January 11, 2014

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Mihai Pelin, 11.01.2014, 12:00

Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State has today met Romanian Foreign minister Titus Corlatean. The two held talks about the strategic partnership between the two countries, the bilateral economic relationship as well as the cooperation inside NATO. Mrs. Nuland has congratulated Bucharest on the tenth anniversary of its NATO accession and said that Romania and the United States have a strong strategic alliance. Victoria Nuland met Romanian president Traian Basescu on Friday. The US official is on a European tour devoted to discussions on bilateral and regional issues, which also includes the Netherlands, Germany, Lithuania and France.

The UN Security Council has voiced support for the Iraqi government, who is fighting to take control over some districts close to capital Baghdad, which have fallen into the hands of Islamic fighters close to Al Qaeda terrorist network. The announcement comes after the Islamic fighters have taken control over the city of Falujah and over a couple of districts in Ramadi, the Al-Anbar province in the southwest of the country. It’s for the first time since the insurgency that followed the US-led invasion of 2003, when armed people have taken control of some urban areas in Iraq. The crisis of the Al-Anbar province and the high level of violence plaguing the rest of the country is one of the main challenges facing the Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, right ahead of the legislative election in April.

The pair made up of Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu and Klara Zakopalova, of the Czech Republic, has today won the doubles event of the WTA tournament in Hobart, Australia, with 250 thousand dollars in prize money. The two players have outperformed in the finals the number two favourites, Lisa Raymond from USA and Shuai Zhang from China, 6-2, 6-7, 10-8. For Monica Niculescu, this is the fourth WTA title in doubles contests after those in Shenzen, China, in Hobart in 2012 together with a Romanian compatriote, Irina Begu and after that in Budapest, Hungary, together with Russian Alisa Kleibanova.

Romania’s national handball side will today be up against Slovakia in an away game counting towards the second preliminary group of World Cup 2015 in Qatar. In order to qualify, the Romanian handballers must not lose the game with a difference higher than 8 goals. On Wednesday in Bucharest, Romania defeated Italy 34-29 to rank first in the group with 10 points, followed by Slovakia with 8 points, Italy with 2 and Cyprus without any points and no wins.

The US space agency NASA will carry out joint projects with Romanian agency ROSA — the minister delegate for higher education Mihnea Costoiu said during his visit to the United States. He said that Romania will build two nano-satellites and the United States five to the new nano-satellite constelation to be launched into space. Also during his visit, minister Costoiu has met several US congressmen and held talks with representatives of American universities on concluding partnerships in the field of education. Until Tuesday, the Romanian official will be participating in the International Space Exploration Forum.

Today and tomorrow, the private estate in Balc, northwestern Romania, will be seeing the annual traditional wild boar hunting staged by Romanian businessman Ion Tiriac. The event will bring together politicians, as well as Romanian and foreign business people. Among the celebrities attending the event there will be George Marsan, mayor of the city of Monte Carlo, Erich Hampel, manager of Unicredit Bank Austria, Franz Rauch, the best known juice producer in Europe and Wolfgang Porsche, heir of the company with the same name. Over 250 boars were hunted in Balc in 2013, their meat being donated to old people’s homes and orphanages.

The 71st edition of the Golden Globe Awards is to begin in Beverly Hills on Sunday with an unusual high number of productions vying for the grand prize. Two of them seem to have already taken the lead in the contest; 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle have been nominated in seven categories. The best director award has five nominees: Alfonso Cuaron for ‘Gravity’, Paul Greengrass for ‘Captain Phillips’, Steve McQueen for ‘12 Years a Slave’, Alexander Payne for ‘Nebraska’ and David O. Russell for ‘American Hustle’. French production ‘La Vie d’Adele’, ‘The Past’ made by an Iranian director, ‘La Grande Bellezza’ a production made in Italy, Danish production ‘The Hunt’ and the Japanese cartoon ‘The Wild Wind Rises’ will be vying for the best foreign film award.