Thunderstorms, rallies and council rows in Shumen

Sunny until midday, then cumulus cloud builds from the west with scattered thunderstorms expected across eastern Bulgaria and the mountains this afternoon. Maximum temperature in Shumen: 26°C. Moderate westerly winds. The Black Sea coast sees similar conditions: morning sun, afternoon storms, 23–26°C, water temperature 18–20°C, wave height around 2 on the Beaufort scale. In the mountains, cumulonimbus develops earlier with strong northwesterly gusts; 19°C at 1,200m, 11°C at 2,000m.

Shumen's Martin Surilov and Hanko Yuriev (Citroën C3 Rally2) topped the opening stage of Rally Dryanovo with a time of 8:08.3 minutes over the 14.24km Tsareva Livada 1 route, hitting a top speed of 105 km/h. Second: Nikola Mishev and Angel Bashkehayov (Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) at 8:17.2. Third: Anton Titov and Aleksandar Spirov (Hyundai i20N Rally2) at 8:21.6.

The Shumen crew have made a strong opening bid in the RC2 category. Stage 2 (Tsareva Livada 2, same 14.24km route) started at 17:50 today. Rally Dryanovo is the opening round of Bulgaria's national rally championship.

A serious row has erupted in Nikola Kozlevo's municipal council. Councillors allege the council chair has systematically failed to produce official minutes for meetings—including the 30 April session—rendering decisions unverifiable and arguably void. The absence of a signed protocol is not an administrative slip but a fundamental breach that undermines every subsequent meeting, councillors say.

The case has been referred to the regional governor for review under the Local Self-Government and Local Administration Act. The governor is reportedly unable to investigate, however, because no signed protocol exists to examine. Councillors also claim extraordinary sessions have been convened without proper notice, without required materials, and in breach of statutory deadlines. One councillor: 'This is not chaos, it's deliberate trampling of the rules.' The regional governor is expected to determine whether the chair has violated the law; lawyers say the conduct represents an unacceptable abuse of institutional process and sabotage of local democracy.

A protest against animal cruelty assembles outside Shumen's courthouse at noon today under the slogan 'They have no voice, but they have us.' Demonstrators will demand the creation of a dedicated animal police unit (zoopolitsiya). The Shumen action is part of a national day of protest, with simultaneous rallies in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas.

The Vasiliy Drumev Theatre's main stage hosts a pre-premiere performance of the children's show 'Karlsson' at 11:00 today. Adapted from Astrid Lindgren's Karlsson-on-the-Roof by Valeriya Krachunova (who also composed the music), the production is directed and designed by Mariya Banova. Veselin Barborkov stars as Karlsson, supported by a ten-actor ensemble.

The official premiere is tomorrow, 1 June, at 10:30.