January 6, 2015 UPDATE
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Roxana Vasile, 06.01.2015, 19:50
Orthodox believers, Romania’s largest religious denomination, on Wednesday are celebrating John the Baptist, the one who baptized Jesus Christ in Jordan River introducing him as the long expected Messiah. Almost 2 million Romanians are celebrating their name day on January 7th, St. John’s Day, which also marks the end of winter holidays and festivities dedicated to the birth of Christ in Romania. The Orthodox Old Ritualists, mainly Ukrainians, Russians, Armenians and Serbians living in Romania, are still observing the Julian calendar, celebrating Christmas 13 days later than the rest of the Orthodox world. The schism took place in early 20th century when the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople decided to shift from the Julian calendar to the Western calendar.
As of Tuesday the Higher Council of Magistrates in Romania, HCM, has a new board: judge Marius Tudose is the Council’s new president, while prosecutor Bogdan Gabor has become the vicepresident. Marius Tudose, 42, has voiced his intention to raise the effectiveness and quality of Romania’s legal system. Tudose has been a magistrate for 20 years and an HCM member since 2011. The HCM session was presided in its first part by Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis who referred to the need of keeping justice independent and competent with honest judges and prosecutors. The head of state has urged the magistrates not to let themselves intimidated and do their duty, assuring them they will benefit from his full support. According to president Iohannis, major progress has been made in recent years, allowing him to ask for a correct assessment from the European Commission and for lifting its control of the Romanian legal system.
The appropriate funding of Romania’s Armed Forces, an idea promoted by the country’s president Klaus Iohannis, is correct and has to be assumed on the basis of a cross-party agreement, Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Tuesday. President Iohannis announced he would start talks with Parliament parties to ensure a 2% GDP threshold for the country’s national defence and keep this objective for at least 10 years. The President and the Prime Minister have made statements on the swearing-in ceremony of the new chief of staff, lieutenant-general Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca, who has replaced general Stefan Danila, whose term in office ended on January 1st. Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca is part of a group called the Desert Generals and he commanded the first Romanian battalion deployed to Afghanistan back in 2002.
One suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, viewed as the worst terrorist attack on US territory since 9/11, was brought to court yesterday. The trial is to begin on January the 26th and last for 4 months at most. The suspect, the ethnic Chechen Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is accused of having carried out the twin bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260 near the finish line of the race on April 15, 2013, together with his brother, who was killed by police after the attack. Tsarnaev faces the death sentence if found guilty.
