SOFIA (AFP) – Heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures that hit Bulgaria this week claimed a ninth victim yesterday, Info radio reported as the country struggled to get back to normal. A severely frostbitten man found near the northeastern town of Kavarna died in hospital, the station reported. The body of another victim of the cold, a 64-year-old gardener, was found Saturday in the southern region of Pazardzhik, Trud daily newspaper reported. Meanwhile, the state of emergency called earlier this week in the northeastern region of Ruse was lifted yesterday, the mayor’s office announced. But as transport in the region slowly got back to normal, a 5-kilometer (3-mile) queue of heavy trucks formed on the Bulgarian side of the reopened Ruse bridge leading to Romania over the Danube.

LJUBLJANA (AFP) – Slovenian journalists urged the government on Friday to create an independent commission to investigate allegations of government censorship and political pressure on the media. Journalists Blaz Zgaga and Matej Surc said international experts should be included in the commission “that could evaluate the situation and contribute to improving media freedom in Slovenia.” Zgaga, a journalist with the daily Vecer, and Surc, a state television reporter, last year initiated a petition signed by 570 journalists accusing the government of censorship. The petition was sent to all EU capitals. But three months on and just days after Slovenia took over the six-month presidency of the EU, the pair said that no measures had been taken in response to their complaints. The International Press Institute, the International Federation of Journalists and other media organizations have urged the government to investigate the allegations.

The inmates of Kosovo’s biggest jail ended a six-day hunger strike on Friday after authorities promised their demands for better treatment would be considered, an official said. “The hunger strike ended after the prisoners were presented a letter from (Kosovo) President Fatmir Sejdiu in which he promised that he would engage in adopting the legislation for granting amnesty and pardon,” Resmi Hoxha, head of the correctional service for the breakaway Serbian republic, told local media. (AFP)