March 17, 2016 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 17.03.2016, 12:15

REFUGEES – EU leaders have
met in Brussels to settle on an agreement with Turkey in the matter of the
refugee crisis. The EC First Vice-President Frans Timmermans has
stated that a potential agreement will not entail either collective expulsions,
or an automatic return to Turkey. The situation of each and every refugee
will be analyzed individually, before any decision is made. Ankara has recently
asked the EU for more money to deal with the refugees on its territory, for a
visa waver and also for accession negotiations to continue. At the summit,
Romania is represented by president Klaus Iohannis, who has stated that Turkey
needs help to stem the tide of refugees.

EU FUNDING – Under the Administrative Capacity
Operational Programme, Romania has a budget of 658 million Euros, said the
Romanian Deputy Prime Minister and Regional Development Minister Vasile Dancu,
upon signing the first EU funded projects for the 2014-2020 programming period.
He has stated that the budget is three times bigger than for the previous
period.

SMOKING – An indoor
smoking ban came into effect on Thursday, which prevents smoking in all indoor
spaces, near playgrounds, in taxicabs and in company cars. Physicians say this
law reduces the incidence of diseases that cause the most fatalities.

BRANCUSI – The Wisdom
of the Earth, a 1907 sculpture by Constantin Brancusi, will be purchased by the
Romanian state. The owners have accepted the 11 million Euro offer submitted by
the negotiating committee on behalf of the government. The announcement was
made on Wednesday by the Minister of Culture Vlad Alexandrescu, who said that the
government pays 5 million Euro, with the rest covered by a national public
contribution.

PROSECUTION – Razvan
Murgeanu, businessman and former adviser to President Traian Basescu, was
placed under preventive arrest for 30 days by anti-corruption prosecutors. He
is under investigation for influence peddling, bribery and conspiracy to commit
money laundering. One other person was arrested in the same case. Previously to
being presidential adviser, Murgeanu was deputy mayor of Bucharest, and
undersecretary with the Ministry of Tourism and Regional Development.

TOURISM – Over 2.2
million foreign nationals visited Romania last year for business or
pleasure, spending over 1.1 billion Euro, according to the National Statistics
Institute. Accommodation accounts for 53% of the figure, followed by food and
drink expenses, 16%, and 12.7% in other purchases. Car rentals accounted for
over 61% of the spending on transportation.

MATHEMATICIAN – Mathematician
Solomon Marcus, a member of the Romanian Academy, passed away in Bucharest on
Thursday, aged 91. After graduating the
Faculty of Mathematics of the Bucharest University, he became a professor at
the same faculty. Solomon Marcus is the author of many inter-disciplinary
studies and books on the use of mathematics in linguistics, theatre analysis,
natural and social sciences. He published over 50 volumes in Romania, which
were translated in several languages, but also some 400 articles in scientific
reviews and magazines. His work has been quoted by more than 1000 authors.

LENIN – The biggest still standing statue of
Vladimir Lenin, representing the former communist
leader streching his arm in a heroic gesture, has been dismantled. During a two
day operation, a crane carefully moved the 20 m tall monument from its pedestal
and put it aside to be dismantled. Lenin’s statues have been removed from all
over Ukraine during an official campaign aimed at doing away with all the
symbols recalling the Soviet past of the country, the BBC reports.

BOMBING – A Kurdish militant group has claimed the bloody attack that
occurred on Sunday in the Turkish capital Ankara, which left 37 dead, according
to BBC News online. In a press release, the Kurdish group said the attack was
in retaliation for Turkish military operations in southeast Turkey, where the
population is predominantly Kurdish. The group is a PKK splinter, which also claimed
the car bombing in February, which left 29 dead.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep was defeated on Thursday by
Serena Williams in the quarter finals of the WTA competition in Indian Wells,
with 6 million dollars in prize money. Simona Halep, ranking 5 in the WTA classification, could not hold on to the title she won last year in Indian Wells, losing in two
sets , 6-4, 6-3, against the WTA top player, who goes on to play against 3rd
ranked Agnieszka Radwanska. Williams has won seven times against Halep, with
the latter winning only one game against the American player.