Radio România Internațional

Tag: EgyptAir

May 21, 2016 UPDATE

VISIT Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos will on Sunday start an official four-day visit to the United States, during which he will be having talks with US Vice President Joseph Biden. According to a communiqué issued by the executive in Bucharest, the Romanian official will be meeting several high-ranking US officials, representatives of the business environment as well as members of the Romanian community in the Washington area. The visit is mainly aimed at highlighting the success of the strategic partnership with the USA in the field of security but it also has an economic dimension.

TENNIS Five Romanians will be playing on Roland Garros main draw, the years second Grand Slam tournament with prizes of 32 million dollars. The competition, which is due to start on Sunday will be pitting WTA sixth-seeded Simona Halep of Romania against Japans Nao Hibino, while Irina Begu will be playing Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA. Monica Niculescu will be up against French Pauline Parmentier, while Alexandra Dulgheru will be facing Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium. Sorana Carstea, also from Romania, will play against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the tournaments first round. The only male tennis player from Romania who qualified for the singles in Roland Garros, Adrian Ungur will be up against Igor Sijsling from the Netherlands.

NATO Romania is supporting the consolidation of NATOs eastern flank, the head of the Romanian diplomacy, Lazar Comanescu, said during the NATO foreign ministers meeting recently held in Brussels. He underlined the importance of the fact that the Alliance is paying increased attention to the latest security developments in the Black Sea area also pleading for an increased NATO assistance to partners in the region, such as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. NATO foreign ministers have decided to continue the mission in Afghanistan after 2016 as well. Comanescu has said that Romania has been and will continue to be one of the main contributors to the international alliance in Afghanistan.

FRIGATE French frigate Jean Bart has arrived in the Black Sea port of Constanta for a joint drill with the Romanian Naval Forces. The exercise is aimed at improving cooperation to carry out joint missions inside NATO. The French frigate will be joining Romanian frigate ‘Queen Maria and other seven Romanian warships, 800 Romanian soldiers as well as three Mig 21 fighter jets of the Romanian Armed Forces for anti-submarine exercises, artillery and anti-aircraft defence.

PLANE CRASH Flight MS 804 belonging to EgyptAir that crashed into the Mediterranean on Thursday had apparently mentioned smoke in the pilots cockpit several minutes before the contact was lost, French experts investigating the crash have reported. The Egyptian army reported that debris and body parts had been found 290 km north of the city of Alexandria. The plane, en route from Paris to Cairo had 66 on board mostly French and Egyptian citizens. A group affiliated to the Islamic State claims to have brought down the plane.

CANNES According to France Press, two Romanian productions are favourite in
the race for the most coveted Palme d’Or trophy. These are Cristian
Mungiu’s ‘Baccalaureate’, a 2007 Palme d’Or laureate about compromises and
corruption and director Cristi Puiu’s Sieranevada, a story with
autobiographical tinges unfolding during a commemoration. Another production
representing Romania in Cannes this year is Bogdan Mirica’s debut thriller
‘Dogs’, which is running in the Un Certain Regard section.
The award ceremony for Palme d’Or and the festival’s other prizes is due on
Sunday.

21 May 2016
May 20, 2016 UPDATE

EU — Romania ranks first in Europe in terms of economic growth but also in terms of poverty, European Commissioner for Regional Development, Corina Cretu, said on Friday. Cretu said, during a visit to Bucharest, that she was concerned about the situation of children in Romania, especially of those on brink of poverty. Corina Cretu had a meeting with the Minister for European Funds, Cristian Ghinea, in an attempt to find a solution for this underprivileged category. According to official statistics, about half of Romanian children live on brink of poverty, three quarters of whom are from rural areas. Also, Corina Cretu warned over the risk of Romania losing European funds as, half into 2016, the absorption rate is zero.

HEALTH — Economist Vlad Voiculescu, former head of cabinet in the Ministry of Finance, was sworn in on Friday as Minister of Health. He has ten years experience as a financial consultant in Vienna, and has had various charitable activities in the health sector in Romania. He replaces former minister Patriciu Achimas Cadariu, who handed in his resignation on May 9th, against the backdrop of the scandal of disinfectants in Romanian hospitals.

FILM — The movie “Gaduation”, by Crisitan Mungiu, which had its premiere Thursday night in Cannes, was a hit with critics in France. They expect the director to win a second Palme dOr, and a possible award for best actor for Adrian Titieni. According to a French website, Mungiu is one of the favourites in the competition, running against another Romanian, Cristi Puiu, who recently premiered his film “Sieranevada”, which also got good reviews. A third Romanian movie, “Dogs” by Bogdan Mirica, is in the running, this time for the Un Certain Regard award.

CRASH — Egyptian army sources announced they found fragments of the EgyptAir plane that crashed on Thursday 290 km north of Alexandria. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said there were no clues as to causes of the crash. US analysis on satellite images have yielded no indication of an explosion, and experts have not ruled out any cause for the crash, including technical difficulties, terrorism, or a deliberate act on the part of the pilot or crew.

NATO — Montenegro is now formally the 29th NATO member. The protocol was signed on Thursday in Brussels by NATO foreign ministers, including Romanian head of diplomacy, Lazar Comanescu. The membership comes into effect in two years, and in the meantime Montenegro has the role of observer at NATO meetings. This is the third state in the West Balkans, after Croatia and Albania, to join NATO, to Moscow’s discontent, which sees this as an attempt to diminish its influence in the area. The parliaments of the NATO member states have to ratify the membership. The meeting continues with talks on cooperation with the EU. This is the last major event ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw, in July.

TENNIS –Romanian tennis players, Sorana Carstea, seed no. 99 in WTA, qualified on Friday to Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the year, with 32 million dollars in prize money, after defeating Belgian Elise Martens. Also on Friday, in the last qualifying round, another Romanian player, Andreea Mitu, was defeated by Swiss Viktorija Golubic. Four other Romanians play in the competition, Simona Halep, Irina Begu, Monica Niculescu, and Alexandra Dulgheru. In the mens competition, Romania has only one representative, Adrian Ungur.

(Translated by Elena Enache)

20 May 2016
20 May, 2016

APPOINTMENT — Economist Vlad Voiculescu, former head of cabinet in the Ministry of Finance, is being sworn in today as Minister of Health. He has 10 years experience as a financial consultant in Vienna, and has had various charitable activities in health in Romania. He replaces the former minister, who handed in his resignation on May 9 against the backdrop of the scandal of disinfectants in Romanian hospitals.

FILM — The movie Baccalaureate, by Crisitan Mungiu, which had its premiere Thursday night at Cannes, was a hit with critics in France. They expect the director to win a second Palme dOr, and a possible award for best male lead for Adrian Titieni, the protagonist of the movie. According to a French website, Mungiu is one of the favorites in the competition, running against another Romanian, Cristi Puiu, who recently premiered his film Sieranevada, which also received critical praise. A third Romanian movie is in the running, this time for the Un Certain Regard award, Dogs by Bogdan Mirica.

CRASH — Egyptian army sources announced they found fragments of the EgyptAir plane that crashed on Thursday 290 km north of Alexandria. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said there were no clues on causes of the crash. US analysis on satellite images have yielded no indication of an explosion, and experts have not ruled out any cause for the crash, including technical difficulties, terrorism, or a deliberate act on the part of the pilot or crew. The so-called Islamic State alleged they downed the airliner.

NATO — Montenegro, of the former Yugoslav federation, is now formally the 29th NATO member. The protocol was signed on Thursday in Brussels by NATO foreign ministers, including Romanian head of diplomacy, Lazar Comanescu. The membership comes into effect in two years, and in the meantime Montenegro has the role of observer at NATO meetings. This is the third state in the West Balkans, after Croatia and Albania, to join NATO, to the chagrin of Moscow, which sees this as an attempt to diminish its influence in the area. The parliaments of the 28 member states have to ratify the membership. The meeting continues with talks on cooperation with the EU. This is the last major event ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw, in July.

COUNCIL — The EU Council of Justice and Home Affairs convenes today in Brussels. On the agenda are the recent proposals of the EC on migration and waiving visas for Turkish citizens. Participants will discuss the Commission recommendations on mandatory quotas and sanctions imposed on states which refuse to take in refugees. In its present form, the visa waiver for Turkish citizens applies for stays of up to 90 days, and does not apply to work.

TENNIS — Two Romanian tennis players, Sorana Carstea and Andreea Mitu, play today in the last qualifying round at Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the year, with 32 million dollars in prize money. Carstea plays against Elise Mertens of Belgium, while Mitu faces offf against Swiss Viktorija Golubic. Four other Romanians play in the competition, Simona Halep, Irina Begu, Monica Niculescu, and Alexandra Dulgheru. In the mens competition, Romania has only one representative, Adrian Ungur.

20 May 2016
March 29, 2016

HIJACKED PLANE – An EgyptAir plane on a flight between Alexandria and Cairo was hijacked and forced to land in Larnaca, Cyprus. The hijacker is an Egyptian citizen, a professor at the University of Alexandria. Civil aviation authorities have announced that, following negotiations, the hijacker released all the people onboard except for four foreign passengers and the crew. About 60 people, including seven crew, had been onboard the Airbus 320. The airport in Larnaca has been closed and flights redirected to the one in Paphos, in western Cyprus.

COLECTIV – State Secretary with the Interior Ministry, Raed Arafat, said he was considering resignation but only if Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos asked it. On Monday, Arafat took part in a meeting with the PM’s Control Body to give explanations for irregularities found in how the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU), which he coordinates, acted in the case of the Colectiv nightclub fire that killed 64 people. One of the conclusions of the meeting was that the report of the Control Body needed to be reviewed, as it included ungrounded and unacceptable statements regarding the DSU’s activity.

CONFLICT– Turkish security forces have killed over 5,300 militants belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) since its ceasefire with the Turkish state collapsed in July 2015, Anadolu news agency quoted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying. According to President Erdogan, 350 state security forces had been killed in the past nine months alone. PKK suspended the ceasefire agreement with Turkey after the brutal intervention of state security forces in reaction to a series of attacks. Pundits say Erdogan has been using the war against the IS terrorist group to suppress Kurds. The Kurdish population in southeast Turkey and northern Syria, Iraq and Iran wants to form an autonomous state, Kurdistan. Over the past four decades, the conflict between PKK and Turkish security forces has made around 40,000 victims.

BUDGET – Romania’s National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) collected 43.7 billion euros last year, by 7.8% more than in 2014, according to the institution’s report made public today. According to the document, the revenues to the state budget accounted for 27.9% of the GDP, 0.5% more than in 2014. At the same time, VAT collection went up by 12% while the collection of the tax on profit also increased, by 13%.

FILM – Radu Jude’s feature film “Aferim!” is the winner of the 10th edition of the Gopo Awards Gala held on Monday evening in Bucharest. The film won all 12 categories in which it was nominated, including best film, best director and best lead actor. Teodor Corban ( “Aferim!”) and Ioana Flora (“Back Home”) won the award for best actors in a lead role. Actor Nicolae Constantin won the award for Debut for his performance in the feature film “The World is Mine” while actor Florin Piersic won the award for his entire artistic career.

TENNIS – Romania’s best tennis player Simona Halep, No. 5 in the world, is today playing against Timea Bacsinszky (20 WTA) of Switzerland in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, with 6 million dollars in prize money. In the fourth round, Halep defeated British Heather Watson, 6-3, 6-4. In the same round, another Romanian, Irina Begu (35WTA), was defeated by American Madison Keys (24 WTA), while Monica Niculescu (33 WTA) lost to Johanna Konta (23 WTA). On the other hand, in the fourth round, Niculescu and Russian Margarita Gasparian defeated in two sets 6-4, 6-2, Martina Hingis (Elvetia) and Sania Mirza (India), the competition’s favourites in women’s doubles.

(Translated by Elena Enache)

29 March 2016