April 23, 2022

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 23.04.2022, 14:05

EASTER — It is Holy Saturday today for Orthodox Christians, a majority in Romania, and for Greek Catholics. Also known as the Saturday of Light, it is the final day of the Holy Week, when believers prepare for Easter Sunday. It is also today, at midnight, that the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem shares the Holy Fire brought from the tomb of Jesus. For Orthodox believers, the Holy Fire is a miracle that occurs every year at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, on Great Saturday. The Holy Fire from Jerusalem will be brought to Romania this evening, to be shared to believers at midnight. In its Easter Message, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church urged believers to pray for the end of the war in Ukraine and to help the refugees. He also called on Romanians around the borders and in the Diaspora to love and support each other.

QUAKE — One person died and several others were injured after a 5.6 magnitude quake stroke southern Bosnia on Friday evening. Further minor earthquakes followed, officials and the media reported on Saturday. The main earthquake was felt throughout Bosnia, but also along the coast of neighbouring Croatia, Montenegro, and Albania.

UKRAINE — All cities under Ukrainian control in the eastern region of Luhansk were constantly being shelled by Russian forces on Saturday and the barrage was intensifying, the regions governor Serhiy Haidai said, according to Reuters. The Russian army denies attacks on civilian targets. British intelligence said the Russian forces did not make significant progress in the last 24 hours in spite heavy bombings, as the Ukrainian response makes their mission difficult. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday evening that the allies are finally delivering the weapons requested by Kyiv. PM Denys Smyhal, who has travelled to the US, voiced confidence his country, would win the war.

TENNIS — Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea is today up against Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Istanbul. Cirstea, who won the tournament last year and is now second seed defeated Austrian Julia Grabher in the quarterfinals. Cirstea leads over Kudermetova in direct matches, 2-0. The other semi-final sees Russian Anastasia Potapova against Yulia Putintseva.

TRANSDNIESTER – Moldova’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian Ambassador in Chisinau to give explanations over some statements made by an official of the Russian army. According to Radio Chisinau, General Rustam Minnekaev said that Russian forces plan to take full control of the Denbas region and southern Ukraine, so Russia ‘can create another way out to’ the breakaway region of Trans-Ddniester. The Moldovan Foreign Ministry deems these statements as ungrounded and in contradiction to Russia’s stand of supporting Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, within internationally recognised borders. Trans-Dniester has not been under Moldova’s control since 1992, following an armed conflict in which Russian forces supported the separatists.

ELECTION – The election campaign has come to an end in France. Ahead of the second round of presidential elections scheduled for Sunday, the two candidates, incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine le Pen, had their final meetings with the electorate. According to the Radio Romania correspondent, Marine Le Pen went to the north, where she has the most loyal supporters and where she won the largest number of votes in the first round, as she didnt want to risk meeting with potentially hostile voters. Instead, Emmanuel Macron visited an area in the immediate vicinity of Paris, where there are the so-called difficult neighbourhoods, with a poor population, especially from African immigration, an electorate that voted en masse in the first round for the leader of the Radical Left Party “Unsubmissive France”, Jean-Luc Melenchon. They told the president right away the problems they are facing. The incumbent president continues to gain ground. According to an opinion poll commissioned by the daily “Le Parisien”, 57.5% of the French voters will give Macron their votes, and only 42.5% will vote for Marine Le Pen,

BOOK FAIR – In Paris, the International Book Fair opened its doors on Friday, after two cancelled editions due to the coronavirus pandemic. This year the event is based on a new concept and the organizers expect about 100,000 visitors. The guest of honor of this edition is India. Numerous meetings with writers, book launches are scheduled for the next three days. Romania has its own stand, organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute in Paris, where Radio Romania News is a media partner.