Bulgarian fisherman drowns when swollen river sweeps him away.
AP
SOFIA, Bulgaria - A swollen river swept away and drowned a man Friday in a southern Bulgarian province hit by torrential rains in the past week, state radio reported.
The 48 year-old man was fishing on an islet in the Varbitsa River, near Momchilgrad, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Sofia, when a sudden tide swept him away, rescue officials told state radio.
About 800 residents of the remote mountainous area have been trapped in their villages during the past week as strong rains caused landslides and cut roads, power lines and water pipes.
Local authorities dispatched rescue teams Friday to cut new roads through the woods so that the villages could be supplied with food and medication.
Rainfall in the area was about four times higher than normal, meteorologist Lyubka Kumcheva told The Associated Press. Though the rain had ceased for now, it was likely to resume in the next couple of days, she added.
(vz/sl)
Bulgaria Guest Workers to Portugal Agreed upon.
Standartnews
Bulgarian Labour Minister Lidia Shouleva and Portuguese Secretary of State for Trade, Industry and Services Maria do Rosario Mayoral Machado Ventura signed Thursday an intergovernmental agreement on reciprocal employment of labour. The Secretary of State for Trade is on the delegation accompanying Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio on his official visit here. The two sides negotiated the provisions of the intergovernmental agreement at expert level in Sofia in February. The agreement is effective for five years and will be extended automatically for a further one year. The provisions of the agreement apply to Bulgarian and Portuguese citizens with permanent residence in their own country, who want to work on the territory of the other country under an individual contract with an employer from the receiving country. People employed under the agreement will have the same rights and obligations as the local employees, including equal protection with regard to the implementation of the laws for safety at work, or individual and property rights.
Chernoy Is Not on a Black List.
Standartnews
compiled by the UN Security Council. It comprises physical persons and firms that are engaged in terror activity or connected with terror organizations, said in the parliament lobby deputy minister of foreign affairs Boyko Kotsev. There are 260 names on two official lists. Among them not a single Bulgarian name is mentioned.
INTERIOR MINISTRY-VISIT.
BTA
Interior Ministry Services Investigate Four Border Police Officers.
Sofia, September 27 (BTA) - The Interior Ministry services launched an investigation against four border police officers, Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Boiko Borissov said at the Sofia Airport Friday upon his departure to the US.
The four allegedly let people cross the border without entering their data into the computer system. Borissov would not name the checkpoint in which the four have been working and promised to provide more information for journalists after completion of the investigation.
Borissov and Major General Vassil Vassilev, Director of the National Police Force Directorate, will pay a visit to New York and Washington at the invitation of the Secret Service. General Borissov did not provide details of the schedule of their visit. However, he said that joint operations will feature on the agenda of the talks.
