April 20, 2025
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 20.04.2025, 13:55
EASTER Christians of all denominations today celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the greatest holiday of the Christian world. In Romania, a mostly Orthodox country, believers took part in the Midnight Mass of the Resurrection. In front of the churches, believers received light in candles, as a symbol of faith in the Resurrection of the Lord. The Holy Light for Orthodox Easter was brought to the country from Jerusalem on Saturday evening and distributed to each parish. At the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church, called on the faithful to spread joy around them, especially in the souls of the suffering. “The Feast of the Resurrection of Christ calls us all to receive in our souls the peace and joy of Christ through prayer and good deeds, and to share them these days with those around us, especially those suffering and alone, those mourning or saddened by troubles, illnesses and addictions, especially drug use, which has now become a great threat to people’s lives,” Patriarch Daniel said. Pope Francis, still recovering from severe pneumonia, delivered the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Sunday, at the end of the Easter Mass.
MESSAGES Happy Easter holidays, in peace, harmony and joy, the interim president Ilie Bolojan and the PM Marcel Ciolacu wished Romanians. May God protect our country and all Romanians everywhere, said the head of state, who attended the Easter service with Christian believers in Bihor County. In turn, the PM urged Christians in Romania to think about the future with hope in the face of contemporary challenges and to preserve Christian values and teachings alive in their souls, treasuring good people and good deeds.
EASTER BREAK Around 24,600 employees of the Romanian interior ministry are mobilised every day to streamline traffic, ensure rapid response in emergency situations, prevent and combat illegal actions and save lives during the Easter break. Interior ministry personnel will also be monitoring churches where religious services are held. In order to prevent fires and other emergencies, fire-fighters have recently inspected churches, accommodation units and other sites that are crowded during the holidays. Around 5,000 fire and rescue personnel are on call every day to contain emergencies and provide first aid, and so are 12 ambulance aircraft. Over 1,600 traffic police officers are on duty on busy roads.
PROTESTS Thousands of people protested in rallies in several areas of the US against the policies of the Trump administration on several issues. According to the BBC, in Washington, a banner displayed in front of the White House read “Trump must go now!” One of the largest protests took place in New York, where a large number of demonstrators took to the streets of Manhattan. Some protesters chanted messages of support for migrants who were deported without due process, while others condemned the threats to suspend university funding. In San Francisco, protesters formed a human chain on a beach, with the message “Impeach and remove.”
EXERCISE Around 4,000 military personnel and 913 units of equipment from 10 NATO states (Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal and Romania) will take part in the DACIAN SPRING 2025 multinational exercise organised in Romania between May 5 and 23. The exercise is planned and led by the Multinational Division South-East Command and will take place simultaneously in several training centres. Dacian Spring 25 is attended by all structures of the Romanian Army – land, air, naval, and cyber forces, along with personnel from the Multinational Brigade South-East Command and Allied troops. The main goal is to test collective defence operations and strengthen the integration of participating forces into the command and control structures of the Multinational Division South-East Command. For the first time, a Belgian manoeuvre battalion will be deployed in Romania.
TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Gabriela Ruse (90 WTA) was defeated by the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (18 WTA) 6-0, 6-2 in the semifinals of the WTA 250 tournament in Rouen (France), with almost EUR 240,000 in total prize money. It is the Ukrainian’s third victory over the Romanian, after the two previous matches, in 2021, in the round of 16 in Chicago, and in 2023, in the first round in Chiasso. The Rouen tournament was the first competition in which Gabriela Ruse took part after her withdrawal from Miami, at the end of March. Then, in the 3rd round, the Romanian athlete was forced to retire at the beginning of the second set of the match against Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus). (AMP)
