Karate Player Sentenced

Bulgaria -- In Silistra, a 26-year-old karate player with a previous criminal record, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for brutally killing a folk singer named Pasko Dereliev in the beginning of 2007.

The singer was declared missing after he disappeared on January 11 from a pub in the town, where he staged a performance.

Dereliev's mutilated body was found after a four-month search in a ditch between Tsar Samuil and Nova Cherna (two Bulgarian villages).

I'm Perfect

I knew it - I'm perfectly perfect! :-)

Story:
"Martial arts have been known to be very effective in reducing body weight. Martial arts involve a variety of techniques to overpower an opponent and learning these techniques involves a lot of physical exercise to the body. Joining a local martial arts club may be very effective. It is very a necessity to be physically fit to learn martial arts. Physical fitness will be acquired during training. Regular training in martial arts like judo, karate and jujitsu will improve agility and make one perfect."

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Karate Mobsters

Bulgaria -- Sofia Mayor Boyko Borissov explained that his connections with Rumen Nikolov, dubbed Pashata, and Alexey Petrov were only because all were in the Bulgarian Karate Federation.

Nikolov was the president of the Federation, Petrov was a senior coach and I was the chair of coaches' council, Borissov said in light of the Congressional Quarterly article that stated he had business ties with mobsters.

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Sumo struggles

Japan's proud national sport, sumo, has more to it than just putting two large, semi-naked people in a ring and have them try to push each other, they say.

"People think it's so easy, but they should try it and see for themselves how difficult it is," Kotooshu, the first European to ever proceed to the second-highest rank of sumo in Japan, explained.

Kotooshu incorporated the techniques particular to sumo in his Western wrestling skills. Within three years and two months, the Bulgarian native climbed the ladder to the second-highest rank of ozeki in Japan.

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You're so vain

I'm beginning to feel sick...; and, I'm not impressed.

Story:
British multi-millionaire Scott Alexander - a man who's buying a whole town in Bulgaria and naming it after himself - is supposedly a martial arts fan.

The man described as the "vainest man in Britain" admits that he has spent £55,000 on his teeth, but denies reports that he spends £300,000 a year on clothes.

The 31-year-old - who is single and lives in a £1.4m penthouse apartment in Manchester, says "The fact is, it is all part of my business. If I look sub-standard, the people I help will not be impressed."

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