Austrian energy deal

· AUSTRIAN ambassador Dr Karl Diem and Bulgaria's Deputy Energy and Energy Resources Minister Angel Minev signed an agreement on July 13 to provide 1.5 million euro to operate the Bulgarian Energy Efficiency Fund (BEEF).
An additional agreement to let the Ministry allocate the money to the fund was signed between Minev and BEEF executive director Vesselin Petrov.
The donation will be made in two equal installments. The funds will be spent on projects to promote energy efficiency and the construction of energy facilities in Bulgaria.
Minev said that the funds would be used to reduce the energy intensity of enterprises and to cut air pollution. Diem said that Austria attached great importance to the energy generated by environmentally sound methods. 

Driving licence deal

· OUTGOING Foreign Minister Solomon Passi and Italian ambassador Giovan Battista Campagnola exchanged notes on behalf of the governments of Bulgaria and Italy on an Agreement on Reciprocal Recognition and Replacement of Motor Vehicle Driving Licences.
The ceremony took place at the Foreign Ministry on July 13.
The agreement will make life easier for Bulgarians living in Italy, who until now have had to pay fees to get Italian driving licences.
After Spain, Italy is the second country with which Bulgaria has signed such an agreement, Passi said. He said that work with the European Commission for agreements with other countries would continue. 
Passi and Campagnola described the agreement as instrumental to promoting co-operation between Bulgaria and Italy and part of the spirit of the two countries' excellent relations.

Archeological discovery

· FOR the first time in Bulgaria, archaeologists have excavated a grave of a Proto-Bulgarian aristocrat from the age of the khans.
The discovery was announced on July 12 by the head of the expedition, Professor Rasho Rashev of the Shumen branch of the Archaeological Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
The grave was found in a mound located near a residential area of Shumen in north-eastern Bulgaria. It is part of a total of four burial mounds standing about 150 m from each other in a rectangle orientated along the four compass points. Such a layout of Proto-Bulgarian mounds had not been discovered until now, Rashev said.
He said that it was quite possible that the region was a burial zone for the aristocracy of Bulgaria at the time of the khans, which lasted from the seventh to the ninth centuries CE. 
The open grave contains the remains of a middle-aged man with his head turned north, typical of Proto-Bulgarians. A bronze toque, an exceptionally rare find, was found on the man's hips, as well as remains of an iron knife and bronze artefacts.

Stankov in Brussels

· OUTGOING Justice Minister Anton Stankov left for Brussels on July 13 for a special meeting of the European Union Justice and Home Affairs Council.
The Justice Ministry said in a media statement that the meeting was being held at the request of the EU Presidency. It was expected to discuss and adopt priority measures on which the EU would focus its efforts.
The meeting aimed to find quick and efficient means to fight terrorism, and consolidate principles of freedom, security and justice, the ministry said. 

Stara Zagora pollution

· THE air quality in the area of the Maritsa East energy complex was being monitored constantly, the Environment and Waters Ministry said on July 13.
It made the statement in response to problems caused by high concentrations of sulphur dioxide in the area of Stara Zagoria in south-central Bulgaria.
At six places in the Maritsa East complex, monitoring was being done of the concentration of all ambient air pollutants including dust, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and hydrogen oxide.
 In order to identify the cause of the higher concentration of sulphur dioxide in the area, the Regional Environment and Waters Inspectorate in Stara Zagora had done checks of the operating facilities in Maritsa East and had found that the higher concentrations were caused by the simultaneous work of the Brikel thermal power plant and briquette plant which were working at full capacity, and the Maritsa East 2 and 3 thermal power plants, which were operating at, respectively, 56 per cent and 75 per cent of their capacity.

Car bomb at resort

· A TWO-YEAR-OLD child died and several people were injured when a bomb went off in a car in the Black Sea resort of Obzor, near Bourgas.
The child was the daughter of Rali Penkov. Penkov's wife, Zlatina Hristova, was hospitalised in a coma, and he, along with some passing German tourists, was injured.
Penkov is the head of a private security firm and holds the concession for Obzor beach.

The stars come out

· FILM star John Cusack, who appeared in Being John Malkovich, Class, and Runaway Jury, arrived in Bulgaria last week, to start work on The Contract, in which he appears with Morgan Freeman.
The film is being directed by Bruce Beresford.
Best-selling novelist Sidney Sheldon was another famous recent arrival in Bulgaria. He is accompanied by his second wife, 46-year-old Bulgarian Alexandra Kostoff. They were scheduled to attend a reunion of her family and the Bulgarian premiere of Who's Afraid of Darkness, the most recent hit novel by the 88-year-old writer.

Smits goes to Elle

· MARLENE Smits has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Bulgarian version of Elle, the magazine's publishers announced.
Smits, a former features editor of The Sofia Echo, will be the youngest Editor-in-Chief of Elle in the world. Of Bulgarian and Dutch parentage, she has worked for the Dutch versions of Elle and Cosmopolitan magazines. She studied at one of the most prestigious fashion academies in Rotterdam and took courses in journalism and essay writing at the Kolophon private academy in Amsterdam, as well as distance-learning courses in history of literature and literary analysis.
Smits will head an editorial team of 30, with Maria Kassimova as her deputy. The Bulgarian Elle, to be launched in September, is the magazine's 38th edition in the world. The magazine this year celebrates its 60th birthday.