August 14, 2016 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 14.08.2016, 12:15

ROYAL FUNERAL Queen Anne, the
consort of Romania’s last sovereign Michael I, was buried on Saturday in Curtea
de Arges, southern Romania, the necropolis of Romanian Royalty. A burial
service was celebrated in the Orthodox rite, the faith of the Romanian Royal
House and of most Romanians. Among those attending the funeral were Romanian
high officials as well as members of the Imperial Families of Russia, Austria
and Germany, of the Royal Houses of the Netherlands and Belgium, of Luxembourg,
Baden, Württemberg and Bourbon-Parma. Aged 94, and himself severely ill, King
Michael could not attend the funeral of his wife, whom he visited every day in
the Swiss hospital where she died on August 1.

FDI Foreign
direct investments in Romania reached 2 billion Euros at the end of the first
semester, up by 22.7% as compared to the same period last year, the National
Bank has recently announced. On the other hand, the number of foreign capital
companies newly established in the first six months of 2016 dropped by 12%. According
to data provided by the National Statistics Institute, there are only 2,687
such companies now.

NAVY DAY
Sunday was open gates day in the Danube ports of Braila and Tulcea, on the
eve of Romanian Navy’s Day, which for
115 years has been celebrated on August 15th. August 15th is also
the day when Christian believers celebrate the Assumption of Virgin Mary.
Several events have been organized to mark the day, such as interactive
workshops, a technique and armament exhibition, brass brand shows and open air
concerts, contests and tours of navy ships. Military and religions
ceremonies were held in garrisons, in memory of the navy heroes who died in
battle.

ANONIMUL The Land of the
Enlightened by Pieter-Jan De Pue won the big trophy of the 13th ‘Anonimul’
International Independent Film Festival. The event, which ended on Saturday
night, was held in Sfantu Gheorghe in the Danube Delta for a week. The Land of
the Enlightened, a Belgium-Ireland-Netherlands-Germany- Afghanistan co-production
tells the story of a group of Afghan children from the Kuchi tribe, who dig for
old Soviet mines and sell the explosive materials to other children. The
audience’s award for best Romanian short reel went to One Night in Tokoriki
by Roxana Stroe. The special guest of the 2016 edition was director Park
Chan-wook, who got the ‘Anonimul’ Trophy for his contribution to enriching
world cinematography.

SUMMER UNIVERSITY The 14th
Summer University in Izvorul Muresului, Harghita County, is taking place over August
15th – 21st. The theme of this year’s edition is The
Romanian State and the Romanians on the Borders of the EU and NATO. There are
over 100 participants, including representatives of the academic environment,
of the main political parties in Romania, of various Romanian community
associations and foundations.

ATTACK A woman who was in
a serious condition, following Saturday’s attack on a passenger train in
north-eastern Switzerland, has died. The attacker has died too, because of the
many injuries he sustained. Another three people are in a critical
condition. A 27 year old Swiss citizen
set a train car on fire and attacked passengers with a knife, near the Salez
station in Saint-Gall. The police have stated that there are no indications
that the attack was terrorist or politically motivated. In the past few months,
Europe has been faced with several attacks, many of which claimed by the
Islamic State terrorist organization.

TENNIS Between the 15th
and the 21st of August,
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, ranked 3rd in the WTA
classification, will play at the Cincinnati tournament in the US, with 2.8
million dollars in prize money. She goes straight into the second round.
Another Romanian player, Irina Begu, number 24 in the WTA rankings, will also
take part in the tournament, but she will start in the first round. In 2015,
Simona Halep played the final in Cincinnati, but she was defeated by Serena
Williams. This tournament is the last before the famous US Open, which is the
last grand slam competition of the year.