28-12-2000, Sofia - Lilyana Popova, Director General of Bulgarian National Television, took two songs from the popular TV show "NLO" [UFO] off the air. The songs, which were to be broadcast in the "NLO" New Year's Eve edition, contained a harmless joke about Prime Minister Ivan Kostov and the government's visa policy. Nevyana Usheva, deputy programme director, commented in the Trud daily that "he who pays the piper, calls the tune".

18-12-2000, Yambol - The 24 Chasa daily reports of the attempted murder of 46-year-old Todor Dimov, publisher of the Yambol newspaper Tundja on 16 December 2000.

The attack was carried out in front of the municipal shopping mall in the town of Yambol a little before 6 pm on Saturday. Dimov was first knocked unconscious with a bat, after which the attacker continued the assault by repeatedly kicking his victim. Dimov was taken to the Stara Zagora University Clinic with hemorrhages, a brain concussion, a broken nose, lacerations to the head and entire face, injuries to the arms and legs.

The police and investigation believe that the attack came in retaliation to a publication in the Tundja newspaper, where the journalist frequently wrote. According to the victim's wife, her husband had been victim to other attacks previously, though none as violent as this one.

14-12-2000, Sofia - The Sofia Military Court found Lieutenant Alexander Valkov guilty of the murder of Airedin Mustafov on December 2 1998 in a car chase. The court sentenced Valkov to four and a half years' effective imprisonment. According to the sentence, the police officer had fired the fatal shots in anxiety after his life had been threatened in the car chase.

Airedin Mustafov died in hospital five days after being shot in the car chase on the country's Hemus motorway.