Bulgaria

The Balkans are home to Europe’s most inveterate smokers, where 30 to 40% of all adults are gripped by the habit — a major cause of premature death. ”People in that part of Europe smoke the most compared to the continent as a whole,” World Health Organisation director for Europe, Marc Danzon, said on the sidelines of a regional conference on smoking prevention.

Liverpool are on the verge of the Champions League group stages after Fernando Morientes emerged from a recent slump to lift the European champions to a 3-1 win over CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria on Wednesday. Morientes scored twice to leave Rafael Benitez’s side firmly in control of this third qualifying-round tie.

The old East German Trabant, widely reviled as the worst car made to date, had its day in the sun on Monday when 50 of them spluttered along in a <i>concours d’elegance</i>, trailing their telltale wake of oily blue smoke. The procession in the Bulgarian town of Beloslav, coincided with a literature and book fair.

Post-communist Bulgarians have reacted with shock to an increase in nudity and sexual innuendo in advertising, prompting the city fathers of Sofia to set up a committee to police the content of downtown billboards. Bulgarian advertising agencies have protested that they have to provoke in order to be successful.