March 29, 2016

Egyptian plane hijacked and forced to land in Larnaca / Aferim wins GOPO Awards for Romanian film

Elena Enache, 29.03.2016, 12:00

HIJACKED PLANE – An EgyptAir plane on a flight between Alexandria and Cairo was hijacked and forced to land in Larnaca, Cyprus. The hijacker is an Egyptian citizen, a professor at the University of Alexandria. Civil aviation authorities have announced that, following negotiations, the hijacker released all the people onboard except for four foreign passengers and the crew. About 60 people, including seven crew, had been onboard the Airbus 320. The airport in Larnaca has been closed and flights redirected to the one in Paphos, in western Cyprus.

COLECTIV – State Secretary with the Interior Ministry, Raed Arafat, said he was considering resignation but only if Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos asked it. On Monday, Arafat took part in a meeting with the PM’s Control Body to give explanations for irregularities found in how the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU), which he coordinates, acted in the case of the Colectiv nightclub fire that killed 64 people. One of the conclusions of the meeting was that the report of the Control Body needed to be reviewed, as it included ungrounded and unacceptable statements regarding the DSU’s activity.

CONFLICT– Turkish security forces have killed over 5,300 militants belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) since its ceasefire with the Turkish state collapsed in July 2015, Anadolu news agency quoted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying. According to President Erdogan, 350 state security forces had been killed in the past nine months alone. PKK suspended the ceasefire agreement with Turkey after the brutal intervention of state security forces in reaction to a series of attacks. Pundits say Erdogan has been using the war against the IS terrorist group to suppress Kurds. The Kurdish population in southeast Turkey and northern Syria, Iraq and Iran wants to form an autonomous state, Kurdistan. Over the past four decades, the conflict between PKK and Turkish security forces has made around 40,000 victims.

BUDGET – Romania’s National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) collected 43.7 billion euros last year, by 7.8% more than in 2014, according to the institution’s report made public today. According to the document, the revenues to the state budget accounted for 27.9% of the GDP, 0.5% more than in 2014. At the same time, VAT collection went up by 12% while the collection of the tax on profit also increased, by 13%.

FILM – Radu Jude’s feature film “Aferim!” is the winner of the 10th edition of the Gopo Awards Gala held on Monday evening in Bucharest. The film won all 12 categories in which it was nominated, including best film, best director and best lead actor. Teodor Corban ( “Aferim!”) and Ioana Flora (“Back Home”) won the award for best actors in a lead role. Actor Nicolae Constantin won the award for Debut for his performance in the feature film “The World is Mine” while actor Florin Piersic won the award for his entire artistic career.

TENNIS – Romania’s best tennis player Simona Halep, No. 5 in the world, is today playing against Timea Bacsinszky (20 WTA) of Switzerland in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, with 6 million dollars in prize money. In the fourth round, Halep defeated British Heather Watson, 6-3, 6-4. In the same round, another Romanian, Irina Begu (35WTA), was defeated by American Madison Keys (24 WTA), while Monica Niculescu (33 WTA) lost to Johanna Konta (23 WTA). On the other hand, in the fourth round, Niculescu and Russian Margarita Gasparian defeated in two sets 6-4, 6-2, Martina Hingis (Elvetia) and Sania Mirza (India), the competition’s favourites in women’s doubles.

(Translated by Elena Enache)