Free Republic

Palestine can count on about 12 Yes votes by EU countries when it tries to upgrade its UN status, in a move expected later this month. … A senior EU diplomat told this website the Union remains divided on the question, however. He noted that member states’ votes “will probably follow the same pattern as with UNESCO,” referring to a decision by the UN’s Paris-based cultural wing to admit Palestine as a member last year. At the time, 11 countries—Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Spain—backed Palestine’s UNESCO bid. Another 11—Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Italy,...

Bulgarian archaeologists have found a unique gold Thracian treasure in the famous Sveshtari tomb. The team, led by one of the most prominent Bulgarian experts on Thracian archaeology, Prof. Diana Gergova, from the National Archaeology Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, BAS, made the discovery during excavations at the so-called Omurtag mount. The researchers found fragments of a wooden box, containing charred bones and ashes, along with a number of extremely well-preserved golden objects, dated from the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century B. C.. They include four spiral gold bracelets, and a number...

Bulgarian Orthodox Patriarch Maxim Dies at 98 Patriarch Maxim of Bulgaria was in charge of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for 41 years. Photo by Cross The head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Maxim, has passed away at the age of 98. Patriarch Maxim died shortly before 4 am on Tuesday, the Bulgarian National Television reported. The head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was hospitalized a month ago, and in the last few days he was on life support in the Governmental Hospital in Sofia. His All Holiness Maxim of Bulgaria turned 98 on October 29, 2012. Because of his...

FRENCH spymasters are hanging their heads in shame after a team of undercover agents proved no match for a couple of wary Bulgarian peasants. In an exploit worthy of Inspector Clouseau, five officers on a training mission for the elite action service commando of the DGSE — the French equivalent of MI6 — came across the brothers Slavi and Vasko Tsonev watching over their alfalfa crop near the border with Romania. Two of the officers had been parachuted into Romania and had travelled 25 miles to their rendezvous near the village of Koilvotsi. Their fake target was three other French...

Archaeologists in Bulgaria say they have uncovered the oldest prehistoric town found to date in Europe. The walled fortified settlement, near the modern town of Provadia, is thought to have been an important centre for salt production. Its discovery in north-east Bulgaria may explain the huge gold hoard found nearby 40 years ago. Archaeologists believe that the town was home to some 350 people and dates back to between 4700 and 4200 BC. That is about 1,500 years before the start of ancient Greek civilisation. The residents boiled water from a local spring and used it to create salt bricks,...

Residents of what is thought to be Europe's oldest town cut their dead in half and buried them from the pelvis up, according to archaeologists. The newly discovered ancient settlement, thought to date back to 4700BC, is near the Bulgarian town of Provadia, about 25 miles from the country's Black Sea coast. Archaeology professor Vassil Nikolov led the dig which focused on the town itself and its necropolis, where the strange and complex burial rituals were discovered....

Archaeologists have discovered colorful floor mosaic from the Roman era near the so-called West Gate of Serdica in downtown Sofia. The news was announced Monday by the Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova, who visited the archaeological excavations in the company of her Deputy in charge of Culture, Todor Chobanov. The mosaic has an area of 40 square meters and is located in the ruins of a Roman building discovered for the first time between 1975 and 1980 when archaeologists began exploring the site. The works were later abandoned and remained unfinished. Serdica's West Wall followed the current "Washington" and "Lavelle"...

CRIME & WAR CRIMES | OCTOBER 4, 2012 | 16:44 Radical Islamist leader threatens Serbia SOURCE: BETA BUCHAREST -- Radical Islamist leader Omar Bakri has warned that terrorist attacks would be launched against Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, and other countries in the region. The reason for this, the Syria-born extremist told Bulgaria's newspaper 24 Chasa, is that those were "territories that belong to Islam". Bakri further explained: "When Islam enters a territory, it becomes Islamic, therefore Islam is under obligation to eventually liberate it." The Mediafax news agency is also reporting that he listed all "Muslim territories" as follows: "Spain, Bulgaria,...

BUCHAREST -- Radical Islamist leader Omar Bakri has warned that terrorist attacks would be launched against Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, and other countries in the region. The reason for this, the Syria-born extremist told Bulgaria's newspaper 24 Chasa, is that those were "territories that belong to Islam". Bakri further explained: "When Islam enters a territory, it becomes Islamic, therefore Islam is under obligation to eventually liberate it." The Mediafax news agency is also reporting that he listed all "Muslim territories" as follows: "Spain, Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia": "Spain, for instance, is a Muslim territory. Eastern Europe as well....

Nick Clegg clashed with the Prime Minister today after criticising plans to claw back powers from the EU. The Deputy Prime Minister said that only 'populists, chauvinists and demagogues' could benefit from a treaty negotiation, even though David Cameron yesterday re-affirmed his intention to repatriate powers. Mr Clegg warned that European politicians should focus on 'jobs and growth' rather than attempting to reform EU institutions. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2061798/EU-treaty-change-Nick-Clegg-clashes-David-Cameron-reform.html#ixzz1dnt5E4wa

Bulgarian archaeologists discovered a necropolis of ancient Apollonia in the coastal town of Sozopol, Director of the Museum of History in Sozopol Dimitar Nedev announced for FOCUS News Agency. In Nedev's words, the burial was found in the northern part of the narthex of the three-naved basilica under the levels of the two churches. "The situation is the following: two churches -- one from VI and another from the VII century, with equal period of construction, and another one of the X century, existing until XVII century. In the outlines of the northern part of the narthex, we found the...

Bulgarian archaeologists have discovered a Thracian settlement during the first ever excavations in the town of Tsarevo on the southern Black Sea coast. The team is led by Milen Nikolov, an archaeologist from the Regional History Museum in the Black Sea city of Burgas. The settlement is very close in location to the town church "Uspenie Bogorodichno." The find proves that Tsarevo and nearby areas have a history more ancient that what was believed until now. During the excavations, the archaeologists have found remnants showing that as early as the 4th - 5th century BC Thracians have built a town...

By Wednesday John Brennan, US President Barack Obama's assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism made a quick trip to Israel to discuss Hezbollah's massacre of Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria last week. Hopefully it was an instructive meeting for the senior US official, although his Israeli interlocutors were undoubtedly dumbstruck by how difficult it was to communicate with him. Unlike previous US counterterror officials, Brennan does not share Israel's understanding of Middle Eastern terrorism. Brennan's outlook on this subject was revealed in a speech he gave two years ago in Washington. In that speech Brennan spoke dreamily about Hezbollah. As...

'Israeli spy planes flew over Budapest' Reports about Israeli spy planes entering Hungary follow mysterious killing of Syrian in Budapest Published: 03.18.10, 18:43 / Israel News Two Israeli aircraft appearing to be spy planes flew near Budapest's international airport last week but did not land there, Hungarian media reported Thursday. According to the reports, the planes were on a "spy mission" that may be connected to the assassination of a Syrian national in his vehicle Wednesday in the Hungarian capital. The two Gulfstream planes, reportedly equipped with the IDF's finest intelligence means, flew through Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania before entering...

The Muslim terrorist group Qa’adat el-Jihad claimed responsibility Saturday for a terrorist bombing in Burgas, Bulgaria. The bombing in Bulgaria last week killed five Israelis, one a pregnant woman. The Lebanese paper El-Nashra reported that the group, which has ties to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility in an email to the Arab press.

July 18, 2012 Islamic suicide bomber blows up a bus of Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. Iran - blamed. Jihad targets Israeli teens tourists in Bulgaria. 8 die.* The Islamists used a "fair" looking young man...* the bomber, caught on camera, described as 'caucasian looking,'*, carrying a fake US ID with a Michigan driver's license.* Some survivers described how they used quick thinking and jumped out the window...* Iran,* its proxy Hezbollah are blamed.* It's confirmed by the US government.* The coinciding of the 18th anniversary* of Iranian/Hezbollah massacre of 85 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, targeting a Jewish community center (AMIA),...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4zQrop4RKw&feature=related

In the aftermath of the bombing of a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria, the Obama administration included an Iranian-American anti-Israel group in a White House meeting and characterized the terror attack as a “tit-for-tat” reprisal by Iran. Wednesday, officials from the National Iranian-American Council (NIAC) attended a White House roundtable event for Iranian-American community leaders that featured Valerie Jarrett, one of President Obama’s closest advisers. NIAC bills itself as an Iranian-American community organization, but its work focuses on softening U.S. policy toward Iran. It advocates removing sanctions on Iran and attempted to scuttle Dennis Ross’s promotion to an Iran...

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama cited the "ruthless" suicide bus attack in Bulgaria and upheaval in Syria as reasons to fortify support for Israel, telling a re-election campaign event in Florida on Thursday he stood by Israel's side. Departing from his normal stump-speech themes of tax fairness, education and healthcare, the Democratic president described the Bulgaria airport bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists as "barbaric" and a "ruthless terrorist attack." "I want everybody here to know under my administration, we haven't just preserved the unbreakable bond with Israel, we have strengthened it," Obama told a mainly older audience in...

ANTI-ISRAEL BOMBER IN BULGARIA WAS RELEASED FROM GITMO THANKS TO LEFT By WILLIAM BIGELOW Leftists who hate Israel can rejoice; their efforts at securing the release of a Gitmo detainee and their subsequent lionizing of him allowed him to murder five Israelis in the bombing Wednesday in Burgas, Bulgaria. The bomber has been identified as Mehdi Ghezali, who was detained at Gitmo Bay in Cuba from 2002 to 2004. According to Wikileaks documents, Ghazali was “uncooperative, unforthcoming and deceptive during interrogations.” His father had met with Abdolrahman Barzanjee, an Al Qaeda associate and possible Ansar Al-Islam coordinator for Europe (Ansar...