Radio România Internațional

Tag: Rugby Europe

  • Sports Flash

    Sports Flash

    Romania will be represented by 7 female athletes at the World Athletics Indoor Championship in Glasgow, Scotland. Alina Rotaru-Kottmann will be competing in the long-jump event, Andreea Taloş and Diana Ion in the triple jump and Daniela Stanciu, in the high jump contest. Andreea Miklos will represent Romania in the 400 meter dash while Claudia Bobocea and Petronela Simiuc in the 800 and 1500 meter races.

    Romania had 11 athletes in the past edition of the aforementioned indoor competition in Belgrade in 2022, and the best Romanian performance was obtained by Claudia Bobocea – the 9th place in the 1.500 meter race. The latest medals obtained by athletes from Romania in a suchlike indoor contest were at the 2016 edition in Portland, where Andrei Gag reaped silver in the shot put event and the women’s 4×400 meter relay team, which included Andreea Miklos, came third in the race.

    Romania’s rugby side will be playing Georgia on Saturday in an away game of the 2024 edition of Rugby Europe Championship, the second big European contest after Six Nations.  In the other semifinals game on Sunday, Portugal will be up, on their own ground, against Spain. The winners will be playing in the finals due on the Jean Bouin stadium, in Paris on March 17th.

    Romania’s women handball side will be playing Croatia, in Koprivnica on Sunday in a match counting towards the first group of the European Championship qualifiers. The two sides also met on Wednesday in Bistrita, central Romania, where our athletes secured a 26-24 win. In the group’s ranking Romania comes first with 6 points followed by Croatia with 4, Greece with 2 and Bosnia-Herzegovina with no point. The first two sides of each group will qualify as well as the best four sides on the third position.

    This weekend will be seeing a series of matches counting towards the 29th leg of the Romanian Football Superleague. Only one game on Friday when Poli Iasi takes on Dinamo Bucharest. On Saturday, UTA plays FCU Craiova in a home game, then Hermannstadt also at home will be up against Otelul Galati. In Constanta, local side Farul will be playing CFR Cluj. On Sunday, Universitatea Cluj will be playing FC Botosani, while FCSB plays in Bucharest Petrolul Ploiesti. On Monday, Sepsi, on their own turf, will be playing FC Voluntari and Universitatea Craiova, at home, will receive Rapid Bucharest. FCSB ranks first in the standings with 61 points, followed by Rapid, ten points less.

    (bill)

  • March 19, 2017, UPDATE

    March 19, 2017, UPDATE

    PARTY ELECTIONS – The special congress in which the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, will elect a president, will take place on April 21, one of the partys current co-presidents, the Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu announced on Sunday. The other co-president is the incumbent Environment Minister, Daniel Constantin. Calin Popescu Tariceanu also said that Sundays meeting of the party leaders was organised in keeping with party regulations, and added that he would run for party president. News agencies have reported that the two co-presidents were at odds with respect to the date of the planned congress. Tariceanu wanted quick preparations for an election in late April, whereas Constantin argued that party elections should begin in local branches, and the newly elected county leaders should decide who the next party president will be.



    LA FRANCOPHONIE – The Romanian Foreign Ministry will organise two public diplomacy events in Bucharest on Monday, on the occasion of the International Francophonie Day. A bust of Leopold Sedar Senghor, co-founder of La Francophonie, and a leading political and cultural personality of Senegal, will be unveiled in the Francophonie Square, completing this unique site in Europe. The Francophonie Night will be hosted later on Monday by the I. L. Caragiale National Theatre. The programme includes a concert by Cantata – The Romanian Youth Orchestra and the Francophonie Awards ceremony, organised by the group of Francophone embassies, delegations and institutions in Romania. As a member of the International Organisation of La Francophonie, Romania celebrates the International Francophonie Day on March 20th.



    ORLY AIRPORT ATTACK – Flights were resumed at Orly Airport, near Paris, one day after a shooting triggered the temporary closing down of two terminals, AFP reports. An armed man was shot dead on Saturday while attempting to steal a soldiers gun on that airport. According to the authorities, Ziyed Ben Belgacem, a 39-year old Frenchman held an air pistol at the soldiers head, saying he wanted to die for Allah. Earlier the same day the man had been involved in a shooting and car theft.




    PERU FLOODS – More than 70 people died in the worst floods and landslides in 20 years in Peru, the authorities have announced. The heavy rainfalls that lasted for several days have caused flooding and mudslides in large parts of the country, news agencies reported. A state of emergency has been declared in over 800 towns. According to authorities, this years rainy season brought precipitations 10 times more intense than usual. Over 500,000 people were evacuated as floods washed away homes, and many are stranded and depend on bottled water deliveries, after drinking water sources were contaminated or supply was cut off.



    CHUCK BERRY DIES – The American rock legend Chuck Berry died on Saturday at the age of 90. During a 7-decade long career the guitarist, singer and songwriter refined rhythm and blues music and enriched it with elements that made rock&roll an independent music style. Chuck Berrys first hit, the 1955 Maybellene, was followed by other famous songs like Roll Over Beethoven, Sweet Little Sixteen and Johnny B Goode. In 1984 he won a Grammy for lifetime achievement, and in 1986 he was one of the first musicians inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Chuck Berry was planning a studio album release in 2017, after a 38-year break.



    RUGBY EUROPE – Romania defeated Georgia 8 – 7, in Bucharest, in the last leg of Rugby Europe Championship, and won the ”Antim Ivireanu” Cup, granted to the winning team in direct matches. Previously in Rugby Europe, also known as Six Nations B, Romania had won its away games against Belgium and Russia and the match against Spain on home turf, but it surprisingly lost to Germany away from home. The performance in Rugby Europe Championship is a qualification criterion for the 2019 World Cup in Japan.



    GYMNASTICS WORLD CUP – The Romanian Catalina Ponor has won the beam and floor finals of the Gymnastics World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. In the finals, the 2004 Olympic champion outperformed the Australian Emily Little and the Azeri Marina Nekrasova. Catalina Ponor was the only member of the Romanian team to have qualified into the finals of the competition. 120 athletes from 21 countries took part in the gymnastics World Cup in Baku, which marks the start of preparations for the European competitions to be hosted by the north-western Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca in April.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • March 19, 2017

    March 19, 2017

    PARTY ELECTIONS – The leaders of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania (ALDE), a junior partner of the Social Democrats in the ruling coalition, convene today to set a date for the congress in which the party will elect its president. ALDE is currently headed by the Senate Speaker, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, and the Environment Minister, Daniel Constantin. According to news agencies, the two disagree over the date of the congress. Tariceanu wants quick preparations for an election in late April, whereas Constantin argues that party elections should begin in local branches, and the newly elected county leaders should decide who the next party president will be.




    ORLY AIRPORT ATTACK – Flights have been resumed at Orly Airport, near Paris, one day after a shooting triggered the temporary closing down of two terminals, AFP reports. An armed man was shot dead on Saturday while attempting to steal a soldiers gun on that airport. According to the authorities, Ziyed Ben Belgacem, a 39-year old Frenchman held an air pistol at the soldiers head, saying he wanted to die for Allah. Earlier the same day the man had been involved in a shooting and car theft.




    PERU FLOODS – More than 70 people died in the worst floods and landslides in 20 years in Peru, the authorities have announced. The heavy rainfalls that lasted for several days have caused flooding and mudslides in large parts of the country, news agencies reported. A state of emergency has been declared in over 800 towns. According to authorities, this years rainy season brought precipitations 10 times more intense than usual. Over 500,000 people were evacuated as floods washed away homes, and many are stranded and depend on bottled water deliveries, after drinking water sources were contaminated or supply was cut off.



    CHUCK BERRY DIES – The American rock legend Chuck Berry died on Saturday at the age of 90. During a 7-decade long career the guitarist, singer and songwriter refined rhythm and blues music and enriched it with elements that made rock&roll an independent music style. Chuck Berrys first hit, the 1955 Maybellene, was followed by other famous songs like Roll Over Beethoven, Sweet Little Sixteen and Johnny B Goode. In 1984 he won a Grammy for lifetime achievement, and in 1986 he was one of the first musicians inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Chick Berry was planning a studio album release in 2017, after a 38-year break.



    RUGBY EUROPE – Romania is playing against Georgia in Bucharest today, in the last game in the current season of Rugby Europe Championship. The match is seen as a virtual final of the competition, given that the Georgians lead the standings with 18 points, followed by Romania with 15. Rugby Europe Championship has replaced, as of this year, the former European Nations Cup, the second-tier continental rugby competition after the famous Six Nations. So far in the competition, Romania won against Belgium and Russia away from home and against Spain on home turf, but surprisingly lost its away match against Germany. The performance in Rugby Europe Championship is also taken into account for qualification to the 2019 World Cup in Japan.



    GYMNASTICS WORLD CUP – The Romanian gymnast Catalina Ponor is competing today in the beam and floor finals of the World Cup in Baku, Azerbaidjan. She is the only member of the Romanian team to have reached the finals of this competition. 120 athletes from 21 countries are taking part in the Gymnastics World Cup in Baku, which marks the start of preparations for the European competitions to be held in the north-western Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca in April.

  • March 16, 2017

    March 16, 2017

    EU FUNDS – The European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, is to discuss today with PM Sorin Grindeanu about the measures the Government of Romania should take immediately in order to recover the delays in absorbing the EU funds earmarked to the country for 2014-2020. This will also be the topic of meetings Corina Creţu will have today with other Cabinet members as well, and with the Mayor General of Bucharest, Gabriela Firea. The EU official has once again warned that, mid-way into the accessing period, the fund absorption rate is zero. She said Romania should hurry, because in the context of talks about the future of the EU, cohesion funds may be reduced in the future. On the other hand, Corina Creţu says that European Commission estimates indicate the spending rate for 2007 – 2013 is above 90%.



    WORKER ABUSE – The Romanian minister for the diaspora, Andreea Pastarnac, is traveling today to Ragusa, in the south of Italy, an area where thousands of Romanian women work in forced labour conditions in Sicilian farms. Pastarnac is heading a governmental delegation that began a working visit to Italy on Wednesday, following reports on Romanian citizens subject to abuse in Sicily. So far, talks have been held with local authorities, experts, and regional officials. Emphasis has been laid on bilateral judicial cooperation, on securing equal opportunity to all EU citizens and on the provision of accurate information on the rights of workers employed in Italy. Up to 7,500 women, mostly Romanians, are subject to exploitation and abuse in farms in southern Italy, according to estimates made by the Italian police. The British weekly The Observer reported on Sunday that the abuse cases, including beatings, threats and rape, are hardly ever prosecuted and punished.



    IMF TALKS – The Prime Minister of Romania Sorin Grindeanu has a meeting scheduled today with an IMF delegation present in Bucharest these days. He says investments are higher than last year, but better spending of EU funds is also very important. The head of the IMF mission in Romania, Reza Baqir, had a meeting on Wednesday with deputy PM Sevil Shhaideh and announced that conclusions regarding the economic policies discussed with the Romanian authorities will be presented at the end of the visit, on Friday. Also today, Sorin Grindeanu and the Finance Minister Viorel Stefan will look into plans to increase the salaries of local elected officials by 30%, and will analyse means to extend a ceiling on compulsory motor insurance policies.



    POLICE PROTESTS – Romanian policemen are protesting in Bucharest today the Governments failure to implement a new resolution on pay raises in the field. They demand an increase in salaries, the elimination of wide pay gaps between police agents and officers, the calculation of bonuses based on the current national minimum wage instead of the 2009 level, as well as changes in regulations concerning the police force working and resting time. The National Police Agents Union also wants a delegation of the protesters to have a meeting with the Interior Minister, Carmen Dan, and present her each demand in part. The protests follow the presentation of the Interior Ministrys annual report, in which Minister Dan promised to increase police salaries.



    DUTCH ELECTIONS – The Liberals, currently in power, have won Wednesdays Dutch parliamentary elections, with results showing that PM Mark Ruttes party gets 31 out of the 150 seats in Parliament. The far-right, anti-immigration party headed by Geert Wilders, a long-time favourite in polls, will control 19 seats, the same as the Christian-Democrats and the D66 party. According to analysts quoted by the Radio Romania correspondent in The Hague, the record-high turnout, standing at 81%, seems to have benefited the pro-EU parties, in an election closely watched by other European countries, such as France and Germany, which are also facing a rise in populism ahead of this years elections. Jean-Claude Juncker sees the outcome of the elections in The Netherlands as a victory for the European Union and a vote against extremism.



    SPORTS – Romanias rugby team is preparing for Sundays home match against Georgia, the last in the current Rugby Europe Championship season. The game is viewed as a final of the competition, with Romania ranking second with 15 points and the Georgians topping the standings with 18 points. Performance in Rugby Europe Championship is also a qualification criterion for the 2019 World Cup. Meanwhile, in tennis, the Romanian-Dutch pair Horia Tecau / Jean-Julien Rojer failed to qualify into the semi-finals of the Indian Wells tournament in California. No Romanian players are left in the competition, after all 5 players in the singles were defeated. The best ranking Romanian player, Simona Halep, will go down one place in the ATP standings, to no. 5.