Radio România Internațional

Tag: James Comey

  • May 20, 2017

    May 20, 2017

    EUROPEAN NIGHT OF MUSEUMS — 212 cultural institutions in Romania are tonight taking part in the 13th edition of the Night of Museums, when access will be free of charge. Hundreds of events await visitors in museums, art galleries and unconventional venues, such as exhibitions, concerts, creative workshops, film screenings addressing all ages and tastes. The event is enjoying a growing success from one year to the next at international level, as millions of Europeans are marking this event. A total of 3,000 museums all over Europe are taking part in the event. On the same day, museums in Romania are staging the largest nationwide protest since the anti-communist revolution of December 1989. Museum employees will gather in front of the National History Museum in Bucharest to signal the fact they are part of a professional category that has been overlooked by the recent salary increases and that the current salary bill places them in a discriminating and unfair position.





    COMMUNITIES — The Hungarian Government has decided to extend the economic development programs addressing the Hungarian communities in Romania, and will launch a pilot program worth 3,2 million euros. The announcement was made on Friday by State Secretary with the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Levente Magyar. According to the Hungarian official, the Government has already launched two similar programs addressing the Hungarian communities in Vojvodina, Serbia and Carpathian Ruthenia, Ukraine.



    TRUMP — Donald Trump is as of today in Saudi Arabia on his first external visit as US president. Trump will meet King Salman in Riad while on Sunday he will address leaders from over 40 Muslim countries as part of a summit devoted to the fight against radical organizations. The visit is part of an eight-day tour of the Middle East with the White House leader also expected to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories before reaching Europe, more precisely Brussels, the Vatican and then Sicily to attend the NATO and the G7 summits.



    ELECTIONS IN IRAN — The acting president of Iran Hasnan Rohani has won a second term in office after winning Friday’s first round of the presidential election, the Iranian public television station has announced. Rohani defeated his opponent, the Conservative Ebrahim Raisi. According to official results, Rohani grabbed 57% of the vote to Raisi’s 38,3%. Voter turnout stood at 73%. Pundits recall that Rohani’s first term in office was marked by the nuclear agreement reached two years ago with the world superpowers, drawing Iran out of isolation and lifting the sanctions suffocating the country’s economy. On the other hand, some voices criticize the president for his appetite for reforms, while others say he’s done too little to change the country. The most influential man in this country, the religious supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seems to support his opponent, Raisi, a clergyman who’s leading one of Iran’s most powerful charitable organizations. Raisi promised more social protection, more jobs as well as a return to economic isolationism.



    HEARING — Former FBI Director James Comey, last week sacked by US President Donald Trump, will testify before the Senate’s special committee. Comey was fired by the White House leader while the FBI was investigating Russia’s alleged involvement in the presidential election held in 2016, USA. The hearing will take palce after Memorial Day, which this year is celebrated on May 29. According to news agencies, Donald Trump had purportedly asked James Comey in February to close the investigation into Michael Flynn, his national security advisor, charged with having had suspicious contacts with Moscow. Flynn immediately resigned after the Justice Department warned he could be blackmailed by the Russian Federation.



    TENNIS — Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, ranked 4th in WTA standings, is today playing Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, 20 WTA, in the semi-finals of the Rome tournament, totalling 2,7 million dollars in prize money. Aged 25, Halep is seeded 6th in the competition, and is playing her third semi-final in Rome after the ones in 2013 and 2015. This is also the fourth time Halep will play Bertens, Halep winning two games and losing once. Last week Simona Halep won the WTA tournament in Madrid for the second year in a row. (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • 04.03.2015 (mise à jour)

    04.03.2015 (mise à jour)

    Visite — Le président de la Roumanie, Klaus Iohannis, a reçu mercredi à Bucarest la ministre des Affaires étrangères de la République de Moldova, Natalia Gherman. A l’occasion, le chef de l’Etat a assuré le gouvernement de Chişinău de la coopération et de la solidarité de la Roumanie. Le président Iohannis a également salué le commencement, ce mercredi, des livraisons roumaines de gaz à la République de Moldova, par le gazoduc commun Iaşi-Ungheni. A son tour, Mme Gherman a réaffirmé la décision de la République de Moldova de poursuivre son parcours pro européen. Notre route vers Bruxelles passe par Bucarest, a encore ajouté l’officiel moldave, qui a mentionné que la Roumanie est le principal partenaire commercial de l’ancienne république soviétique. L’agenda de Mme Gherman comporte aussi la coprésidence, aux côtés de son homologue de Bucarest, Bogdan Aurescu, des travaux de la 3e réunion de la Commission intergouvernementale Roumanie – République de Moldova pour l’intégration européenne.



    Corruption — Le maire de la ville de Ploieşti (sud), Iulian Bădescu, a été placé en garde à vue, mercredi, dans une affaire dans laquelle il est accusé de corruption passive et d’abus de fonctions. Il est accusé d’avoir prétendu, en 2013, 300.000 euros — dont il a reçu 100.000 — en échange d’un financement illégal que la mairie a accordé à l’équipe de football Petrolul Ploieşti — un important club de première ligue, actuellement en état d’insolvabilité. Les procureurs anticorruption affirment que le financement, par l’intermédiaire d’une ONG, se monterait à 1,8 millions d’euros. Le jugement rendu mercredi n’est pas définitif. D’autre part, mercredi, Dan Diaconescu, le fondateur du PP-DD (populiste, parlementaire), ancien réalisateur de télévision et candidat à la présidence de la Roumanie, a été condamné à 5 années et 6 mois de prison ferme, pour deux infractions de chantage.



    Exercice — L’OTAN mène à partir de ce mercredi et jusqu’au 10 mars son exercice annuel de gestion des crises dans toutes les capitales des Etats membres. Le ministère roumain de la Défense a annoncé que le CMX 15 ne nécessite aucun déploiement de forces et permet de répéter les processus décisionnels à partir dun scénario totalement fictif dans le contexte des menaces actuelles et des cyber attaques. La structure nationale de réponse mise en place par la Roumanie au ministère de la Défense nationale réunit aussi des représentants d’autres ministères et institutions du système national de défense, de l’ordre public et de la sécurité nationale.



    FBI – Le directeur du FBI, James Comey, a rencontré, ce mercredi à Sofia le premier ministre bulgare Boïko Borissov. Et c’est toujours ce mercredi que le ministre bulgare de l’Intérieur Veselin Vucikov, a démissionné, sur fond de désaccord avec le premier ministre au sujet des nominations à la tête des services de sécurité. Antérieurement, James Comey a visité Bucarest où il a eu un entretien avec le chef de l’Etat, Klaus Iohannis, et son premier ministre, Victor Ponta. L’officiel américain a également rencontré le nouveau chef du Service roumain de renseignements intérieurs, Eduard Hellvig. Le partenariat avec le Service roumain de renseignements est un des meilleurs que le FBI déroule partout dans le monde, a précisé Comey, Les principales direction de coopération sont la lutte anti corruption et le domaine de la cybersécurité. Les deux services ont renforcé dernièrement leur collaboration et mené des opérations conjointes censées contrecarrer les actes d’espionnage.



    Séisme — La Roumanie marque ce mercredi les 38 années écoulées depuis le séisme dévastateur de magnitude 7,4, qui a secoué la Roumanie en 1977, en tuant plus de 1500 personnes. Ce tremblement de terre a été le phénomène naturel le plus violent à avoir touché notre pays au XXe siècle. Il a abîmé une grande partie du centre ville bucarestois et a pratiquement anéanti la ville de Zimnicea. Les dégâts matériels se sont chiffrés à plus de 2 milliards de dollars, un préjudice qui n’a jamais été confirmé par les autorités communistes de l’époque.



    Athlétisme — La Roumanie sera représentée par 17 sportifs aux Championnats d’Europe d’athlétisme en salle, compétition qui commencera jeudi, à Prague. La Fédération roumaine se propose d’obtenir au moins une médaille. Près de 650 sportifs de 49 pays se sont inscrits à cette 32e édition du concours.

  • March 3, 2015 UPDATE

    March 3, 2015 UPDATE

    The Romanian Intelligence Service and the FBI will continue to strengthen their dialogue and cooperation, particularly in cyber security, in fighting organised crime, terrorism and corruption as well as in countering espionage, the head of the Romanian Intelligence Service Eduard Hellvig said on Tuesday, after talks with the FBI head, James Comey. Hellvig pointed out that the first official visit of the FBI director to Romania took place against the backdrop of major challenges against regional and global geopolitical stability, which give special importance to fighting those actions that weaken the rule of law. Eduard Hellvig mentioned that Romanian intelligence officers benefited from training sessions with the best FBI experts, and the expertise gained as a result is a major contribution to the efficiency of the Romanian Intelligence Service. In turn, James Comey said the partnership with the Romanian Intelligence Service is one of the best that the FBI has in the world. The head of the US Federal Bureau of Investigations had meetings on Tuesday with the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis, with PM Victor Ponta, the chiefs of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate and of the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism, and with the prosecutor general of Romania.



    The Higher Defence Council, convened on Tuesday in Bucharest, approved PM Victor Ponta’s proposals regarding the entry and stationing in Romania, in May – June 2015, of Portuguese military equipment and troops, namely four F-16 Falcon aircraft and their nearly 150-strong military and civilian personnel, in view of preparing and conducting NATO Air Police missions. On the other hand, the Council members said Romania’s consistent support for Ukraine, since the start of the crisis in the neighbouring country, marked an unprecedented openness of the authorities in Kiev towards bilateral cooperation with Romania. The Higher Defence Council also believes that the Western Balkans should be included in an overall approach to South-East Europe, which should strengthen Romania’s strategic role in the region. This was the first meeting of the Council under the new president, Klaus Iohannis.



    The Romanian carmaker Dacia presented on Tuesday, at the 85th Geneva International Motor Show, the anniversary, limited-edition versions of its models. The sales of Dacia, a company held by the French group Renault, went up 19% last year, to 511,000 vehicles, with France as the main market. The best selling model is Sandero, 80% of which have been sold in Western Europe. Second comes the Duster, with Romania, France and Spain as market leaders. The Geneva Motor Show is open to the public until March the 15th.



    Thousands of people paid tribute to the leading Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, whose funerals were held Tuesday in Moscow. One of the most vocal critics of the Putin regime, Nemtsov was shot dead a few days ago near Kremlin. According to the investigators, the attack had been carefully planned. They say they do not rule out any scenario: a political murder designed to destabilise the country; an Islamist attack or a murder related to the conflict in Ukraine, perpetrated by “radical elements”. The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, said Boris Nemtsov was shot dead because he had intended to make public evidence on Moscow’s involvement in the secessionist conflict in Ukraine. The White House leader, Barack Obama, called for a thorough investigation into the murder of the Russian politician.



    The Iranian regime is a threat to Israel and to world peace, the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday before the US Congress. Israel opposes the current talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, which according to Netanyahu, cannot prevent the Iranians from producing atomic weapons, and would lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. The US president, Barack Obama, says however that the Israeli Prime Minister’s concern is unjustified and that an agreement is more efficient than a military intervention.