Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev and National Ombudsman Konstantin Penchev have agreed that there is a real risk of a mightier protest wave in the country in the autumn, after the summer recess of Parliament, if the demands of the demonstrators remain unheard.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held two phone conversations with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault and German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the latest developments in Syria and Egypt.

US Secretary of State John Kerry began talks with Pakistan’s new government on Thursday, likely to be dominated by the fight against Islamist militants as US troops withdraw from Afghanistan.