Squandering and wasteful behaviours and the manner of just 'use and throw away' should be stopped, said MEPs, overwhelmingly backing last Wednesday in Strasbourg four new legislative proposals on waste management and the circular economy.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced last week the launch of a new financing initiative that aims to unlock close to €1bn of investment in the agriculture and bio-economy sector, the EU press service reported. The bio-economy sector encompasses the value chains of production and the processing of food, material and energy using renewable biological resources from land and sea.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel signalled her willingness to find compromises with France when it comes to reforming the EU, as she hosted French President Emmanuel Macron for talks on 19 April. Macron headed to Berlin, hoping to breathe fresh life into his grand vision for EU reforms in the face of growing German resistance.

The principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights and how they can be applied in order to improve workforce skills and qualifications as a means to fight long-term unemployment, and how to ensure equal opportunities and access to the labour market, were focus of a two-day meeting of EU employment and social policy ministers in Sofia on 17-18 April.

Carbon dioxide emitted by transport, farming, housing and waste to be cut by 30% by 2030, and deforestation to be balanced out by planting new trees, foresee two very important EU laws backed by the MEPs at their plenary session in Strasbourg on 17 April. The new rules will safeguard that the EU meets its overall collective commitment in view of the Paris Climate Agreement to lower with 40% greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors, with respect to 1990 levels.

The EU backed the opening of formal membership talks with Albania and Macedonia as the bloc looks to expand into the Balkans and grow for the first time in years.

The Balkans should change to resemble Europe, not the other way round, so the region can then use European funds for its development. This is the position expressed by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov following his meeting with the President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci. During his visit to Pristina, Borisov was presented with the Order of Independence for his contribution to Kosovo's freedom and independence. “Kosovo's progress is remarkable and the country is on the right path - the European one,” Borisov observed. However, he urged all countries of the region to overcome their differences because they would not be acceded to the EU until that happens.

After the controversial US presidential elections held on 8 November 2016, the topic of fake news quickly became a favourite of everyone, from politicians to analysts, journalists, sociologists, taxi drivers and hairdressers. Of course, I have nothing against all of these professions, and I even have great respect for them. Fake news is fundamentally dangerous because it creates a fake world.

Although talks on the EU's next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) might appear dull on the surface, we should force ourselves to take notice of them and emphasise the long-term importance of the external tranche of the budget. The European Union is engaged in quite a few self-defining processes that regularly make the front pages: learning to live with a growing internal faction of nativist, right-wing national governments, preparing for the election of many of their sympathisers to the next European Parliament in 2019, and negotiating the United Kingdom's departure from the club. But, far from the headlines, in windowless meeting rooms near the Schuman roundabout in Brussels, the EU began last month a set of negotiations that could be just as critical to its future.

South Korean officials have discussed ways to formally end the Korean War with their counterparts in the United States and North Korea, officials in Seoul confirmed last week. The move comes amid thawing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and just days ahead of a 27 April meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Moon said, on 19 April, North Korea has expressed its commitment to “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean peninsula and is not seeking conditions. He added that big-picture agreements about denuclearisation, establishing a peace regime, and normalisation of relations between the two Koreas and the United States, should not be difficult to reach through summits between the North and South, and between the North and the United States.

A week after the Western airstrikes on Syrian government sites, а team of international chemical weapons inspectors came under fire and failed to reach the scene of the alleged poison gas attack. The US and allied nations believe Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's Russian backed forces killed at least 40 people with banned weapons in Damascus suburb of Douma.

The European Commission announced it has presented to the Council last Wednesday the outcome of negotiations for the Economic Partnership Agreement with Japan and the trade and investment agreements with Singapore. The quick implementation of trade deals with two of the EU closest Asian partners was seen as one of the priorities by the Commission of President Jean-Claude Juncker. “The impact of these agreements will go far beyond our respective shores - it sends a clear and unambiguous message that we stand together against protectionism and in defence of multilateralism. This is more important than ever,” President Juncker said.

President Donald Trump put the brakes last Monday on a preliminary plan to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia, shifting from an announcement by US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley that the White House is readying a new set of measures. While Haley had said that sanctions on Russian companies behind the equipment related to Assad's alleged chemical weapons attack would be announced last Monday by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Trump told his security advisers he was upset on imposing new sanctions.

German software maker SAP eyes to generate new business as a result of Saudi Arabia's “Vision 2030” plan, news wires reported last week. There is a big push towards cloud computing in Saudi Arabia, Luka Mucic, chief financial officer at SAP told CNBC.

The best that German contemporary art has to offer, seen through the eyes and experiences of Bulgarian artists, presents Goethe Institut in Sofia with its new programme 1+1: Art Scene Germany. The first exhibition is Nothing Gets Lost by Vikenti Komitski and his guest Francisco Montoya Cazarez, which opened on 19 April. As part of the programme, a different Bulgarian artist, living and working in Germany, will be invited for each event. They will have the chance to present a joint or a curatorial project with another artist of their choosing, also living in Germany.

The Sofia Opera and Ballet is a national house with international impact and global recognition. Therefore, the responsibility we have to the national repertoire is of immense importance, parallel with the new stage life of masterpieces of the classical heritage.

The Embassy of Italy in Sofia hosted last Wednesday a gathering with H.M. King Simeon II on the occasion of the release of his autobiography in Italian. The book entitled Simeone II di Bulgaria. Un destino singolare (Simeon II of Bulgaria. An Extraordinary Fate) is published by Gangemi Editore International, Roma.

In the heart of Bulgaria, some 26km from the town of Sevlievo and 4km away from the village of Batoshevo, is situated a friary called The Assumption of Mary.