August 6, 2018

The procedure of selecting the new chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, resumed

Newsroom, 06.08.2018, 13:24

SELECTION – The Romanian Justice Ministry is today resuming the procedure of selecting the chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, which will last until September 6, when results are made public. Candidates can apply for this position until August 24. A similar procedure conducted in July ended in no result because all four candidacies were rejected by Justice Minister Tudorel Toader. The chief-prosecutor position became vacant last month, when president Klaus Iohannis revoked Laura Codruta Kovesi, thus complying with a Constitutional Court decision.

REACTION – The Embassy of the United States of America in Romania unequivocally condemns the recent vandalism carried out against the Elie Wiesel House in Sighet. “The statements denigrating Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, President Trump, and other world leaders represent a deplorable anti-Semitic attack and an egregious affront to the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. We call on all to denounce this act and speak up wherever and whenever there is an expression of hatred or prejudice. The Embassy encourages anyone with information about the crime to come forward to assist the Romanian authorities in their investigation,” the Embassy said in a release.

FESTIVAL – Untold, the biggest electronic music festival in Romania came to an end in the Transylvanian city of Cluj Napoca. The festivals ten different stages featured 250 acts over the course of four days. The main stage was twice as big as last year, measuring 80 metres in length and 31 metres in height. The line-up included acts such as The Chainsmokers, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Tujamo and Afrojack. For the first time, the concerts were broadcast live on YouTube. Over 350,000 people attended the festival.

LABOUR – More than 55% of Romanians plan to work abroad, according to the most recent study conducted internationally by one of the most important Romanian online recruitment companies and the world’s biggest business consultant. Most of Romanians who want to work abroad are aged below 30 and have a university diploma. The countries where they would like to work are Germany, the UK, France, Switzerland, the US, Canada, Austria, Spain, Belgium and Italy. At the same time, Romania is among the top five countries preferred by respondents from Israel, South Korea, Italy, Turkey, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Norway, Greece or Quatar. Among the reasons why they would like to work abroad, Romanians mention a better living standard, political instability in Romania, access to better government and social services and better job opportunities.

FILM FESTIVAL – Sfantu Gheorghe, a village in the Danube Delta, hosts as of today the 15th edition of the “Anonimul” Independent International Film Festival. Three Faces, the most recent film by the Iranian director Jafar Panahi, that won the award for best script at this year’s edition of the Cannes Film festival, opens the event. As many as 6 Romanian and foreign feature films have been selected in the official competition, as well as 26 shorts. Also presented will be films awarded at international competitions this year, followed by Q&A sessions with the production teams, public debates with film producers, critics and special guests.

BIDFF – The fourth edition of Bucharest International Dance Film Festival starts today in Romanian’s capital city. This years festival theme is [re] tracing, “paying attention to the leftovers the time has carved through the lives of individuals and communities. Intimate personal stories, different means of archiving collective memories and speculations of a future life, can provide a context of [re] positioning of the one against the many, willingly altering the so called general accepted truth. ” For four days, at the same time with the two competition programmes, the festival will enjoy the presence of two international specialists who will coordinate the dance film development lab. They are Guy Cools and Helena Jonsdottir.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzarnescu on Sunday won the first WTA title of her career, after defeating Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-1, 6-0 in the finals of the tournament hosted by San Jose, totaling 800 thousand dollars in prize money. Aged 30, Mihaela Buzarnescu now ranks in the WTA top 20. Mihaela Buzarnescu has had an amazing run lately, considering in early 2017 she was ranked 540 in world standings, while nearly a year ago she was ranked 139. Buzarnescu will next compete in the Montreal tournament, that is starting today, and that enjoys the presence of another five Romanians, namely, Simona Halep, Irina Begu, Sorana Carstea, Monica Niculescu and Ana Bogdan.