April 9, 2023

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 09.04.2023, 14:00

Easter. 1.3 billion Catholic and Protestant Christians from around the world are
celebrating Easter. Tens of thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square for
the pope’s Easter mass. In his Urbi et Orbi message, Pope Francis said he was worried about the violence in the
Middle East which he said is a threat to the dialogue between the Israelis and
the Palestinians. In his Easter message, he also urged Russians to seek the
truth about their country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Palm
Sunday. Romania’s majority Orthodox Christians as well as its Greek Catholic
community are today celebrating Palm Sunday, which is about Christ’s triumphal
entry into Jerusalem before being crucified. On the eve of the holiday,
Orthodox Christians took part in processions held around the country. The head
of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Daniel, said the Palm Sunday
pilgrimage paves the way for the holy Easter and the confession of Christ, the
conqueror of death. The faithful who attended the Palm Sunday service received
blessed willow tree branches.

Middle
East. Israel said it carried out air strikes in response to the missiles fired at
the Golan Heights, targeting radar and artillery positions, the BBC reports.
Six missiles were launched on Saturday night from Syria at the Golan Heights.
Not all reached the territory controlled by Israel, and those that did were
intercepted or landed in open areas. Israel immediately responded with
artillery fire and striking Syrian military targets. Explosions near Damascus
were reported in Syria, and the images broadcast by the state television cause
fear of risk of tensions escalating in the region.

Nuremberg.
Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor at the Nazi trials in Nuremberg
passed away aged 103. Born into a Jewish family who emigrated from Maramureş,
in north-western Romania, to the United States, Benjamin Ferencz studied law at
Harvard and, during WWII, gathered evidence of Nazi war crimes. When the war
ended, he was recruited to work as one of the prosecutors in the Nuremberg
trials, where he investigated and prosecuted cases against members of the SS
death squads.

Swimming.
Romanian swimmer David Popovici qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as
his time in the 100 m freestyle at Saturday’s National Championships were
within the Olympic standard. Popovici holds both the world title and the world
record in this event, as well as the European title. Last year, the Swimming
World magazine named him the swimmer of the year. Popovici is the second
Romanian athlete to qualify for the Paris Games after the Kenyan-born runner Delvine
Relin Meringor, thanks to her time in
the Barcelona marathon in March.

Handball.
The Romanian women’s handball side are one step closer to qualifying for the
World Championship after defeating Portugal 35-20 on Saturday in Piteşti in the
first play-off leg. The second leg will take place on 21st April in
Paredes, in Portugal. The final tournament will be hosted jointly by Denmark,
Norway and Sweden between the 20th November and the 17th
December this year. Romania are the only side to take part in all editions of
the World Championship. (CM)