May 7, 2023 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 07.05.2023, 20:20
CORONATION — Festivities occasioned by the coronation of King Charles III of Britain and Northern Ireland and his wife, Queen Camilla, continued on Sunday across the UK. Thousands of community lunches and street parties were held Sunday, on the streets, in the gardens or parks, to celebrate the new King. The main event of the day was the Coronation Concert at Windsor castle, that featured Lionel Richie, Take That or Katy Perry. King Charles and Queen Camilla were crowned at Westminster Abbey in London on Saturday before 2,300 guests and millions of spectators all over the world. Among the many heads of state and government, kings and queens and members of the extended British royal family, were also Princess Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania and Prince Consort Radu and also Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. King Charles, former Prince of Wales until the age of 74, took over the throne of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the death of his mother, Queen Elisabeth II, in September last year. The Romanian media describes King Charles as a great friend of Romania which he has constantly visited in the last 20 years. King Charles has helped preserve and popularize traditions and customs in Transylvania. He also owns a number of properties in Romania.
CHESS – Superbet Chess Classic Romania 2023, the first round of the Grand Chess Tour 2023 is under way in Bucharest and will end on May 15. Total prizes are worth 350 thousand US dollars. The competition brings together the world’s best chess players. Representing Romania at are Bogdan Deac (21 years old, ranking 39th in the world) and Richard Rapport (27 years old, ranking 13th in the world). Born in Hungary, Rapport transferred last fall on the list of the Romanian Chess Federation which he has been representing ever since. On Saturday, the first day of the competition, the game between Bogdan Deac world no. 7 Fabiano Caruana ended in a draw, while the game between Rapport and World Championship finalist Ian Nepomniasci also ended in a draw.
ORDER — The Bucharest Government will next week pass an emergency order on reducing public spending, Liberal PM Nicolae Ciuca and the Social Democrat leader, Marcel Ciolacu announced. The order should be drafted by Monday, during a meeting of the ruling coalition, put out for public debate and then approved by the Government. Ciolacu gave assurances again this would not be an austerity order that diminishes salaries or pensions. In turn, PM Ciuca said additional taxation of high incomes was also ruled out.
HANDBALL – CSM Bucharest failed to qualify on Sunday to the Final4 Tournament of the Champions League. The Romanian side played at home, at Sala Polivalentă in Bucharest, against the Danish side Team Esbjerg, in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, losing the match 33-31. CSM, who are the Romanian vice-champions, should have won by at least 5 goals, as they lost away 32-28. The other Romanian representative playing in the Champions League quarterfinals, Rapid Bucharest were defeated on Saturday by the Norwegian side Vipers Kristiansand, the winner of last years edition of the League (31-40).
INTERCEPTION – A Russian Su-35 fighter jet on Friday performed an “aggressive and dangerous” interception of an L410 Turbolet Polish aircraft which was on a scheduled patrol mission under the auspices of Frontex over the Black Sea in international airspace, the Romanian Defense Ministry announced. Two Romanian and two Spanish fighter jets were prepared to respond, but their take-off was no longer necessary, as the Polish aircraft managed to land safely on Mihail Kogalniceanu airport. The Defense Ministry has reminded that between April 19 and May 17, an L-410 UVP-E20 Polish aircraft is deployed to Romania as part of the Multipurpose Maritime Operation Western Black Sea 2023, coordinated by Frontex. (EE)