The protests in the capital Sofia and dozens of other towns and cities across the Black Sea nation are the latest in a series of rolling demonstrations and come as Bulgaria prepares to adopt the euro on January 1

International News via Reuters:

Thousands of Bulgarians rallied on Wednesday evening against the country’s minority government and what they say is its failure to tackle endemic corruption in the European Union’s poorest member state.

The protests in the capital Sofia and dozens of other towns and cities across the Black Sea nation are the latest in a series of rolling demonstrations and come as Bulgaria prepares to adopt the euro on January 1.

Protesters used lasers to project the words “Resignation”, “Mafia Out”, and “For Fair Elections” on the parliament building in central Sofia.

“I think the energy of the people will gradually force them (the government) to step down because many reforms are needed,” said Dobri Lakov, 64, a Sofia resident.

“First and foremost, judicial reform. If the judicial system is fixed, everything else will fall into place, absolutely everything.”

Bulgaria’s parliament will hold a vote of no-confidence on Thursday in the government of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov , the sixth such vote since it took power on January 15 this year. 

Last week, the government withdrew its 2026 budget plan, the first drafted in euros, due to the mass protests. Opposition parties and other organisations said they were protesting against plans to hike social security contributions and taxes on dividends to finance higher state spending.

Despite the government’s retreat over the budget plan, the protests have continued unabated in a country which has held seven national elections in the past four years – most recently in October 2024 – amid deep political and social divisions.  

“It is finally time for normality to come to Bulgaria and for us to free ourselves from the oligarchy, the mafia, and the forces that represent them,” said Angelin Bahchevanov, an IT specialist.

Bulgarian news agency BTA reported on Wednesday that Boyko Borissov, a former prime minister and leader of the ruling GERB party, said the ruling coalition partners had agreed not to resign before Bulgaria joins the euro zone on January 1. 

However, Assen Vassilev of the reformist opposition party “We Continue the Change”, which was among the organisers of Wednesday’s protest, said: “We will enter the euro zone, even if the government has resigned.”

Reporting by Fedja Grulovic; Writing by Ivana SekularacEditing by Gareth Jones

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health earlier this week urged power, steel and chemical plants to cut output when the air quality index exceeds 200

International News via Reuters:

Industrial plants in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi have come under renewed pressure to scale back their operations as authorities respond to a week of heavy and hazardous smog in the city.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health earlier this week urged power, steel and chemical plants to cut output when the air quality index exceeds 200. The index gauges the volumes of hazardous small particles known as PM2.5 that are in the air.

The AQI hit 243 midday on Thursday, putting Hanoi fourth on the list of the world’s most-polluted cities, according to AirVisual, which provides independent global air pollution information via a phone app.

The city has topped the list on a number of occasions this week, according to the app, a position it also held in January.

The Southeast Asian country, a regional manufacturing hub which is urbanising rapidly, has been suffering from severe air pollution for years, especially in Hanoi.

“My eyes are itchy, and there’s always a blanket of smog that blocks my vision,” said Hanoi resident Pham Thu Giang, 30. “I have to wear a mask all the time.”

The authorities have identified transportation, industrial production, construction activities and the burning of garbage and agricultural residue as the main sources of air pollution in the city.

“Gasoline-powered motorbikes are used widely in Hanoi, making them a major source of air pollution,” Le Thanh Thuy, an official of the city’s department of agriculture and environment, told local media on Thursday.

The city will impose partial bans on gasoline-powered motorbikes in downtown areas from mid-2026 and will gradually expand the ban thereafter to fossil-fuel-powered cars.

“The current air conditions are very dangerous for the capital Hanoi,” said 75-year old resident Luong Van Toi. “I feel very tired.”

If Hanoi’s AQI is converted into actual PM2.5 concentrations, the pollution this week could be as much as 50 times the 5-microgram/cu m level recommended by the World Health Organization.

Reporting by Thinh Nguyen; Writing by Khanh Vu; Editing by David Stanway

More than one-third of Tuvalu’s 11,000 population applied for a climate visa to migrate to Australia, under a deal struck between the two countries two years ago

International News via Reuters:

The first climate migrants to leave the remote Pacific island nation of Tuvalu have arrived in Australia, hoping to preserve links to their sinking island home, foreign affairs officials said on Thursday.

More than one-third of Tuvalu’s 11,000 population applied for a climate visa to migrate to Australia, under a deal struck between the two countries two years ago.

The intake is capped at 280 visas annually to prevent a brain drain in the small island nation.

Among the islanders selected in the initial intake of climate migrants is Tuvalu’s first female forklift driver, a dentist, and a pastor focused on preserving their spiritual life thousands of kilometres (miles) from home, Australian government officials said.

Tuvalu, one of the countries at greatest risk from climate change because of rising sea levels, is a group of low-lying atolls scattered across the Pacific between Australia and Hawaii.

Manipua Puafolau, from Tuvalu’s main island of Funafuti, arrived in Australia a fortnight ago. A trainee pastor with the most prominent church in Tuvalu, he plans to live in the small town of Naracoorte in the state of South Australia, where several hundred Pacific Islanders work in seasonal agriculture and meat processing jobs.

“For the people moving to Australia, it is not only for their physical and economic well-being, but also calls for spiritual guidance,” he said in a video released by Australia’s foreign affairs department.

Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo visited the Tuvaluan community in Melton, Melbourne, last month to emphasise the importance of maintaining strong ties and cultural bonds across borders as citizens migrate, Tuvalu officials said.

On Tuvalu’s main atoll of Funafuti, the land is barely wider than the road in many stretches. Families live under thatched roofs, and children play football on the airport runway due to space constraints.

By 2050, NASA scientists project daily tides will submerge half of Funafuti atoll, home to 60% of Tuvalu’s residents, where villagers cling to a strip of land as narrow as 20 metres (65 feet). The forecast assumes a one-metre rise in sea levels, while the worst case, double that, would put 90% of the country’s main atoll under water.

CLIMATE VISAS OFFER ‘MOBILITY WITH DIGNITY’

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the climate migrants would contribute to Australian society.

The visa offered “mobility with dignity, by providing Tuvaluans the opportunity to live, study and work in Australia as climate impacts worsen”, Wong said in a statement to Reuters.

Support services are being established by Australia to help Tuvaluan families set up in the east coast city of Melbourne, Adelaide in South Australia and in the northern state of Queensland.

Kitai Haulapi, the first female forklift driver in Tuvalu, recently married and will relocate to Melbourne, population five million. In a video released by Australia’s foreign affairs department she says that she hopes to find a job in Australia and continue to contribute to Tuvalu by sending money back to her family.

Dentist Masina Matolu, who has three school-aged children and a seafarer husband, will move with her family to the northern Australian city of Darwin. She plans to work with indigenous communities.

“I can always bring whatever I learn new from Australia back to my home culture, just to help,” she said in a video statement.

Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Michael Perry

The report, by anti-tobacco organisations STOP and Contre-Feu, identified at least eight meetings between tobacco industry representatives and EU officials that were not disclosed in 2023 and 2024

International News via Reuters:

European Union officials have held multiple, undisclosed meetings with the tobacco industry, which uses political connections to try to influence policy in the bloc and beyond, a report by campaign groups published on Wednesday found.

The report, by anti-tobacco organisations STOP and Contre-Feu, identified at least eight meetings between tobacco industry representatives and EU officials that were not disclosed in 2023 and 2024, citing documents obtained by Contre-Feu.

Further documents revealed a “close working relationship, including exchanges of information and advice, multiple emails, ongoing multi-year monitoring of issues and telephone calls”, the report said, adding the findings demonstrate flaws in the EU’s transparency framework. 

The report does not say the tobacco industry broke any rules, but it accuses the European Commission of failing to implement a global treaty which, among other things, pledges to protect public health policies from tobacco-industry influence.

The Commission did not respond to requests for comment. 

The exchanges included representatives from companies such as Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco requesting the Commission push back on policies in other countries, including Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. 

“The European Union must commit to safeguarding its diplomatic influence … from being exploited by the industry to challenge or undermine tobacco control measures implemented by other countries,” said Cassandre Bigaignon, International and European Advocacy Officer at Contre-Feu.

PMI and BAT did not immediately provide comments. 

In the documents, PMI and BAT asked the Commission to raise concerns about or push for the removal of policies affecting their products, arguing these violated trade agreements or discriminated against them while benefitting local rivals. 

PMI asked the Commission to intervene on bans of heated tobacco products or plans to tax them at the same rate as cigarettes. 

BAT, meanwhile, asked the EU to challenge a Saudi Arabian plan to raise tariffs on e-cigarettes to 100%. A Commission official ultimately refused because BAT’s e-cigarettes are not made in the EU, though they noted the company had signalled it planned some EU production, emails show. 

The report also flagged 257 meetings between tobacco industry lobbyists and members of the European Parliament between 2023 and 2025. It said 49 organisations linked to the industry were actively lobbying EU rule makers, with collective spending of 14 million euros ($16 million) per year.

The European Ombudsman in 2023 criticised the Commission for its handling of interactions with the tobacco industry.

($1 = 0.8601 euros)

Reporting by Emma Rumney. Editing by Mark Potter

In a statement, the government said was adding 764, Maniac Murder Cult and Terrorgram Collective, calling them “transnational ideologically motivated violent extremist networks”

International News via Reuters:

Canada has added four transnational extremist and insurgent groups to its list of foreign terrorist entities, Canada’s Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said in a statement on Wednesday.

In a statement, the government said was adding 764, Maniac Murder Cult and Terrorgram Collective, calling them “transnational ideologically motivated violent extremist networks” that target young people in particular. It also added Islamic State-Mozambique, an affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto; editing by Susan Heavey