9 August, 2016
Queen Anne's remains return home, physicians get a raise for night shifts
Newsroom, 09.08.2016, 11:58
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.
