October 24, 2013
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 24.10.2013, 13:53
US President Barack Obaba will today call on the House of Representatives to adopt the immigration reform act, which, according to the President, will benefit the entire country. Obana has tackled the issue again after the shutdown that paralised the US early this month. The immigration reform act was passed by the Senate on June 7th, but it has to be also endorsed by the House of Representatives, where the majority is held by Republicans, who do not agree with some provisions. In another move, during his recent visit to the US, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta talked in Washington with US congress people about Romania’s joining the Visa Waver program. He was assured that US officials belive Romania should benefit from the legislative changes regarding immigration. More on this after the news.
Romania’s President Traian Basescu is attending in Brussels, for two days, the autumn proceedings of the European Council. According to the head of state, the agenda of talks is dominated by economic matters , digital economy in particular. The European Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso has stated that the EU needs a strong digital sector, which should favour the development of the other economic fields. The agenda of talks also includes social issues in the EU, focusing in particular on means of curbing youth unemployment and the functioning of the Banking Supervisory Authority.
Ion Ficior, the former commander of the political detainee camp in Periprava, eastern Romania, between 1960-1963, was indicted for genocide. According to the Institution for the Investigation of Communist Crimes, Ficior implemented in the Periprava camp an abusive detention regime, targeted against political detainees. He is accused that his actions caused the death of over 100 people. Ion Ficior comes second on a list of 35 people, termed by the institute as tormentors.
According to official data made public by the National Statistics Institute based in Madrid, the unemployment rate in Spain dropped to 25.98% in the third quarter of 2013, when the fourth raking economy in the Eurozone managed to escape recession. Between June — August 2013, the number of the unemployed dropped by 72 thousand 8 hundred, reaching 5.9 million. In the third quarter Spain managed to get out of a 2-year recession, strengthening Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s efforts to fix public finances and reduce the record level of unemployment in that country.
The former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was brought to justice in another case of corruption. He is accused of having offered money to a left-wing senator, in exchange for him changing his vote, a decision that would have favoured the fall of Romano Prodi’s government in 2008. Silvio Berlusconi has already been sentenced to four years in prison in another case of corruption and is also tried for influence peddling, abuse of power and intimate relations with an underage prostitute. However, the eccentric right wing politician has managed to remain on the Italian political stage and has promised to continue to be the leader of the Forza Italia party.
Over 200 writers, translators, literary critics and journalists, librarians, fair promoters and heads of cultural institutions from 17 countries are attending in Iasi, north-eastern Romania, the first International Literature and Translation Festival. The event will host public readings, meetings between writers and students, round tables and debates, exhibitions, concerts and a book fair. The opening gala will be held this evening, and the festival will close its gates on Sunday.
The Romanian football squad Pandurii Targu Jiu is today meeting away from home the Italian side AC Fiorentina, in the third leg of Europa League’s Group E. After two games, Pandurii only have one point. Playing in the same group are the Portuquise squad Pacos Fereira and the Ukranian team Dniepr Dniepropetrovsk. Romania’s football champion Steaua Bucharest also has just one point, scored on Tuesday night in the match against the Swiss die FC Basel in the Champions’ League groups.
