17 May, 2018
Christian Orthodox Romanians celebrate Ascension; Romanian tennis star Simona Halep qualifies to the quarter finals in Rome
Corina Cristea, 17.05.2018, 13:59
BUCHAREST — Orthodox Christians in Romania celebrate the Lords Ascension, alongside Greek Orthodox faithful. Since 1920, Romania also celebrates its military heroes on this day. Special masses are held in churches and at military monuments. On this occasion, Defense Minister Mihai Fifor issued a message emphasizing that modern Romania has been built due to the sacrifice of heroes. PM Viorica Dancinla expressed her gratitude for the heroes who sacrificed their lives to defend the freedom, integrity, and dignity of the Romanian people.
SOFIA — Connectivity in in infrastructure and digital networks is among the topics under discussion today in Sofia, in the EU- West Balkan summit, where Romania is represented by President Klaus Iohannis. In the first meeting in the summit, he will speak on the importance of projects involving connectivity, aimed at increasing convergence between the EU and the West Balkans. In the second session, involving common challenges, Klaus Iohannis will emphasize the importance of neighborhood, especially in terms of national security and regional stability. The head of state will plead for more attention being paid to the rule of law and the fight against corruption, in order to increase investment in education as a means to achieve security.
BUCHAREST — Famous Romanian theater and film director Lucian Pintilie died on Wednesday night while hospitalized in Bucharest. The 84 year-old artist created, alongside the late famous director Liviu Ciulei, one of the most important theaters in Bucharest, Bulandra Theater. He is known for having staged and put on film masterpieces of Romanian and world literature, some of which fell victim to communist censorship. He moved to France in 1973, but continued to make movies in Romania starting in 1979.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis star Simona Halep, number one in the world, qualified to the quarter finals of the WTA tournament in Rome, with prize money totalling 2.7 million Euro, after American player Madison Keys, 14th seeded, retreated due to an accident. The Romanian player qualifies for the second year in a row. At the same time, Haleps main adversary, Garbine Muguruza, 3rd seeded, was eliminated in the second round by Australian Daria Gavrilova, 24th seeded.
BUCHAREST — The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Bucharest has issued its final ruling in the motion filed by a civic organization to seize the assets of people prosecuted in the case of the miners raids of June 13th 1990. The case was filed against former president Ion Iliescu, former Prime Minister Petre Roman, and former head of national intelligence Virgil Magureanu, who stand accused of crimes against humanity for their role in the raids meant to repress protests against the newly instituted state power after the fall of communism in 1989. The then president Ion Iliescu claimed that the extreme right would stage a coup, and called in crowds of miners, whose incursion left hundreds injured and resulted in over one thousand unlawful arrests.
FACEBOOK — Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, said he would speak in Brussels to the European Parliament about privacy issues. He will be speaking on the illegal use of personal data from 87 million users by Cambridge Analytica. In April, Zuckerberg testified in the US Senate at length on the same issue.
