COACH Mircea Lucescu, 79, Romania’s best football headcoach, on Tuesday was officially appointed selector of the country’s national squad, a position he held 38 years ago. Along a fruitful professional career, Lucescu coached several famous elevens such as Corvinul Hunedoara, Romania’s national eleven, Dinamo Bucharest, the Italian sides Pisa, Brescia and Reggiana, Rapid Bucharest, Inter Milan, Galatasaray Istanbul, Besiktas Istanbul, Shaktaar Donetsk, Zenith Sank Petersburg, the national football side of Turkey and Dinamo Kyiv. The new selector has signed up for two years, his main goal being the qualification of Romania’s national side for World Cup 2026 to be hosted by the USA, Mexico and Canada.
APPEAL The White House administration has reiterated its calls on Iran and Israel to avoid war, warning that a possible Iranian response to the killing of a top Hamas leader in Tehran may generate a conflict that could get out of control and saying that escalation benefits no one. The White House meeting took place amid rising fears of a possible extended conflict in the Middle East, with Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah last week vowing to retaliate for the killing of Islamist leaders. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also called for urgent action to prevent wider war in the Middle East, press agencies report. In another move, the foreign ministers of the 57 countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are to meet in Tehran on Wednesday to discuss “the continued crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people,” including the killing in Tehran of the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh. They will also discuss Israel’s “aggressions against the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” according to a statement issued by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, quoted by EFE news agency.
ENERGY Romania is looking for technical arguments to delay the deadline agreed with the European Commission to close its coal-fired power stations. Minister Sebastian Burduja explained on Monday that more time is needed to make the transition to gas-fuelled energy sources, given that 15% of the country’s energy production is still dependent on coal. Before closing its coal plants, the latter must be replaced by gas sources, said the minister, adding that investments in this respect are delayed. He made these statements during the signing in Belgrade of a memorandum on the construction of a gas interconnector between Romania and Serbia. This will lead to lower prices for natural gas for users and more diverse supply sources.
OLYMPICS Romanian athlete Alina Rotaru-Kottmann, bronze medallist in the last year’s World Championships in Budapest, on Tuesday qualified for the finals of the long jump event of the Paris Olympics. Two other athletes of Romania’s, Ilie Sprîncean and Oleg Nuţă have also qualified for the semifinals of the men’s double scull race of 500 meters. So far, Romania has won seven medals in Paris, three gold, three silver and one bronze. Swimmer David Popovici won the gold in the 200 m freestyle event and the bronze in 100 m freestyle; two more gold medals came from Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache in Men’s Double Sculls and from Maria Magdalena Rusu, Roxana Anghel, Ancuţa Bodnar, Maria Lehaci, Adriana Adam, Amalia Bereş, Ioana Vrînceanu, Simona Radiş and Victoria Ştefania Petreanu in the women’s eight race. The silver medals have been won by Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona Radiş in the Women’s Double Sculls race; Ioana Vrînceanu and Roxana Anghel in the Women’s Pair; and Gianina van Groningen and Ionela Cozmiuc in the Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls. Romanian athletes who win medals in Paris will be rewarded with 140,000 Euros for the gold medal, 100,000 Euros for silver and 60,000 Euros for bronze.
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