World
Bulgaria's parliamentary elections postponed amidst political crisis
![Bulgaria's parliamentary elections postponed amidst political crisis Bulgaria's parliamentary elections postponed amidst political crisis](https://static.euronews.com/articles/stories/08/66/21/40/1200x675_cmsv2_b13eb72d-b97d-52f1-afcd-574ec65e0a8e-8662140.jpg)
Bulgaria’s president has rejected the new caretaker government put forward by the interim prime minister, saying it wouldn’t guarantee fair elections.
Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev has rejected the new caretaker government put forward by the interim prime minister Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva, saying it won’t guarantee that parliamentary elections, that were scheduled for October 20th, will be fair.
Grancharova-Kozhareva presented her choice of cabinet ministers, which included Kalin Stoyanov keeping his position as the Interior Minister.
But the President demanded Grancharova-Kozhareva replace Stoyanov, claiming his remaining in office would not guarantee the holding of fair elections in Bulgaria.
When Grancharova-Kozhareva refused to do so, Radev announced he would not sign the necessary decree to authorise her choice of cabinet ministers.
“I will not sign the decree appointing my proposed government, and therefore your commitment to forming one is over,” Radev told Grancharova-Kozhareva at their meeting at the President’s building in Sofia.
According to local media, Grancharova-Kozhareva said she was to hand a report to the Prosecutor-General’s office, relating how she said she’d come under political pressure to replace Stoyanov in her cabinet.
Local media also reported that police gathered around the President’s building to hold up signs of support for Stoyanov who, as the interior minister is effectively their boss.
Bulgaria’s parliament held snap elections in June — the sixth time in three years that Bulgarians have voted. Despite the repeated elections, the country has struggled to create a stable government.
Radev’s rejection of Grancharova-Kozhareva’s cabinet means the elections are now indefinitely postponed.
The Bulgarian president’s decision is unprecedented and the constitutional experts are divided as to whether the issue is a constitutional one, a political one, or both.
“The crisis is not constitutional, the crisis is political, and it has arisen from the National Assembly’s inability to provide a complete list (of candidates) from which the president should choose, as stipulated in the constitutional text,” says Natalia Kselova, a constitutional expert.
Orlin Kolev, another constitutional legal expert, said MPs should force the president to sign a decree.
“What the MPs can do is to somehow put public and political pressure on the President to start implementing and applying the fifth paragraph of the Constitution as it is written, and not in the way he wants,” Kolev said.
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World
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World
Ukraine targets Russian bridges in move against Moscow counteroffensive in Kursk
![Ukraine targets Russian bridges in move against Moscow counteroffensive in Kursk Ukraine targets Russian bridges in move against Moscow counteroffensive in Kursk](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/kursk-11.jpg)
Ukrainian forces have begun targeting key Russian transportation routes in the Kursk region in a move to block Moscow from resupplying troops as Ukraine looks to create a “buffer zone” between it and Russia.
As Kyiv’s incursion entered its second week, reports surfaced Monday suggesting that Ukraine had struck a third, and potentially the final, usable bridge in Russia’s Kursk region.
According to local news outlet Kyiv Independent, which cited comments made Monday by an official from the Russian Investigative Committee, a bridge near the Karyzh village over the Seim River had been damaged by Ukrainian forces.
The moment the second bridge over the Seym River is hit by a Ukrainian strike on Aug. 18, 2024. (Photo provided by East2West)
PUTIN SCRAMBLES AS UKRAINE ADVANCES TROOPS ALONG ‘DORMANT FRONT’ IN BORDER SECURITY OPERATION
Fox News Digital could not verify the extent of the damage caused to the bridge.
The news came after multiple reports over the weekend said two other bridges had been damaged or made inoperable in Zvannoye, just over four miles east from Karyzh, as well as Glushkovo, which sits another five miles east along the Seym River – all of which are in the Kursk region.
Ukrainian defense officials have not yet commented on the operations surrounding the bridge strikes, though reports have said damage to the bridges has stopped or stymied Russia’s ability to transport heavy machinery across the river as it looks to oust Ukrainian troops.
It is unclear how the bridge strikes have affected Russian moves to redeploy troops to the Kursk region as Ukrainian forces continue to advance.
![Ukraine military assessment](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/04/1200/675/GettyImages-2133948070-1-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy inspects bunkers, firing ranges, and anti-tank and armored personnel carrier trenches during a visit to the Chernihiv Oblast in Ukraine on April 5, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy has been tight-lipped on the overall goal of the Kursk operation, but some have theorized it is an attempt to divide Russia’s war efforts and force Moscow to draw troops away from the front lines in Ukraine.
Reporting by the Wall Street Journal on Saturday said some 5,000 Russian troops had been called in large part from Ukraine’s Donetsk region to Kursk between Aug. 6 –13.
![Satellite image of bridge damage](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/kursk-13.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
A satellite image shows a bridge collapsed over the Seym River in the Glushkovo district, Russia, following a Ukrainian strike, Aug. 17, 2024. (Planet Labs Inc./Handout via Reuters)
Despite President Vladimir Putin’s determination to squash the Ukrainian incursion – which Zelenskyy said was done to make Moscow “feel” the repercussions of its war – Ukrainian troops appear to still be making advances in the Russian region.
“Russian redeployments have allowed Russian forces to slow Ukraine’s rapid gains in Kursk Oblast and start containing the extent of the Ukrainian incursion, but containment is only the first and likely least resource-intensive phase of the Russian response in Kursk Oblast,” said the Institute for the Study of War in a Sunday assessment.
UKRAINE BRINGS WAR TO RUSSIA IN ‘MASSIVE’ DRONE STRIKE ON MILITARY, GOVERNMENT TARGETS
“Although it is too early to assess when Russian forces will stop Ukrainian advances in Kursk Oblast completely and seize the battlefield initiative to launch such an effort,” the assessment added. “This likely future Russian counteroffensive effort will very likely require Russia to commit even more manpower, equipment, and material to Kursk Oblast.”
The Wall Street Journal cited a source familiar with Kyiv’s push in Kursk and said some 6,000 Ukrainian troops are currently in the Russian region, though it is believed that Moscow would need to dedicate some 20,000 soldiers to recapture its territory.
In an address to the nation Sunday, Zelenskyy said, “It is now our primary task in defensive operations overall to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible and conduct maximum counteroffensive actions.”
“This includes creating a buffer zone on the aggressor’s territory – our operation in the Kursk region,” he added.
![Ukrainian soldiers as war pushes into Kursk, Russia](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/kursk-12.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Ukrainian soldiers take cover from shelling near the Russian border in Sumy region, Ukraine, Aug. 13, 2024. (Reuters/Viacheslav Ratynskyi/File Photo)
Despite the war effort in Kursk, Ukraine is still anticipating Russian advances in its Donetsk region, particularly around Pokrovsk, where Russian forces continue to push west.
The city is expected to be engulfed in the brutal battles that have taken place in Eastern Ukraine within the next two weeks, according to comments made by Donetsk administration official Serhii Dobriak to Radio Free Europe.
And Donetsk Gov. Vadym Filashkin reportedly told the Kyiv Independent that a mandatory evacuation for the nearly 5,000 children remaining in the city will likely be issued later this week.
In July, Zelenskyy warned that Russia was “throwing everything they have” into the region after failing again to take Kharkiv.
![Fire Rostov oil depot Russia](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/kursk-14.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Fire at the oil base in Russia’s Proletarsk, Rostov region, following two drone attacks on the morning of Aug. 18, 2024. (Photo provided by East2West)
Images surfaced on Monday allegedly showing multiple explosions along Russia’s Trans-Siberian railway line,- which has been used to transport arms to Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, reported East2West.
Though Fox News Digital could not confirm what caused the explosions, pro-Ukrainian forces have carried out similar sabotage efforts on Russian targets since the war began.
Images over the weekend showed that Ukrainian forces struck an oil depot in Russia’s Rostov Oblast, which neighbors Donetsk – a move that nods to Ukraine’s push to hit key Russian targets that perpetuate its cross-border war effort.
Some have suggested Zelenskyy, who last week said that “Russia must be forced into peace if Putin wants to continue waging war,” may be looking to use his incursion into Russia as a bargaining chip to end Moscow’s deadly war.
Though a Putin aide on Monday said Moscow was not willing to engage in peace talks “at this stage” following the incursion.
World
Donald Trump Falsely Claims Taylor Swift Has Endorsed Him by Posting AI Images: ‘I Accept’
![Donald Trump Falsely Claims Taylor Swift Has Endorsed Him by Posting AI Images: ‘I Accept’ Donald Trump Falsely Claims Taylor Swift Has Endorsed Him by Posting AI Images: ‘I Accept’](https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/trump-taylor.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1)
Donald Trump has posted a series of AI-generated images on his Truth Social account falsely claiming that Taylor Swift has endorsed him for president.
On Sunday night, Trump shared several screenshots of X posts showing women wearing “Swifties for Trump” shirts. Many of the photos appear to have been doctored, and one screenshot is of a satire news article claiming that the cancellation of Swift’s shows in Vienna due to a thwarted terrorist plot led Swifties to turn to Trump. Another screenshot is of Taylor Swift photoshopped as Uncle Sam next to the message: “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.”
“I accept!” Trump captioned the post.
Representatives for Swift did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
The pop star has yet to put her name behind a presidential candidate for the 2024 election, but endorsed Joe Biden in 2020 and took aim at Trump in a tweet that year following his response to the George Floyd protests.
“After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’???” Swift wrote. “We will vote you out in November.”
Trump previously mused about Swift in Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh’s book “Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass,” calling her “beautiful” but “liberal.”
“I think she’s beautiful — very beautiful! I find her very beautiful. I think she’s liberal. She probably doesn’t like Trump. I hear she’s very talented,” he said. “I think she’s very beautiful, actually — unusually beautiful!”
As the Democratic National Convention commences in Chicago this week, it is expected that Vice President Kamala Harris will accept the party’s nomination with the help of plenty of celebrity guests. Confirmed to host the event are Mindy Kaling, Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn and Ana Navarro, with other high-powered stars sure to appear throughout the event.
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