The controversy in Bulgaria over natural gas and the impact on consumers has been generating rather a lot of hot air. In the issue of The Sofia Echo published on October 3, we clear the fog with the top news about the row.

Given how ineffectually Bulgaria has implemented its existing laws about smoking and non-smoking areas, there may be some skepticism about the news that the country intends a stricter smoking ban, including at restaurants and other places of entertainments as well as in workplaces, in 2010. Petar Kostadinov has the details about the Government’s plans.

Delving into another issue which has generated much fog and murk, The Sofia Echo reports on the controversy about Bulgaria’s State Agency for National Security and its requests to examine the phone records of some MPs.

In the business section, Alex Bivol examines the impact of the global banking woes on Bulgaria’s stock market, Nick Iliev reports on European Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kouneva’s misgivings about the legality of some utilities contracts in Bulgaria, and we report on the newest twists in the Bulgarian Telecommunication Company saga.

The Sofia Echo has two special items to boast about this week: October’s Month 2 Come, free with copies of the newspaper, and a four-page special feature in the newspaper to honour Germany’s Unification Day on October 3.

As ever, the newspaper’s features section offers this week’s musings by our columnists, venue and restaurant reviews, listings of what’s on at cinemas, on television and on the entertainment and cultural front, and our weekly double-page social pages.

In the sports section, The Sofia Echo reports on the latest news about Fernando Alonso's return to the top and the race for the Formula One title.

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