\n
<\/p>\n
VISIT – As of
\ntoday, Pope Francis is on a visit to Bulgaria, where he will meet diplomats and
\nrepresentatives of civil society and of various religious denominations,
\nincluding Patriarch Neofit. In the capital Sofia, the Pope will pray alongside
\nbelievers and will visit a refugee camp nearby. The Bulgarian Prime Minister
\nBoiko Borisov has stated that the visit of the Sovereign Pontiff is an example
\nof religious tolerance. The next leg of the Pope’s tour will be North
\nMacedonia. In Skopje he will hold a mass near the monument of the most famous
\ninhabitant of the city, Mother Theresa. The BBC reports that the
\nRoman-Catholics account for less than 1% of the populations of the two
\ncountries, where predominant is the Orthodox belief. The Pope has made
\nsignificant efforts to improve the relations between the Eastern and Western Christian
\nchurches. We recall that over May 31st – June 2nd, Pope
\nFrancis will travel to Romania, which is also a predominantly Orthodox country.
\nIt will be the second visit to Romania by a Sovereign Pontiff, after the one of
\nJohn Paul II, some twenty years ago. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
BUSINESS – In the
\nfirst quarter of 2019, the number of foreign ownership companies newly set up
\nin Romania grew by 9% as compared to the same period last year, going up to
\n1500, according to data provided by the National Trade Registry Office in
\nBucharest. On March 31st, 2019, there were some 223,000 such
\ncompanies in Romania. Most of them, approximately 48,000 are Italian, but the
\nhighest value of the capital – 13 billion dollars – is that of the Dutch companies. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
EUROPE
\nDAY – Europe Day is celebrated in Rome by means of a concert to be given this
\nevening by the Romanian Youth Orchestra, at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, under
\nthe baton of Rafael Butnaru. The programme will include pieces by Puccini,
\nVivaldi, Mozart, Corelli, Enescu and Bartok. The event is held against the
\nbackground of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU and was
\norganized by the Romanian Embassy in Italy, the European Commission Representation
\nin Italy and Accademia di Romania in Rome. Europe Day has also been marked in
\nParis, with exhibitions, concerts, debates, film screenings and culinary
\nworkshops. Romania is a guest of honour, alongside Finland, the country that
\nwill take over the presidency in July. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
MIRCEA
\n– The training ship ‘Mircea’, described by the Romanian Naval Forces as
\nRomania’s oldest maritime ambassador, has set sail for an international
\ntraining march, marking 80 years of active service. For a period of three
\nmonths, the vessel will sail across the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the
\nAegean and the Mediterranean, as well as the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea.
\nThe crew will be joined by cadets from naval academies in Albania, Bulgaria,
\nChina, France, Poland, Portugal, Turkey and Ukraine. The march was planned as a
\nmemento due to end in the port of Hamburg, Germany, where the ship was built.
\nThe name of the ship is that of ruler Mircea cel Batran (‘Michael the old’),
\nwho ruled Wallachia six centuries ago and under whose reign domestic navigation
\nand sea trade developed significantly. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
STRIKES
\n– The Israeli army have strengthened their presence along the border with Gaza,
\nafter reporting that more than 450 missiles had been fired against southern
\nIsrael by the Palestinian radical groups Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in just
\ntwo days. According to an army spokesperson, armoured vehicles are ready for a
\nground operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that he ordered
\nthe continuation of air strikes, in response to Palestinians’ attacks. Reuters
\nreports that a missile fired from Gaza has killed an Israeli civilian. Victims among
\nthe Palestinian militants have also been reported. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Simona
\nHalep, no.3 in the WTA rankings and 3rd seed is today playing against the
\nRussian Margarita Gasparyan (65 WTA) in the first round of the Madrid Open,
\nwith 7 million Euros in prize money. Halep won the Madrid trophy in 2016 and in
\n2017. Last year she left the tournament in the quarter finals. Also today, the
\nRomanian Sorana Cirstea (93 WTA) is playing against the American Madison Keys
\n(14 WTA) and Mihaela Buzarnescu (29 WTA) is taking on the Croat Ajla Tomljanovic
\n(43 WTA). On Saturday, another Romania, Irina Begu, was defeated in the inaugural
\nround by Iulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
WEATHER – Severe
\nweather is expected to hit Romania starting Sunday until Wednesday morning.
\nHeavy rain, powerful winds and hail storms are expected over extended areas.
\nThe weather will get significantly colder and it will snow in the mountain
\nareas. Water quantities will exceed 25 litres per square meters in many areas,
\nand will reach as much as 60 litres in some parts of the country.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":75903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-103498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n