FILM Romanian director Radu
\nCiorniciuc’s film ‘Acasa, My Home’ reaped the Special Jury Award for
\nCinematography at the Sundance Film Festival in the USA. According to the
\norganizers, the prize went to Mircea Topoleanu and Radu Ciorniciuc for their
\n‘fluid and tenacious camerawork’. The film was one of the 12 titles selected
\nout of 14 thousand productions from the world over vying for a prize in the
\nfamous independent film festival. Ciorniciuc’s film introduces viewers to the
\nbiggest urban delta in Europe, the Vacaresti Nature Park in Romania’s capital
\nBucharest, through the eyes of a gypsy family living in the middle of the
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VIRUS Thai doctors have obtained positive results in treating severe
\ncases of coronavirus infection in China by combining flu and HIV medication.
\nAccording to them, the patient’s condition improved 48 hours after the
\nbeginning of treatment including in the case of a 70 year old woman living in
\nWuhan where the virus emerged. Authorities in Beijing on Sunday announced the
\ndeath toll exceeded 300 and the army would be deploying 14 hundred of its medical personnel
\nto help contain the spreading and treat patients in the newly built hospital in
\nthe province of Hubei. The number of contaminated people has reached 14,400
\nmost of them living in the province where the virus emerged, which has now been
\nreported in over 20 other countries including in Europe. South Korea, the
\nUnited States and Australia have announced they may bar access to their
\nterritories to all travelers from China, in a temporary bid to limit the spreading
\nof the virus. No victims have been reported in Romania so far but last week,
\nthe new coronavirus was declared a global emergency by the World Health
\nOrganisation who specified though that there was no reason to limit trade or
\ntravel to China. <\/p>\n
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MEETING Romania’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban attended the Friends of
\nCohesion meeting in Portugal, an event that brought together heads of state and
\ngovernment and ministers from its members as well as commissioners in charge of
\nbudget issues and cohesion policy. In his address during the meeting, the
\nRomanian official highlighted the importance of adopting an ambitious budget
\ncapable of offering the union the necessary resources for meeting the
\nobjectives on its strategic agenda. The budget must also be realistic in terms
\nof ensuring a balance between the growth objectives it has to meet and the
\nresponse to Europe’s new challenges. Orban also reiterated Romania’s support
\nfor reaching as soon as possible a political agreement on the future European
\nbudget, which must allow for the commencement of the next EU-funded programmes
\nand projects in due time. The participants have signed a joint statement pledging
\nto leave unaltered the EU funds destined to Europe’s less developed regions. <\/p>\n
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MOTION The censure motion against the Liberal government in
\nBucharest tabled by the opposition PSD will be presented to Parliament on
\nMonday. The Social Democrats’ move was decided after the Executive led by
\nLudovic Orban had assumed responsibility for a project on reintroducing the
\ntwo-round election of mayors, almost half a year before the event. According to
\nthe Social Democrats, the present government must step down for its decision to
\namend the election law right before the event, which runs against European
\nstandards and also for endorsing the new amendments unilaterally without talks
\nand debates over the project. According to the president of the Chamber of
\nDeputies and PSD interim leader Marcel Ciolacu, ‘we are currently facing the
\nseverest crisis of abuse of power’. The Liberals, however, argue that the new
\nsystem of voting will increase the candidates’ representation and legitimacy.
\nThe Social Democrats say the motion could get endorsed by 233 MPs standing
\nchances to clear the threshold. Prime Minister Orban says he is ready for any
\nresult and that his objectives are to ensure a stable governance and win the
\nfuture local and parliament election. <\/p>\n
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BREXIT EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier is expected to make public on
\nMonday his negotiation plan for the future relations the bloc is going to have
\nwith the UK. The Europeans have pledged fair but firm negotiations. None of the
\n73 British MEPs elected last year in May will be allowed to participate in
\nParliament works beginning on Monday. 46 mandates have been reserved for the
\nEU’s future members, while 27 will be distributed among the other members. Nor
\nwill British citizens be allowed to serve in other EU official jobs and some of
\nthem have applied for double citizenship to keep their jobs. The UK left the
\nEuropean Union on Friday night after 47 years of membership being the first
\nmember to leave the bloc since its foundation. Romanian president Klaus
\nIohannis has voiced Romania’s regret over Britain’s decision to leave the bloc
\nbut he hopes the country will remain a close partner and a trustworthy ally
\nsharing the same values. Bucharest has as its key priority the protection of
\nlegitimate rights and interests of the Romanian citizens working or studying in
\nthe UK, Iohannis has also added. <\/p>\n
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(translated by bill)<\/p>\n
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