Radio România Internațional

Tag: murders

  • August 9, 2019

    August 9, 2019

    CARACAL INVESTIGATION Searches continue at the Caracal home of Gheorghe Dincă, the 66-year old man who confessed, after being apprehended more than 2 weeks ago, to having killed and incinerated 2 teenage girls. New evidence is searched with respect to 18-year old Luiza Melencu, who went missing in April, after hitching a ride in Dincǎ’s car. On Thursday, genetic tests on the bone fragments found in a bag in a forest near Caracal were completed, and results indicate that the bones belong to 15-year old Alexandra Măceşanu, whom Dincă said he had killed in late July. Also on Thursday, the search on the suspect’s laptop, camera, mobile phones and memory stick was completed, with the data to be processed by forensic IT experts. The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, has called for more efficient measures to prevent murder and other violence against women, in a Twitter response to the Caracal case.



    TRADE In the first half of this year, Romanian exports totalled nearly 35 billion euros, while imports stood at over 42.5 billion, taking the trade balance deficit to around 7.7 billion euros, the National Statistics Institute announced on Friday. The largest share in traded commodities was accounted for by vehicles and transport equipment and other manufactured products. According to the Statistics Institute, the trade deficit in the first half of this year is over 1.3 billion euro deeper than in the corresponding period of 2018.



    PROTEST A rally is scheduled for Saturday in front of the Government headquarters in Bucharest, with participants, both from Romania and from the diaspora, disgruntled with the performance of the current Government made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. The protesters will march from the Revolution Square, where the Interior Ministry is headquartered, to the head office of the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism and then to Victoriei Square. The organisers said the march is a response to the events of August 10, 2018, and to recent developments in the political and social arena. The interim Interior Minister Mihai Fifor called for a peaceful and lawful protest. The rally of August 10, 2018 was marred by violence and a disproportionate response by the police, and resulted in injuries on both sides. Several criminal investigations are underway.




    NAVY Events devoted to the Romanian Navy Day, traditionally celebrated on August 15, have started in the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanţa. On Saturday, the Constanta Military Port organises an Open Door Day, with thousands of people expected to visit 14 Navy vessels, 2 Coast Guard ships, a Puma Naval helicopter, a submarine and mobile missile launchers. The event begins with a performance by the Navy Band, and participants will also be able to take part in workshops, presentations and exhibitions and interact with officials for navy education institutions, marines, military divers and hydrography experts. Until August 15, other Danube and Black Sea ports in Romania will also host concerts, book launches and interactive workshops.




    ANONIMUL The 16th Anonimul International Independent Film Festival comes to a close on Saturday in Sfântu Gheorghe, in the Danube Delta, south-eastern Romania. Six Romanian and foreign feature films took part in the official competition. The Ukrainian director Sergey Loznitsa, the winner of the 2018 Cannes “Un Certain Regard” award, is the guest of honour in this year’s festival. He received the “ANONIMUL” Trophy for his contribution to world cinema.




    UNIVERSITY The 17th edition of the Izvoru Mureşului Summer University is taking place between August 12 and 17 in Harghita County, central Romania. this year’s theme is Romania and the Romanians abroad, one year after the Great Union Centennial. The topics approached will include preserving the identity of the Romanians in Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova in the context of regional geopolitical development and the Romanian national interest, the policies of parliamentary parties and public institutions with respect to the Romanians abroad and the Romanians in the multi-ethnic regions in Romania. Attending the works will be participants from Romania and from the diaspora, as well as from the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, and Bulgaria, mass media and civil society representatives, and members of the academic community in Romania and abroad.



    TENNIS Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, no 4 in the world, is facing today Marie Bouzkova (Czech Republic, no 91 WTA) in the quarter-finals of the Toronto tournament, which has over 2.8 million US dollars in prize money. Halep, the defending Wimbledon champion, qualified into the quarter-finals after on Thursday she defeated Russian Svetlana Kuznetzova (198 WTA), 6-2, 6-1. The Romanian player has won the Rogers Cup twice, in 2016 and 2018.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • July 31, 2019 UPDATE

    July 31, 2019 UPDATE

    CARACAL INVESTIGATION The head of the Directorate Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism Felix-Oliver Bănilă said on Wednesday that the results of the tests run on the bones taken in evidence from the house of the Caracal murder suspect Gheorghe Dincă are still pending. Banila added that no scenario is overlooked at this point in the investigation. There is no proof that any of the victims has been murdered, the anti-mafia chief said. Meanwhile, prosecutors have broadened the investigation and are looking into a possible case of criminal negligence involving the police officer who talked to 15-year-old Alexandra Macesanu, who dialled the emergency number calling for help and saying she had been abducted and raped. The police officer allegedly did not follow standard procedures. The suspect in the Caracal murders, Gheorghe Dinca, was taken to the Penitentiary Hospital in Jilava near Bucharest, to undergo psychiatric evaluation. Gheorghe Dinca, a 60-year-old mechanic from Caracal, admitted on Sunday to having kidnapped, detained, raped and murdered two teenagers. Alexandra Macesanu was reported missing on Wednesday, and on Thursday last week she dialled the emergency number 112, operated by the Special Telecommunications Service, which was unable to trace the call. Police officers took 19 hours to get into the suspects home. 18-year-old Luiza Mihaela Melencu shared the same fate in April, when the family reported her missing. The bodies of the two girls have not yet been found.




    MOLDOVA The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Wednesday voted to cancel the mixed electoral system adopted 2 years ago and used for the first time in the parliamentary election of February 24. The next parliamentary elections will therefore use the proportional representation system used in Moldova until this year. The Parliament also approved a substantial lowering of the maximum donations that can be made to political parties during the election campaign, and extended voting abroad to 2 days. Also, according to the amendments to the Election Law, election into Parliament is now possible with at least 5% of the votes, instead of 6%, for political parties, 7% for electoral blocs and 2% for independent candidates.




    FESTIVAL More than 200 artists will perform on 10 stages as part of UNTOLD, the largest electronic music festival in Romania, which begins in Cluj-Napoca on Thursday. One of the biggest stages in Europe will be located inside the Cluj Arena. Robbie Williams, scheduled to perform on Sunday, is one of the headliners of the festival, along with Armin van Buuren, David Guetta and 3 Are Legend. The organisers expect 350,000 people from more than 100 countries to attend the shows.




    FOOTBALL Romania’s football vice-champions FCSB (former Steaua Bucharest), who won the first leg of the Europa League second round against Armenian side FC Alashkert, 3-0 away from home, will play the return leg at home on Thursday. Also on Thursday, CSU Craiova will play against Honved Budapest at home after drawing nil-all in the first leg, while Romanian Cup winners Viitorul Constanta will play the return leg against KAA Gent, to which it lost 3-6 last week. Romanian champions CFR Cluj on Tuesday advanced to the third preliminary round in Champions League after drawing 2-all against Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel away from home. In the first leg CFR defeated Maccabi 1-nil. The team from Cluj will next play Celtic Glasgow of Scotland, which in the previous round ousted Estonia’s Nomme Kalju 5-nil in the first leg and 2-nil in the return leg.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)