May 5, 2017
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 05.05.2017, 13:00
PAPAL VISIT The Roman-Catholic Archbishop of Bucharest, Ioan Robu, has stated that it’s almost certain that Pope Francis will pay a visit to Romania next year. He is to attend the beatification of seven Greek-Catholic bishops, martyrs who lost their lives during the communist regime. Ioan Robu has said that the Pope was invited to Romania by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, by the Presidency and Patriarchy. In May 1999, Pope John Paul 2nd was the first Sovereign Pontiff to visit a predominantly orthodox country after the Grand Schism of 1054.
ORGANIZED CRIME Four managers with the National Freight Railways Corporation, among whom the former general manager Mihut Craciun, have been placed in temporary police custody for their involvement in the under appraisal of freight cars intended for scrapping. Another six indictees were placed under house arrest, and nine are subject to judicial restrictions pending trial. The indictees are accused of having set up an organized crime group, of aggravated embezzlement, forgery and fraud. Investigators say that, in 2016, they allegedly under-appraised some 2,500 freight cars to sell them to the commodity exchange. As a result, the corporation incurred losses of over 6.3 million Euros.
FRONTEX COOPERATION Romanian border police staff have returned home after a four-month international operation carried out in the Aegean Sea, under the aegis of FRONTEX. The 23 Romanian police officers carried out 100 missions and saved, individually and in cooperation with staff of other vessels owned by EU member countries, 704 migrants sailing on inflatable boats in the Aegean Sea. As part of Romanias commitment to the European efforts to manage the inflow of migrants from Greece, the Romanian border police posted in the FRONTEX operational area in Greece, between April 28th – September 3rd, another surveillance ship, with a crew made up of 27 border police staff.
FRENCH ELECTION The election campaign for the French presidential office ends today, against a tense background. The centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron has filed a complaint with the court after his contender, the nationalist Marine Le Pen, hinted at an off-shore account allegedly held by Macron. In another development, Macron has consolidated his position as favorite in Sundays presidential election. According to several polls, he has managed to draw on his side half of the far-right electorate, which accounted for 20% of the votes in the first round of elections. According to the Radio Romania correspondent, the second round, dubbed by the French media as historic and unique, will bring not only a winner, but many dilemmas on the political scene. As in June legislative elections will be held in France, the main question is with what kind of government will the next president run the country.
OBAMACARE The US House of Representatives endorsed on Thursday night a bill abrogating several provisions of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, Reuters reports. Thanks to the act, which is a healthcare reform law that expands and improves access to care and curbs spending through regulations and taxes, promoted by the former Democratic president Barack Obama, more than 20 million Americans previously excluded from the system benefited from health insurance. No member of the democratic opposition voted on the part of the Republican majority, Reuters also reports. The new bill is to be debated and voted in the Senate, where there are divergences among the republicans themselves. Annulling Obamacare was one of Donald Trumps biggest electoral promises.
HANDBALL The Romanian national mens handball team was defeated on Thursday by Serbia, 23-22, on home turf, in Baia Mare, north-western Romania, in Group 2 of the EURO 2018 preliminaries. The Romanian squad lost after a goal scored by their opponents just before the final whistle. The return game will be held in Serbia on May 7th. In Group 2, the first three places are held by Belarus, Serbia and Romania, with 4 points each, followed by Poland. The first two best-ranking teams and the best third in the seven groups will qualify for the final tour in Croatia, scheduled for January 2018.
