by transit countries for better terms put a planned deal signing in doubt, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. "The parties were meant to sign an agreement in Sochi on May 15, but that is now in doubt," the source said, referring to the Russian city Sochi. An agreement could still be hammered out in time to save the signing, but this looks unlikely, the source added. South Stream, which...

4/28/2009 - BEZMER AIR BASE, Bulgaria (AFNS) -- As aircraft maintenance and support Airmen from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, packed to support Exercise Reunion April 2009 at Bezmer Air Base, Bulgaria, they had to be prepared for any problem that might arise. A Bulgarian SU-25 unit at Bezmer Air Base provided the A-10 Thunderbolt II maintenance and support Airmen a hangar in which to set up operations for the joint training exercise. "This is the first time a (U.S. Air Forces in Europe) fighter squadron has deployed to this location, so setting up the operations and maintenance facilities to handle...

MOSCOW, April 27 (Reuters) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev got a frosty reception from Russia's leaders on Monday and expressed no clear hopes that a gas pipeline deal with Moscow would be reached during his two-day official visit. Not only did President Dmitry Medvedev unexpectedly postpone his meeting with Stanishev with no official explanation, but Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took a jab at Bulgaria during his welcome speech that evoked load groans from the crowd. .... Speaking at a welcome event alongside Stanishev, Putin took an apparent jab at Bulgaria's meagre investments in Russia. "If Russia's investments (into Bulgaria)...

UN Watch Turns Tables on Libyan Chair, Exposes Durban 2 HypocrisyQaddafi rep panics and cuts off torture victim testimonyThe U.S. has decided not to attend the Durban II conference opening Monday in Geneva -- click here for more.   Meanwhile, the top story on Swiss TV news last night was the surpise "coup d'eclat" by UN Watch, when it turned the tables on the Libyan chair of the Durban II planning committee, in a showdown yesterday that exposed the U.N. hypocrisy whereby the chief organizers of a world "anti-racism" conference are themselves the worst perpetrators of racism and discrimination. See the...

A picture of Adolf Hitler was displayed on a huge billboard in Sofia and immediately prompted the Israeli Embassy to protest to Bulgarian authorities. The picture of the Nazi leader shown on an advertisement billboard caused outrage in Sofia, the Bulgarian SNA news agency said Tuesday. An unidentified company put up the advertisement showing a Third Reich stamp with the portrait of Hitler and a slogan "They Speak -- You Listen." The agency offered no further details concerning the incident.

There had been celebrations of the September 11 terrorist attacks in some villages in the Bulgarian Rodopi mountain, MP Yane Yanev revealed late Monday, quoted by novinite.com. Yanev made this stunning revelation as he explained that at least 15 municipalities in the Rodopi mountain region are attempting to convert their citizens to radical Islam, through school teaching and other methods. Earlier Monday it was announced that Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security had arrested the Mayor town of Garmen, Ahmed Bashev and a teacher of religion Murad Bushnak, over the promotion of radical Islamism, after a warning from Yanev. It...

Romanian Court is going to try the appeal filed by the Bulgarian national Petar Zikulov, who is charged with espionage, Sofia News Agency reports. Zikulov is currently detained for 29 days, the maximum period under Romanian law. Zikulov and Floricel Achim, a Romanian warrant officer, were arrested in Bucharest on March 2, on charges of espionage and treason. They have been accused of leaking military secrets to a third country that was not an EU and NATO member.

Bulgaria MP Yanev: Numerous Southern Villages Are Converted to Islam by Force 3 March 2009, Tuesday Girls from the village of Ribnovo, in Saudi Arabian attire, are pictured after taking a class on radical Islam. Photo by BGNES Despite Bulgaria's European Union membership, some regions of the country need a second liberation from Ottoman yoke, the Bulgarian Member of the Parliament (MP), Yane Yanev, stated, cited by the Bulgarian news agency, BGNES. Yanev, who is the leader of the opposition "Order, Law, Justice" Party (RZS) spoke Monday in Blagoevgrad as reported by the local BGNES correspondent. The leaders of RZS...

A reader sent along a story published in a Bulgarian newspaper about an outrageous-sounding scheme offered to foreigners: Invest in real estate. Win American citizenship. Yes, it’s true. And I’ve told you about it before. More on that in a minute. From Bulgaria: Investment in real estate in US guarantees a green card 16:58 Thu 15 Jan 2009 - Nick Iliev The purchase of a piece of property in America, a single-family house, a PUD (planned unit development) or a condo (flat within a condominium) will guarantee you and your family a green card. This is one of the extreme...

About 1,500 policemen in riot gear guarded the Thursday protest rally in front of the Parliament building in downtown Sofia, Bulgarian information agencies report. The rally was officially brought to conclusion around 2:30 pm with it organizers adamant that the demonstrators would convene again on Friday. They also announced that they were trying to organize a Saturday protest to give the opportunity to those who had to be at work to attend and voice their civil position. According to information from the Bulgarian Interior Ministry, about 1,300 demonstrators came to the Thursday rally, organized by college students, farmers and environmental...

How low will they go?? As low as laser blinding Greek Police: "A riot policeman is aimed at with a laser light pointer during riots outside the Athens Polytechnic. Small bands of Greek rioters hurling firebombs attacked an environment ministry building, shops and banks in Athens on Saturday during an eighth day of protests following the killing of a teenager by police." And that's not all: "A warning from Serb intelligence about the mobilization of an extremist Islamic organization in Greece has put the Greek authorities on high alert. Several days ago, Serb intelligence briefed a Serb parliamentary Committee that...

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) -- Archaeologists have unearthed an elaborately decorated 1,800-year-old chariot sheathed in bronze at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday. "The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.," Veselin Ignatov told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo. But he said archaeologists were struggling to keep up with looters, who often ransack ancient sites before the experts can get to them. SNIP

The upcoming meeting between President-elect Barack Obama and his onetime rival Sen. John McCain was set in motion during a phone call over the weekend between Obama and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), McCain's closest friend. In an interview Friday, Graham said that Obama requested the meeting during a 20-minute phone call that the South Carolina senator described as a "pleasant" discussion about how they could work together effectively. "We just talked about the desire to find something meaningful to work on," Graham said. "He was very nice to me, said that he considered me a serious, reform-minded senator that he...

The place acted as a cult site as early as the end of 5 and the early 4 millennium BC. Researchers have come across finds from the second millennium BC and there is evidence the city prospered during Thracian times in Antiquity. An Episcopal center was set up here in the Middle Ages. At a press conference in Sofia Nikolay Ovcharov showed unique finds originating from different periods in the history of Perperikon. The oldest one is dated to the Trojan War, the archeologist contends. "It is a sword with a broken handle from 12-13 c. BC. It is made...

Remains of a temple complex dedicated to the cult of Isis and Osiris were discovered in the Paleokastro region in Pomorie. The temple dates back from the second century A.C., announced Burgasinfo. The building was built on the grounds of an ancient Thracian pagan temple, claim the archaeologists. "There are many temples in Bulgaria, connected to Isis and Osiris, but this is the first temple complex, discovered through the means of archaeology", explains Sergey Torbanov, leader of the diggings. During this season the main street in Anhialo was also discovered. The site of the diggings is put under security. The...

Poland has claimed that it has assembled enough votes to block a landmark EU climate change agreement after spearheading a revolt by Eastern European states that fear the package would increase their dependence on Russian natural gas supplies. A six nation bloc on the EU's eastern fringes signed a pact to fight a proposal designed to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by a fifth by 2020. The target represents the EU's landmark initiative to address the pressures of climate change and would return the continent's output of CO2 to 1990 levels. Poland has led efforts to fend off adoption of...

There's the "agony of defeat." And then there's this women's ice hockey score from the European Olympic pre-qualifying tournament: Slovakia 82, Bulgaria 0. That's correct: eighty-two goals for Slovakia, none for Bulgaria

Mr. Putin’s mistake By VANYA EFTIMOVA BELLINGER - Guest Columnist I might be biased. My husband was one of the first American soldiers deployed to train the Georgian troops in 2006. We pray for our friends stuck in that tiny country — both Georgians and Americans. I am Bulgarian by birth, an Eastern European — a member of a group of countries and societies known as very sensible when it comes to the Russia of the past of the Soviet bloc. Reading the news about the violence in Caucasus, the average Westerner might be surprised and confused about how the...

It's the sort of classic jewellery favoured by modern women except these earrings were worn 2,500 years ago.An archeologist  discovered gold earrings, a ring and other funeral gifts dating back to the 5th century B.C. while excavating  a Thracian tomb near the village of Kushare, about 280km from Sofia, Bulgaria.Some of the oldest examples of gold jewellery and artifacts have been discovered in Bulgaria and it's Black Sea coast is considered the birthplace of  the world's metal production. Thracian bling: The gold earrings discovered during excavations of a tomb in Bulgaria What are Bulgaria's borders today were part of several...

SOFIA, Bulgaria - Archaeologists have unearthed a 1,900-year-old well-preserved chariot at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Thursday.

Thracian God Dionysus's Temple Discovered in Bulgaria? Updated on: 27.05.2008, 12:30 Author: Blaga Bangieva Over the tomb of Sevt III (on the coin) in the mound Goliama Kosmatka near Shipka town (Central Bulgaria) is most probably located the temple of Dionysius - the God of Fruitfulness. The news was reported in Kazanluk city by the director of local History Museum Kosio Zarev. According to Zarev's words the conclusion was made after the detailed geo-radar examinations of the mound executed by a private team. The researches showed that immediately over the Sevt III's tomb, revealed three years ago, is located a...

What's in a Name? A challenge for regonal stability *Why is the Maredonian question so delicate and complex? The term "Macedonia" is not exclusively related to a state Rather, it has always been used to delineate a wider geographical area, approxmdy 51% of which is part of Greece, 37% is in the Former Yugoslav Republic of what's Macedonia, 11% in Bulgana and 1% in Albania. The choice of one state alone to monopolize the name "Macedonia" - the largest part of which lies outside its borders - neither depicts geographical and political reality, nor contributes to stability in the Balkans....

The imbroglio between Macedonia and Greece has been resolved by default – by the coming to light of an ancient manuscript ceding sovereignty over both territories in perpetuity to today's Kosovo. In addition, Kosovo would also hold claims over a region in south-east Bulgaria, formerly referred to as Bulgarian Macedonia until the Socialist regime changed the name to Pirin region. Reaction to the development, which has far-reaching consequences not only for the protracted impasse over the name of Macedonia but for South-Eastern Europe politics, the economy, but also for the demographic future of Europe, drew immediate and impassioned reaction from...

Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary to soon recognise Kosovo: reports Three countries bordering Serbia -- Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary -- could shortly recognise Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence, Croatian dailies reported Tuesday. The Zagreb government was expected to recognise Kosovo on Wednesday along with Bulgaria and Hungary, after the breakaway province declared independence from Serbia last month, said the newspaper Jutarnji List. Citing sources close to the government, Vecernji List, Croatia’s largest circulation daily, also reported Zagreb would recognise Kosovo’s independence on the same day as Budapest and Sofia. The decision was likely to be made this week, possibly at a government...

One Bulgarian doctor has been arrested for suspected involvement in human organs trafficking, Sofia's Police announced today. According to the same source, the arrested is Stanislav Hristov, the Head of the Pathology Department at the Aleksandrovska Hospital in Sofia. He has been charged with multiple violations of the regulations on human organs handling and transplantation for personal gain. The Public Prosecution Office requested the doctor to be ordered a temporary detention. When asked by Bgnes Agency to comment the case, the Director of the Sofia's Hospital, Assistant Professor Asen Zlatev, said that he would like to see the results of...

SOFIA (AFP) - Bulgaria is to auction off World War II Panzer tanks thought to be worth millions of dollars, the country's defence ministry said Thursday. "People from all over the world, from America to Jordan, have declared an interest in these rare German tanks," the deputy director of Sofia's military history museum, Blagoy Milenov, told a press conference. Six Panzer IV tanks will go under the hammer on March 19 "to gauge their value," with another 41 going on the market in May, according to Emil Petrov, a defence ministry heritage official. A Russian collector has already offered five...

Nazi tanks, half-buried for decades along Bulgaria's south-eastern border as a Cold War defence against a NATO invasion, will be auctioned next week, military officials said on Thursday. The 97 rusty World War Two relics, which have lain forgotten since communism collapsed in 1989, came into the spotlight in December when police arrested thieves who stole a rare model and reportedly smuggling it into Germany. The theft prompted a recovery operation to save the remaining machines, some of which will go to the national military history museum, while others will be sold at auction. The first auction is due on...

SOFIA - A fire on a Bulgarian train that killed nine people last week was a terrorist attack, an expert said Friday, heightening speculation over the deaths. ‘The train was intentionally torched and not just by one, but by several terrorists,’ Christo Smolenov, who was in charge of training defence ministry special forces in the 1990s, told the Trud daily in an interview published Friday. ‘If it was a terrorist act, it would represent a signal that must be recognised. If we close our eyes, the terrorists will be tempted to do it again,’ he also told national television. Smolenov...

SOFIA, Bulgaria-Bulgaria signed a series of defense agreements with the United States on Thursday as part of a 10-year deal allowing U.S. troops to be deployed in the former Warsaw Pact country, the Defense Ministry said. The overall deal, signed in 2006, is seen as part of a broader U.S. military strategy of shifting troops based in Europe further east to small, flexible bases closer to potential hotspots in the Middle East. It will see up to 2,500 U.S. troops deployed in Bulgaria. Bulgarian officials have said the deal will help improve Bulgaria's armed forces, boost its economy and enhance...

Bulgaria' s army has started to dig out its vintage tanks produced by Maybach, in order to protect them from robberies. Army officials reported that a number of Panzer IV tanks, equipped with Maybach engines and previously buried near the southern Bulgarian border as stationary guns, have already been dug out and transported to a secure military base. All tanks will be in a safe place before the end of February but it is still unclear what their future will be, the army said. According to experts, there are few tanks of the same type in the world still outside...

Rightist EU politicians plan new party By ASSOCIATED PRESS Far-right politicians from four EU nations have announced plans to form a pan-European "patriotic" party, the BBC reported on Saturday. The leader of far-right parties from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria and France said their aim was to defend Europe against "Islamisation" and immigrants. At a news conference in Vienna, they said they planned to launch the party by November 15. In Vienna, the heads of Austria's Freedom Party, Belgium's Vlaams Belang, Bulgaria's Ataka and the French National Front said the new party would be a counter-balance to other political forces in Europe,...

Still in Control Pervez Musharraf was calm, confident and—despite a flurry of rumors—not about to announce his resignation. Instead, the Pakistani president's "concession" to his troubled nation was an announcement that he would allow Britain's Scotland Yard to help local law enforcement agencies with their investigation into last week's assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Speaking in a nationally televised address two hours after Pakistan's election commission announced the postponement of the ballot to Feb. 18, six weeks later than had been scheduled, Musharraf was notably deferential in his remarks about Bhutto, often invoking her "martyrdom" and extolling...

PICTURE: Bulgaria's first refurbished MiG-29 fighter re-enters service By Alexander Mladenov The Bulgarian air force's first of 16 refurbished RSK MiG-29 fighters re-entered service on 29 November, following a successful check flight conducted at Graf Ignatievo air base. Bulgaria's 12 single-seat MiG-29s and four two-seat trainers will have their service lives extended to 4,000 flight hours or 40 years under a $48 million refurbishment and life-extension project awarded to prime contractor RSK MiG in March 2006. Bulgaria's Terem also assists in the work, which is performed at Graf Ignatievo. Six more aircraft will enter service by March 2008, with the...

A British woman has died after being attacked by a pack of wild dogs as she walked her own pet dog in Bulgaria.The 56-year-old victim was named by the Foreign Office as Margaret Ann Gordon. She was originally from Wallsend on North Tyneside. Mrs Gordon's calls for help brought local villagers to the scene in Nedyalsko, but she reportedly died before an ambulance arrived. The victim had lived in Bulgaria with her husband for several years. "The regional police in Yambol [region] said seven or eight dogs attacked her," a Foreign Office spokesman said of the death in the...

Bulgarian Paleontologists Stumble upon Prehistoric Tooth 28 November 2007, Wednesday A team of scientists with Bulgaria's Natural History Museum have unearthed a tooth dated back to the Late Miocene, the head of the fossil and recent Mammalia museum department Dr. Nikolay Spasov announced on Wednesday. The tooth is some seven million years old and belonged to a hominid.A team of archaeologists, paleontologists, paleo-anthropologists and biologists from the museum spent the last ten years in researching the flora, the fauna and the overall nature setting in Bulgaria from the time of the late Neogene (10,7 - 5,3 million years BC). The...

SOFIA: In a new book published here this week, a Bulgarian nurse relates how she was tortured in a Libyan jail where she was held for more than eight years on charges of infecting hundreds of children with HIV in a hospital AIDS scandal. In the book, "Eight Years as [Libyan leader Moammar] Gadhafi's Hostage," nurse Kristiana Valcheva tells how she and five other Bulgarian medics - four nurses and a doctor - were repeatedly tied and beaten during their time in the prison. Valcheva describes how she was hung from door frames and her feet were thrashed with cables....