REFUGEES – EU leaders have
\nmet in Brussels to settle on an agreement with Turkey in the matter of the
\nrefugee crisis. The EC First Vice-President Frans Timmermans has
\nstated that a potential agreement will not entail either collective expulsions,
\nor an automatic return to Turkey. The situation of each and every refugee
\nwill be analyzed individually, before any decision is made. Ankara has recently
\nasked the EU for more money to deal with the refugees on its territory, for a
\nvisa waver and also for accession negotiations to continue. At the summit,
\nRomania is represented by president Klaus Iohannis, who has stated that Turkey
\nneeds help to stem the tide of refugees.<\/p>\n
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\n
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EU FUNDING – Under the Administrative Capacity
\nOperational Programme, Romania has a budget of 658 million Euros, said the
\nRomanian Deputy Prime Minister and Regional Development Minister Vasile Dancu,
\nupon signing the first EU funded projects for the 2014-2020 programming period.
\nHe has stated that the budget is three times bigger than for the previous
\nperiod.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
SMOKING – An indoor
\nsmoking ban came into effect on Thursday, which prevents smoking in all indoor
\nspaces, near playgrounds, in taxicabs and in company cars. Physicians say this
\nlaw reduces the incidence of diseases that cause the most fatalities.<\/p>\n
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BRANCUSI – The Wisdom
\nof the Earth, a 1907 sculpture by Constantin Brancusi, will be purchased by the
\nRomanian state. The owners have accepted the 11 million Euro offer submitted by
\nthe negotiating committee on behalf of the government. The announcement was
\nmade on Wednesday by the Minister of Culture Vlad Alexandrescu, who said that the
\ngovernment pays 5 million Euro, with the rest covered by a national public
\ncontribution.<\/p>\n
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\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
PROSECUTION – Razvan
\nMurgeanu, businessman and former adviser to President Traian Basescu, was
\nplaced under preventive arrest for 30 days by anti-corruption prosecutors. He
\nis under investigation for influence peddling, bribery and conspiracy to commit
\nmoney laundering. One other person was arrested in the same case. Previously to
\nbeing presidential adviser, Murgeanu was deputy mayor of Bucharest, and
\nundersecretary with the Ministry of Tourism and Regional Development.<\/p>\n
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\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
TOURISM – Over 2.2
\nmillion foreign nationals visited Romania last year for business or
\npleasure, spending over 1.1 billion Euro, according to the National Statistics
\nInstitute. Accommodation accounts for 53% of the figure, followed by food and
\ndrink expenses, 16%, and 12.7% in other purchases. Car rentals accounted for
\nover 61% of the spending on transportation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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MATHEMATICIAN – Mathematician
\nSolomon Marcus, a member of the Romanian Academy, passed away in Bucharest on
\nThursday, aged 91. After graduating the
\nFaculty of Mathematics of the Bucharest University, he became a professor at
\nthe same faculty. Solomon Marcus is the author of many inter-disciplinary
\nstudies and books on the use of mathematics in linguistics, theatre analysis,
\nnatural and social sciences. He published over 50 volumes in Romania, which
\nwere translated in several languages, but also some 400 articles in scientific
\nreviews and magazines. His work has been quoted by more than 1000 authors.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
LENIN – The biggest still standing statue of
\nVladimir Lenin, representing the former communist
\nleader streching his arm in a heroic gesture, has been dismantled. During a two
\nday operation, a crane carefully moved the 20 m tall monument from its pedestal
\nand put it aside to be dismantled. Lenin’s statues have been removed from all
\nover Ukraine during an official campaign aimed at doing away with all the
\nsymbols recalling the Soviet past of the country, the BBC reports.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
BOMBING – A Kurdish militant group has claimed the bloody attack that
\noccurred on Sunday in the Turkish capital Ankara, which left 37 dead, according
\nto BBC News online. In a press release, the Kurdish group said the attack was
\nin retaliation for Turkish military operations in southeast Turkey, where the
\npopulation is predominantly Kurdish. The group is a PKK splinter, which also claimed
\nthe car bombing in February, which left 29 dead.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep was defeated on Thursday by
\nSerena Williams in the quarter finals of the WTA competition in Indian Wells,
\nwith 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
\nsets , 6-4, 6-3, against the WTA top player, who goes on to play against 3rd
\nranked Agnieszka Radwanska. Williams has won seven times against Halep, with
\nthe latter winning only one game against the American player.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":100004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-100899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n