Radio România Internațional

Tag: poisoning

  • September 5, 2018 UPDATE

    September 5, 2018 UPDATE

    Emergency decree — The leftist government of Romania on Wednesday approved through an emergency decree the budget adjustment bill. The PM Viorica Dancila said that the budget adjustment, which is a positive one, is meant to support, among others, investments and the losses incurred by pig farmers due to the African swine fever crisis. In turn, president Klaus Iohannis strongly criticized what he called the ‘inadmissible manner’ in which the government acted, given that the budget adjustment bill was approved without the approval of the Supreme Council of National Defense. Further talks on this issue have been scheduled for Thursday between president Iohannis and the justice minister Eugen Teodorovici.



    Parliament — The Chamber of Deputies Wednesday rejected a request by the right-wing Opposition to set up 2 inquiry committees, one on the Government’s handling of the African swine fever crisis, and another one on the intervention of riot police at the anti-government protests in Bucharest on August 10th. The authors of the request said they wanted to identify the causes for the quick spreading of the disease in Romania and to find out whether certain public institutions were involved in activities beyond their legally defined powers. Also on Wednesday the General Prosecutor’s Office announced the start of prosecution, in rem, for the crime of spreading diseases among animals and plants and for professional negligence. At present swine fever outbreaks are reported in 11 counties in Romania, triggering the culling of over 140,000 pigs and spreading further, in spite of the measures taken by authorities. On Tuesday the Senate’s defense committee cancelled the hearings on this topic, at the request of the Social Democratic Party in power. Scheduled to be heard in Parliament were the Interior Minister, Carmen Dan, the coordinator of the gendarme intervention Laurenţiu Cazan, and the Prefect of Bucharest, Speranţa Cliseru. So far 770 people affected by the brutal police intervention during the protests have filed criminal complaints.



    Poisoning — British prosecutors on Wednesday announced they held enough evidence to indict two Russian citizens in the case of the poisoning with a nerve agent of the former double agent Sergey Skripal and of his daughter in March in the southwest of England. European arrest warrants have been issued for the two Russian citizens Aleksandr Petrov and Ruslan Boşirov. The British authorities have pointed out that they will not ask for the two Russians’ extradition because the Russian Constitution does not allow it. The Skripal case has caused a serious bilateral crisis and led to a wave of mutual ousting of diplomats, a process that also involved allied countries of the UK, including Romania. (news translated and updated by L. Simion)

  • April 7, 2018 UPDATE

    April 7, 2018 UPDATE

    HOLY FIRE — Thousands of Orthodox believers gathered on Saturday in Jerusalem for the Holy Fire ceremony that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. In a ritual dating back at least 1,200 years, they crowded into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Holy Fire appeared in the Edicule, the small chapel built over the burial place of Christ at about 2:20 PM, just a few minutes after the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, entered there to pray and wait. After the fire’s descent the Patriarch passed the holy gift to the faithful. The Holy Fire is the most important celebration in the Orthodox faith in Jerusalem. A delegation of the Romanian Patriarchy, headed by Bishop Timotei of Prahova, is in Jerusalem and will bring the Holy Fire to be distributed to every church across Romania.




    SECURITY MEASURES – Over 50,000 employees of the Romanian Interior Ministry have been mobilised to maintain public order, safety and security across the country during Easter. Gendarme and police troops will be chiefly deployed around churches and other religious institutions. 250 thousand people are expected to attend more than 700 public events that will take place in Romania in the next four days. Traffic police, equipped with more than 300 traffic radars and backed by helicopters, will be monitoring traffic on Romania’s motorways during the Easter days.




    HOLIDAY – Many Romanians have chosen to spend Easter away from home this year but in regions in the country where Easter traditions are still observed. Over 90% of the hotels and guest houses on the Prahova Valley are booked. Tourists are mostly interested in the resorts of Sinaia and Azuga, as winter sports can still be practices there. Bukovina is another region highly appreciated by tourists, especially the villages that are close to monasteries such as Sucevita, Gura Humorului and Putna. Tourists appreciate guesthouses in Bukovina because Easter traditions have been preserved unaltered there and also for the hosts’ hospitality.




    POISONING – Russian Ambassador in London, Aleksandr Yakovenko, has requested a meeting with British Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, to discuss the attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Relations between London and Moscow have plumbed new lows in recent weeks following the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia on March 4 in Salisbury, south-western England. Britain and its Western allies have blamed the attack on Moscow, accusing it of targeting the pair with a Soviet-made military-grade nerve agent. Russia has vehemently denied any involvement in the case. The crisis has led to the biggest wave of tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats in recent memory.




    STRIKE — Air France announced on Saturday the cancellation of hundreds of flights as pilots, cabin crews and ground staff pursued a fifth day of strike aimed at securing higher salaries. Air France estimates that 34% of pilots, 26% of the cabin crews and 19% of the ground staff were on strike on Saturday. Unions say workers deserve to benefit from years of belt-tightening that have brought the carrier back to operating profitability, after seeing their wages effectively frozen since 2011. Unionists want a 6% pay raise and have already warned of more strikes to come.




    ROMA DAY — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Saturday conveyed a message on the occasion of the International Roma Day. Iohannis said “it’s important to understand the traditions, values, aspirations and needs of the Roma community, in order to find solutions that should have a concrete contribution to the Roma minority members’ social inclusion, while continuing to preserve their cultural identity”. Iohannis also said that this year, when the 1918 Great Union centennial is celebrated, the contribution of the Roma to our society’s history and diversity must be emphasised. Celebrated every year on April 8th, the International Roma Day is aimed at promoting the community’s cultural values and at signalling the problems facing it.




    DAVIS CUP — Romania’s Davis Cup team leads Morocco 2-0 after the first matches held on Saturday in Cluj, northwestern Romania, in the second round of Europe/Africa Zone Group II. Marius Copil defeated Amine Ahouda in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 while Adrian Ungur beat Lamine Ouahab, 6-0, 7-6. On Sunday in the men’s doubles Marius Copil and Florin Mergea will be up against Amine Ahouda/ Lamine Ouahab.




    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Ana Bogdan, WTA’s 90th seed, has qualified to the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, after defeating American Danielle Collins, no. 53 in the world, in two sets, 6-2, 6-4. Ana Bogdan will next be up against the competition’s favourite, Garbine Muguruza, no. 3 in the world. (Translated by Elena Enache)

  • April 6, 2018

    April 6, 2018

    GOOD FRIDAY– The most important events in Christianity are the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whose life and teachings are the foundation of Christianity. Today, Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers the world over, including Romania, a mostly Orthodox country, are marking Good Friday. Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. This is a day of mourning in church, a day when Christians meditate on Jesus suffering and death on the cross.




    SECURITY MEASURES – Over 50,000 employees of the Romanian Interior Ministry have been mobilised to maintain public order, safety and security across the country at Easter. Gendarme and police troops will be chiefly deployed around churches and other religious institutions. 250 thousand people are expected to attend more than 700 public events that will take place in Romania in the next four days. Traffic police, equipped with more than 300 traffic radars and backed by helicopters, will be monitoring traffic on Romania’s motorways at Easter.




    ROMANIAN ACADEMY – Historian Ioan-Aurel Pop, the rector of the Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (north-western Romania) was elected president of the Romanian Academy. He received 86 of the 148 votes that were cast during the General Assembly of the Romanian Academy. The newly elected president, who will have a four-year term in office, will take over the position 15 days since his election. The elections for four positions of vice-president and one of secretary general will be held on April the 20th. The former president of the Romanian Academy, Ionel Valentin Vlad, passed away in December 2017.




    MARCH – The “Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi” Institute for the Romanians abroad, an institution subordinated to the Ministry for the Romanians Abroad jointly with the Lauder-Reut Educational Complex will be staging a March of Holocaust survivors dubbed “Let’s learn together’, in Poland, over April 9-13. The event, which has an educational character and is aimed at teaching students a dramatic episode in history, involves the participation of young people from 52 countries. The Romanian delegation includes students from Romania and the Republic of Moldova.




    POISONING – A Russian military research base has been identified as the source of the nerve agent used for the poisoning in Salisbury, The Times newspaper reported. The source of the military-grade poison was revealed in a British intelligence briefing for its allies, and was used to persuade world leaders that Russia was responsible for the attack. Britain blames Russia for the poisoning on UK soil of the former double agent and his daughter with what it says was a Soviet-made military-grade nerve agent, something that Kremlin denies. More than 150 Russian diplomats from 28 countries, Romania included, have been expelled. Russia has also retaliated by expelling Western diplomats.




    CONVICTION – South Koreas former President Park Geun-hye has been sentenced to 24 years in jail after she was found guilty of abuse of power and coercion, the BBC reports. The verdict was broadcast live and represents the culmination of a scandal which rocked the country, fuelling rage against political and business elites. Park was also fined 17 million dollars. She was found guilty of 16 out of 18 charges, most of which related to bribery and coercion. The former South Korean president has previously accused the courts of being biased against her has denied all wrongdoing.




    HANDBALL – The Romanian women’s handball team CSM Bucharest are today meeting on home soil the French team Metz, in the first round of the Champions League quarter finals. In the three other matches, the defending champion, Gyor of Hungary will meet Buducnost Podgorica of Montenegro, FC Midtjylland of Denmark will face Vardar Skopje of Macedonia, and Ferencvaros Budapest of Hungary will take on Rostov-Don of Russia. The winners will qualify for the Final Four tournament. We recall that CSM Bucharest won the Champions League in 2016. (Translated by Elena Enache)