VISIT <\/strong>Marcel Ciolacu, president of the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest
CULTURE<\/strong>
HANDBALL <\/strong>Romania’s handball champions, Dinamo
EARTHQUAKE<\/strong> A moderate
(bill&LS)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[35351,35169,29572,29027,30329,29645],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-106484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-ciolacu","tag-dinamo","tag-handball","tag-italy","tag-rome","tag-timisoara"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\non Friday said after the talks he had in Rome with the Italian Interior Minister
\nMatteo Piantedosi that Romania had wanted an updated strategic partnership with
\nItaly since 1997. The Romanian official underlined that this diplomatic binder
\nis also meant to help the community of 1.2 million Romanians, for whom Italy
\nhas become a second home. Ciolacu has extended thanks to the Italian official
\nwhom he described as one of the strongest voices in support of Romania’s
\nSchengen accession. On Thursday, the Romanian official held talks with the
\nmayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, about the staging of a bilateral economic
\nforum in the Italian capital. Ciolacu met his Italian counterpart, Lorenzo
\nFontana, in Rome also on Thursday. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe city of Timi\u015foara, in western Romania, has officially become for one year,
\nthe European Capital of Culture. Approximately 16,000 people are expected to
\nparticipate in the 130 events taking place this weekend, on the occasion of the
\nofficial opening of the program. The entire city will be animated by concerts,
\nexhibitions, street performances, theater plays, film screenings and workshops,
\nall under the slogan Shine your light – Light up your city!
\nMore than 100 Romanian and foreign officials, including about 40 ambassadors,
\nthe Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 and the European Commissioner Adina V\u0103lean
\nhave confirmed their participation in the opening gala at the Palace of Culture
\nin Timi\u0219oara. Moreover, Adina V\u0103lean will hand the local authorities the
\nMelina Mercouri award, worth 1.5 million Euros, which is awarded to
\ncities that have fulfilled their commitments in the European Capitals of
\nCulture program.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nBucharest on Thursday conceded an away defeat to French side Paris Saint
\nGermain. The French secured a 33-26 win in the 12th leg of the
\nChampions League. With 11 points, Dinamo has qualified for the competition’s
\nnext leg and is presently ranking fifth in a group dominated by PSG with 20
\npoints. The Romanians will be also playing Danish side GOG on February 23rd
\nand SC Magdeburg of Germany on March 2nd. Only the first two sides
\nin every group will qualify for the quarter finals, while the sides ranking
\nbetween the third and sixth positions will go into play-offs. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nearthquake, with a magnitude of 4.3 on the Richter scale, occurred on Friday in
\nGorj county (southwest Romania), at a depth of 15 kilometers, according to the
\ndata of the National Institute for Earth Physics. The intensity of the
\nearthquake was revised from 4.4 to 4.3 degrees, following the operator’s
\ncalculations. On Tuesday, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake occurred in Gorj county,
\nthe biggest ever produced in that area. The day before, the area was shaken by
\na 5.2 magnitude earthquake. On March 4, 1977, an earthquake with a magnitude of
\n7.2, the worst to hit Romania, resulted in the death of 1,570 people, most of
\nthem in Bucharest, and caused property damage estimated at over two billion
\ndollars at the time. The earthquake generated an economic and social crisis
\nthat, according to historians, the communist dictatorship of the time could not
\novercome until its collapse in 1989.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n