April 6, 2018

Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers observe Good Friday, the day when Jesus was crucified

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Newsroom, 06.04.2018, 13:46

GOOD FRIDAY– The most important events in Christianity are the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whose life and teachings are the foundation of Christianity. Today, Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers the world over, including Romania, a mostly Orthodox country, are marking Good Friday. Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. This is a day of mourning in church, a day when Christians meditate on Jesus suffering and death on the cross.

SECURITY MEASURES – Over 50,000 employees of the Romanian Interior Ministry have been mobilised to maintain public order, safety and security across the country at Easter. Gendarme and police troops will be chiefly deployed around churches and other religious institutions. 250 thousand people are expected to attend more than 700 public events that will take place in Romania in the next four days. Traffic police, equipped with more than 300 traffic radars and backed by helicopters, will be monitoring traffic on Romania’s motorways at Easter.

ROMANIAN ACADEMY – Historian Ioan-Aurel Pop, the rector of the Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (north-western Romania) was elected president of the Romanian Academy. He received 86 of the 148 votes that were cast during the General Assembly of the Romanian Academy. The newly elected president, who will have a four-year term in office, will take over the position 15 days since his election. The elections for four positions of vice-president and one of secretary general will be held on April the 20th. The former president of the Romanian Academy, Ionel Valentin Vlad, passed away in December 2017.

MARCH – The “Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi” Institute for the Romanians abroad, an institution subordinated to the Ministry for the Romanians Abroad jointly with the Lauder-Reut Educational Complex will be staging a March of Holocaust survivors dubbed “Let’s learn together’, in Poland, over April 9-13. The event, which has an educational character and is aimed at teaching students a dramatic episode in history, involves the participation of young people from 52 countries. The Romanian delegation includes students from Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

POISONING – A Russian military research base has been identified as the source of the nerve agent used for the poisoning in Salisbury, The Times newspaper reported. The source of the military-grade poison was revealed in a British intelligence briefing for its allies, and was used to persuade world leaders that Russia was responsible for the attack. Britain blames Russia for the poisoning on UK soil of the former double agent and his daughter with what it says was a Soviet-made military-grade nerve agent, something that Kremlin denies. More than 150 Russian diplomats from 28 countries, Romania included, have been expelled. Russia has also retaliated by expelling Western diplomats.

CONVICTION – South Koreas former President Park Geun-hye has been sentenced to 24 years in jail after she was found guilty of abuse of power and coercion, the BBC reports. The verdict was broadcast live and represents the culmination of a scandal which rocked the country, fuelling rage against political and business elites. Park was also fined 17 million dollars. She was found guilty of 16 out of 18 charges, most of which related to bribery and coercion. The former South Korean president has previously accused the courts of being biased against her has denied all wrongdoing.

HANDBALL – The Romanian women’s handball team CSM Bucharest are today meeting on home soil the French team Metz, in the first round of the Champions League quarter finals. In the three other matches, the defending champion, Gyor of Hungary will meet Buducnost Podgorica of Montenegro, FC Midtjylland of Denmark will face Vardar Skopje of Macedonia, and Ferencvaros Budapest of Hungary will take on Rostov-Don of Russia. The winners will qualify for the Final Four tournament. We recall that CSM Bucharest won the Champions League in 2016. (Translated by Elena Enache)