Radio România Internațional

Tag: ROYAL FUNERAL

  • August 14, 2016

    August 14, 2016

    ROYAL FUNERAL Queen Anne, the
    consort of Romania’s last sovereign Michael I, was buried on Saturday in Curtea
    de Arges, southern Romania, the necropolis of Romanian Royalty. A burial
    service was celebrated in the Orthodox rite, the faith of the Romanian Royal
    House and of most Romanians. Among those attending the funeral were Romanian
    high officials as well as members of the Imperial Families of Russia, Austria
    and Germany, of the Royal Houses of the Netherlands and Belgium, of Luxembourg,
    Baden, Württemberg and Bourbon-Parma. Aged 94, and himself severely ill, King
    Michael could not attend the funeral of his wife, whom he visited every day in
    the Swiss hospital where she died on August 1.




    FDI Foreign
    direct investments in Romania reached 2 billion Euros at the end of the first
    semester, up by 22.7% as compared to the same period last year, the National
    Bank has recently announced. On the other hand, the number of foreign capital
    companies newly established in the first six months of 2016 dropped by 12%.
    According to data provided by the National Statistics Institute, there are only
    2,687 such companies now.








    NAVY DAY Today
    is open gates day in the Danube ports of Braila and Tulcea, on the eve of Romanian Navy’s Day, which for 115 years has
    been celebrated on August 15th. August 15th is also the day when
    Christian believers celebrate the Assumption of Virgin Mary. Several events
    have been organized to mark the day, such as interactive workshops, a technique
    and armament exhibition, brass brand shows and open air concerts, contests and
    tours of navy ships. Also today, military and religions ceremonies are held in
    garrisons, in memory of the navy heroes who died in battle.






    ANONIMUL The Land of the
    Enlightened by Pieter-Jan De Pue won the big trophy of the 13th ‘Anonimul’
    International Independent Film Festival. The event, which ended on Saturday
    night, was held in Sfantu Gheorghe in the Danube Delta for a week. The Land of
    the Enlightened, a Belgium-Ireland-Netherlands-Germany- Afghanistan
    co-production tells the story of a group of Afghan children from the Kuchi
    tribe, who dig for old Soviet mines and sell the explosive materials to other
    children. The audience’s award for best Romanian short reel went to One Night
    in Tokoriki by Roxana Stroe. The special guest of the 2016 edition was
    director Park Chan-wook, who got the ‘Anonimul’ Trophy for his contribution to
    enriching world cinematography.






    SUMMER UNIVERSITY The 14th
    Summer University in Izvorul Muresului, Harghita County, is taking place over
    August 15th – 21st. The theme of this year’s edition is
    The Romanian State and the Romanians on the Borders of the EU and NATO. There
    are over 100 participants, including representatives of the academic environment,
    of the main political parties in Romania, of various Romanian community
    associations and foundations.






    ATTACK The
    Swiss police have announced today that there is no evidence that the attack
    that occurred yesterday on a passenger train was terrorist or politically
    motivated. A Swiss citizen aged 27 set on fire a train car and attacked with a
    knife several passengers near the station of Salez, in Saint-Gall. According to
    the police, 6 people were wounded, including a 6-year old. The attack occurred
    against the extremely tense situation in Europe, which has been faced with a
    string of attacks in the past months, many of them claimed by the Islamic State
    terrorist organization.






    RIO The Olympic Games continue in Rio. Romanian Elena Daniela Cirlan and
    Paula Todoran will compete in the marathon event and Bianca Razor in the
    women’s 400m. In weight lifting, Andreea
    Aaanei is competing in the women’s over 75 kg. Romania’s national handball team
    is today taking on European champion Norway, and needs to win in order to
    qualify for the quarter finals. Until now they have lost to Angola and won the
    matches against Montenegro and Spain. So far, Romania has won 4 medals at this
    year’s edition of the Olympic Games. The Romanian women’s fencing team won the
    golden medal, tennis players Horia Tecau and Florin Mergea got silver in the
    men’s doubles. Also, weightlifter Gabriel Sincraian and the women’s coxed eight
    got bronze medals.

  • 9 August, 2016

    9 August, 2016

    ROYAL FUNERAL — The remains of Queen Anne of Romania were brought today to the country. The funeral will be held on Saturday in Curtea de Arges, the burial place for Romanian royalty. She passed away on August 1st in Switzerland, aged 92, after a battle with cancer. King Michael will not be able to attend the solemn ceremony due to ill health. You can listen to details after the news.



    PHYSICIANS — Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu and Labor Minister Dragos Paslaru, meeting with representatives of physicians, have signed a joint declaration stating that the raise in pay for overtime night shifts starting on October 1st is a step forward towards normalizing wages in the healthcare sector. The Minister of Health said that this was a fix in the system of payments, increasing efficiency in the sector. The impact on the healthcare budget will be 100 million lei (about 22 million Euro), bundled with additional measures to reduce waste and boost efficiency in the system. These decisions come after a blanket 10% raise in state employee wages, valid August 1st. The raise are between 300 lei, around 70 Euro, and 900 lei, around 200 Euro, benefiting 163,000 people.



    ERDOGAN — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in Sankt Petersburg today, holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He previously said that he wants to restart relations with Moscow. There was a serious breach in relations between the two countries last year, when the Turkish military downed a Russian military aircraft on the border with Syria. This is the first visit abroad by the Turkish leader after the attempted coup last month. It comes against the backdrop of cooling relations with western countries, which criticize the crackdown on a large number of people allegedly involved in the failed coup.



    OLYMPICS — Romanian athletes continue to compete in the 31st edition of the Summer Olympic Games in Rio, in Brazil, in rowing, swimming, and tennis. On Monday, Romanias womens handball team was crushed by Brazil 13-26, after another surprising loss against Angola, 19-23. Olympic silver medalist in judo in London Corina Caprioriu, had two opportunities to win a medal in the 57 kg category, but was unsuccessful. Also on Monday, the coxed eight team came in third, while the tennis pair Horia Tecau and Florin Mergea are one game away from the semifinals. In gymnastics, Catalina Ponor qualified for the finals in the beam event, while 35 year-old Marian Dragulescu goes to the finals in the vault event. Adrian Munteanu will be present in the parallel bars event. Romania has in Rio 96 athletes and 7 reserves.



    ANONIMUL — South Korean director Park Chan-wook was granted on Monday the Anonimul Trophy for contributions to world cinema, at the opening of the festival that takes place by the end of the week in Sfantu Gheorghe in the Danube Delta. The famous director talked about Romanian culture and the beauty of the country. The first feature length movie screened at the festival was Park Chan-wooks latest film, The Handmaiden. Romanian movies featured prominently at the festival, with award winning productions such as Sieranevada by Cristi Puiu, and Dogs, by Bogdan Mirica.



    POLL — 77% of Romanians would vote to stay in the European Union, were a referendum to be held, according to an IRES poll run between July 13-15. The same poll revealed that 74% of respondents believe that Romania is on the wrong path, while 65% of them believe the Brexit will have a negative impact on Romania. 93% of respondents believe that Romania has to show commitment to the fundamental values and principles of the European Union.

  • 8 August, 2016

    8 August, 2016

    ROYAL FUNERAL- Romanias last king, Michael I, could find out today if physicians allow him to attend the funeral of his wife, Queen Anne, scheduled for Saturday at the royal necropolis in Curtea de Arges. Aged 94, himself in poor health, the king was at his wifes side every day at the Swiss clinic where she spent her last days. She passed away a week ago, after a battle with cancer. She was born in Paris in 1923, as Anne of Bourbon-Parma, and met King Michael in London, in 1947. That same year, on 30 December, while the country was practically under Soviet military occupation, and was led by a communist puppet government, King Michael was forced to abdicate, and went into exile. The sovereign was allowed to return home only after the regime change in 1989, regaining his Romanian citizenship and part of his holdings. King Michael acted as honorary ambassador, promoting Romanias integration into NATO, which occurred in 2004, and into the EU, 2007. His first born, Princess Margaret, is his successor as the head of the Romanian Royal House, and custodian of the crown.



    INFLATION — Romanias National Bank has adjusted its inflation forecast for the end of the year to -0.4 percent, from the figure 0.6 percent, according to the quarterly report on inflation issued today by Governor Mugur Isarescu. The central bank estimates an inflation of 2% for late next year, lower than it did in May, when the figure stood at 2.7 percent. For 2018, the Governor estimates inflation to exceed the 2.5% target.



    CENSURE MOTION — The head of the Social Democratic Party, and the head of the Liberal-Democratic Alliance, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, meet today to discuss the possibility of introducing a no-confidence motion against the technocrat government in Bucharest, led by Dacian Ciolos. Dragnea claims that, by changing the Tax Code, the government illegally levies taxes on war veterans and their widows. At the same time, Tariceanu says that the Ciolos government should focus on running the country, instead of engaging in long term strategies. PM Ciolos rejected the claims, saying that the Tax Code had to be amended, since it contained ambiguous provisions. The two political formations installed the previous government, led by Social Democrat Victor Ponta, who resigned last November, after ample street protests against corruption.



    ANONIMUL — The Anonimul Independent International Film Festival starts today in the small town of Sfantu Gheorghe, in the Danube Delta, running for a week. It will feature movies by the special guest, South Korean director Park Chan-wook, alongside other productions, such as Cristi Puius Sieranevada and Bogdan Miricas feature length debut, Dogs, which won an award at Cannes in 2016. In total, over 350 feature length films from 33 countries have signed up for the competition. The trophies for best movie and best Romanian short fiction film will be awarded by audience vote.



    OLYMPICS — Romanian athletes continue their evolution in the 31st edition of the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Their next events will be in judo, tennis, shooting, rowing, womens handball, table tennis, and swimming. Alin Moldoveanu and Corina Caprioriu are Romanias best hopes for medals on the 3rd day of the games, as they brought home medals four years ago. Moldoveanu was the surprise winner in London when he won in the 10 meter air rifle event, while Caprioriu went to the finals in the 57 kg category in judo. Eagerly expected is also the Romania- Brazil handball game, as well as the games that will be played by tennis players Monica Niculescu, Horia Tecau, and Florin Mergea. In gymnastics, Catalina Ponor will compete in the beam event, veteran Marian Dragulescu, 35 years of age, competes in the vault event, while Andrei Munteanu competes in the parallel bars finals. Romania is represented in Rio by 96 athletes with 7 reserves.



    ISTANBUL — In Istanbul, over a million Turks gathered for a rally dubbed by the authorities a gathering for democracy and martyrs, which turned into a support rally for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The latter promised he would reintroduce the death penalty, with endorsement from Parliament. The Turkish leader promised he would eliminate from state institutions all the supporters of US based preacher Fethullah Gulen, the rival he blames for the recent failed coup. This rally comes after several other pro-government rallies in Turkey in the last three weeks. Over 60,000 people have been arrested, fired or suspended from civil jobs, the police, the army, the judiciary, education and the press, in what analysts call a purge following the failed coup.