September 26, 2013
For a round-up of domestic and international news, click here.
Mihai Pelin, 26.09.2013, 12:06
The international classical music festival George Enescu is under way in Bucharest with the National Opera today performing Enescu’s masterpiece Oedipus, under the baton of Adrian Morar. Violinist Silvia Marcovici will step on the stage to join famous pianist Evgheny Kissin and cellist Alexander Kniazev, both from Russia, for a special recital. The national Russian orchestra will also be performing at the Palace Hall under the baton of Horia Andreescu.
In New York, the world’s great powers have made significant headway towards the endorsement of a UN resolution on the dismantling of Syria’s chemical arsenal. The UN weapons inspectors have again arrived in Syria to complete their investigation over the chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus, which the West has blamed on the government troops. Clashes continued between the government soldiers, backed by the Lebanon-based Shia movement Hizballah and the rebels, a conflict that has claimed over 110 thousand lives in the past two years and a half.
In New York, the world’s great powers have made significant headway towards the endorsement of a UN resolution on the dismantling of Syria’s chemical arsenal. The UN weapons inspectors have again arrived in Syria to complete their investigation over the chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus, which the West has blamed on the government troops. Clashes continued between the government soldiers, backed by the Lebanon-based Shia movement Hizballah and the rebels, a conflict that has claimed over 110 thousand lives in the past two years and a half.
For the second time this year Romania is guest of honour at a prestigious bookfair after the one in Paris in spring. Mircea Cartarescu, one of the best known and most translated Romanian writers has today inaugurated the Book Fair in Gothenburg, Sweden. Being present at this prestigious bookfair is an honour for the Romanian writers, Cartarescu said. Leading names of the Romanian literature will be attending the fair, which will also host an exhibition with the best Romanian books published in the past two years. The event includes seminars on various topical issues in the Romanian literature and culture. The Gothenburg book fair brings together around 100 thousand visitors every year.
The draft law on mining gold in Rosia Montana, central Romania is important and provided the environment is protected, Romania should support this project and capitalize on its natural resources, Prime Minister Victor Ponta said. Ponta went on to say that if Parliament turned down the bill, that shouldn’t be a big issue for the country’s economy. But if the message Bucharest is conveying is that politicians are against foreign investors, that could be seen as a catastrophe for Romania, the Prime Minister said. In another development the special Parliament committeee for Rosia Montana is carrying on its inquiry in Bucharest. The project, which allows a Canadian company to begin a cyanide-based exploitation of gold and silver deposits in Rosia Montana has sparked off mass-protests in Romania. Conservationists are warning against the negative effects the exploitation might have on the environment, whereas supporters see the project as a solution to the region’s economic and social problems.
The European Commission’s decision to lift all barriers on wine imports from the Republic of Moldova has been a political sign of support in the difficult period the country is passing through, European commissioner for agriculture Dacian Ciolos told a conference on agriculture staged by Mediafax news agency in Bucharest on Thursday. Ciolos has underlined the decision recently adopted by the European Commission comes as a facility for the wine industry in the Republic of Moldova and as an opportunity for Romania. We recall that Russia has recently ceased wine imports from Moldova.
