Meteorologists have extended a yellow code weather alert for snowfall, blizzard and cold weather in 21 counties, warning that they expect a significant layer of snow in the country’s hilly and mountainous regions. From 2 AM today until Saturday evening, the weather will cool down and precipitations will be registered in all regions. “Snowfalls will be reported in the mountainside, in eastern Transylvania, in most of Moldavia and in hilly areas of Oltenia and Muntenia,” meteorologists wrote in the weather warning issued yesterday afternoon. Wind speed is expected to grow too. In low-lying regions, precipitations will at first consist of rainfalls, and are then set to turn into sleet and snow. The weather warning is in force in the following counties: Maramures, Bistrita-Nasaud, Suceava, Mures, Harghita, Neamt, Iasi, Bacau, Vrancea, Covasna, Brasov, Buzau, Prahova, Dambovita, Arges, Sibiu, Valcea, Gorj, Mehedinti and Caras-Severin....

Former National Christian Democrat Agrarian Party (PNTCD) leader Ion Diaconescu sued the Romanian state, seeking EUR 18 M in damages for the traumas suffered during his political detention in communist prisons, “Romania libera” writes. In the lawsuit filed against the state, Diaconescu is represented by former Prime Minister Victor Ciorbea, who has already registered the case with the Bucharest City Court. He told Mediafax that most of the money would go to his party.

Diaconescu wants the court to establish the political nature of his prison term, which began after a Bucharest Military Court sentenced him to 15 years of hard labour, five years stripped of his civil rights and seized all his properties on February 28, 1948.

The former PNTCD leader also asked magistrates to establish the political character of a Securitate decision to force him to live at Valea Calmatui, Braila county, between December 1962 and April 1964. For this last episode, Diaconescu...

Patriarch Daniel has in view a consultative council being set up, able to make ‘corrections’ to the original project of the ‘National Salvation’ Cathedral, and supervise the works, Patriarchy spokesman, Father Constantin Stoica, said Thursday. The council would be made up of architects, cultural figures and media representatives. Father Stoica also said a number of 10 companies are working on the project, of which five are based in Bucharest and five elsewhere in the country. “The companies ranked 2nd and 3rd in the contest will receive EUR 40,000, and EUR 30,000 respectively,” the Patriarchy spokesman said.

The future cathedral will be 120 metres long, 70 metres wide and 120 metres high. It will include 15 offices, and accommodate up to five thousand people for religious services.

According to Mediafax, the cathedral will have eight spires, a figure symbolizing perfection, and two domes. The entrance spire ‘St. Andrew...

Dumitru Sechelariu will be out of custody pending an investigation into his attempt to bribe several judges, as a Bucharest City Court panel yesterday rejected prosecutors’ appeal to a previous similar decision by another court. National Anticorruption Division (DNA) prosecutors demanded that Sechelariu, ex mayor of Bacau, current shareholder and technical adviser with SC Transport Public SA Bacau, be remanded. Sechelariu is charged with influence peddling. The first court decided that anticorruption prosecutors did not submit enough evidence or serious motives for Sechelariu’s detention, without making any reference to his health condition. The decision was challenged by DNA prosecutors with the Bucharest City Court.A DNA representative also accused the former mayor of destroying the recording devices worn by Iuliean Sutu, charged with corruption in the same case. Prosecutors charge that Sechelariu “damaged material evidence,” namely the video recording...

Lawyers for Gigi Becali and his acolytes have won a major battle in their joint ‘Suitcase’ trial, as the case was transferred to the Constitutional Court after lawyers managed to persuade judges that the legislation stipulating sports people are ‘civil servants’ is obsolete, given it was drafted in 1968 when all of the workforce was state-employed. Meanwhile, the probe appears to turn to Becali’s favor, as one of the people illegally confined on Becali’s alleged orders changed his testimony Thursday, when he told supreme court judges he no longer acknowledges the statement made during initial inquiries against the Steaua financier. “It was the prosecutor who told me what to write, nothing is true, I didn’t feel being confined,” Adrian Costantin David said. Judges with the High Court adjourned court hearings to April 7. Upon exiting the court, Becali said “it is not normal for a prosecutor to play with man’s...

Serban Mihailescu at DNA to be shown criminal probe files

Independent Senator Serban Mihailescu went to the National Anticorruption Division yesterday to see criminal pursuit documents in the case in which he is investigated for failure to observe arms and ammunition regime, legal sources report. According to the procedure, after the presentation of the criminal pursuit document, the file will be finalized, and a decision will be made on whether to indict the suspect or not. On June 2009, the Senate accepted a request from the General Prosecutor’s Office to allow a criminal probe against Mihailescu.

He is charged by DNA prosecutors with receiving undue benefits and violating arms and ammunitions regime. Prosecutors say that when he worked as head of the government’s General Secretariat, Mihailescu received from his personal adviser, Fanel Pavalache, several hunting guns, although he didn’t have a gun license.

Over 50 Romanians...

Seven Italian and Iranian nationals were arrested at Otopeni Airport yesterday morning, after customs workers found they were carrying several weapons.

The seven individuals were in transit through Romania and were heading for Iran. The authorities suspect they belong to an international weapon smuggling group. A widespread operation in the same case was conducted in Italy on Wednesday, when nine people, including alleged Italian intelligence officers, were arrested on charges of weapon smuggling into Iran. ‘Corriere della Sera’ reports that Romanian authorities have co-operated with their Italian counterparts during the inquiry into illegal export of military equipment to Iran, in violation of the international embargo on the country. Italian authorities have also acted in liaison with agents from the UK, Switzerland and Romania. Police successfully prevented the delivery of a minimum of 1,000 German-made high-definition optic systems and of 120 diving breathing...

Three people, including two taxi drivers, identified diplomat Silviu Ionescu a few hours after the hit-and-run involving a vehicle belonging to the Romanian embassy in Singapore in which a person was killed, ‘The Straits Times’ reported yesterday. One of the taxi drivers who drove the charge d’affaires in the early morning hours of December 15, Neo Hock Beng, decided he should keep the receipt as he suspected that particular client might end up in some kind of trouble, the publication said. The surviving victims of the accident have not testified yet. According to the newspaper, one of the injured pedestrians cannot remember how the accident happened or how he ended up in hospital. He gave a deposition on Tong’s death on the second day of the coroner’s inquiry. Bong Hwee Haw (24) was crossing the street together with his friend, Tong Kok Wai (30) at the junction of the Bukit Panjang and Bangkit Street, when he was hit by an Audi. The accident happened on...

Celebrated actress Draga Olteanu-Matei will receive Gopo Lifetime Achievement Award. One of the most praised actresses of the Romanian film, cast in 90 feature films, Olteanu-Matei will receive the distinction at the fourth edition of the Gopo Award Gala, due on March 29, at the Parliament Palace. Born on October 24, 1933 in Bucharest, Olteanu-Matei graduated from the Theatrical Art and Film Institute of Bucharest in 1956. Her career covers over 50 years in which she delighted the Romanian public playing hundreds of characters in film, theatre and TV. After she retired from the Bucharest National Theatre in 2007, Olteanu-Matei moved to Piatra Neamt, where she set up her own company: Your Theatre – the first private theatre in Romania with non-professional actors, thus remaining close to the performing...

Historian Neagu Djuvara will be awarded today the rank of Officer in the National Order of Arts and Letters by France’s ambassador to Bucharest, Henri Paul. Agerpres quoted a French Embassy press release saying the Romanian historian will be handed the distinction during a ceremony at the French ambassador’s residence. The French state decorates Djuvara for his contribution to making Romanians’ history known and for his activity as a writer and historian. An intellectual, diplomat and historian, the 94-year-old Djuvara is held as one of the most outstanding figures of contemporary Romanian culture. He was born in 1916 in Bucharest, into an Aromanian family. He earned a Letters degree and a Law degree from the Paris-Sorbonne University, in 1937 and 1940 respectively. He joined the Foreign Ministry by contest in May 1943 and was sent as a diplomatic courier to Sweden on August 23, 1944, over peace negotiations with Soviet Union. Having been implicated...

Dissident Ursu’s murderer relapses, kills flight attendants

The Romanian who murdered dissident Gheorghe Ursu in prison has killed a flight attendant. Marian Clita turned himself in and acknowledged that he murdered the flight attendant in a hotel room in Copenhagen. Clita is known in Romania for brutally murdering dissident Ursu while in jail. Former prosecutor Dan Voinea investigated Clita’s crime, showing that such a violent crime is not unusual from Clita. According to Antena 3, Clita is to be extradited from Sweden to Denmark in order to be investigated.

Teacher fired after hitting student

An Arad teacher who was reported to the police for assaulting a student in early February was fired at the end of an inquiry conducted by the County School Inspectorate and by the school’s disciplinary board. The head of the Arad County School Inspectorate, Mirela Aldescu, told Mediafax yesterday that teacher Nutica Craciun from...

Turkish ship sinks near Constanta

A Turkish flag ship loaded with scrap iron sank near the Port of Constanta yesterday, Mediafax reports. Wednesday morning at about 4:30, the ship started to lurch. Two other vessels were sent to the area to rescue the ship, but failed. The 17 sailors onboard were rescued. No one knows for sure what caused the distress, but two options are being considered: adverse weather conditions or the wrong loading of the vessel. The port authorities opened an investigation to determine the cause of the shipwreck.

First autumn day brings first snow in the Retezat Mountain

The first autumn day of the year has also brought along the first snowfall of the season. It snowed in the Retezat Mountain (Hunedoara County) on Wednesday, with air temperatures dropping massively below what it is considered as normal for this time of the year, Agerpres informs. “The coat of snow was 7 to 10 cm thick at 2,000 metre altitude. But this...

During talks with European Commissioners Viviane Reding (Justice and Fundamental Rights) and Cecilia Malmstrom (Internal Affairs) in Brussels on Tuesday, French ministers defended their controversial crackdown on the Roma minority, insisting that repatriations fully comply with European law.

France has been facing mounting criticism for its decision to demolish illegal nomad camps and repatriate Roma to their countries of origin, mostly Romania and Bulgaria, with left-wing opposition, international human rights groups, EU officials and the UN human rights body voicing concern about the measures.

“I explained the principles on which we acted,” said French Immigration Minister Eric Besson in Brussels after meeting Reding and Malmstrom. “Everything is in total conformity with European law, the 2004 [freedom of movement EU] directive, French law and the republican principles of France,” he said, quoted by ‘The Guardian.’ He added that no collective expulsions were...

Having assembled the fossilised skeleton of what they believed to be a velociraptor, scientists were surprised to discover in Romania a new species of carnivore dinosaur that lived in Europe 70-80 million years ago, according to a study published Monday, cited by AFP. This biped dinosaur dubbed the ‘Balaurul bondoc’ (stocky dragon) was ‘stocky built’ and had a pair of claws attached to its rear limbs, with which it caught the prey. The animal was 1.80 to 2.10 metre-long, including the tail. “The dinosaur is a new species of predator dinosaur different from what we knew,” Stephen Brusatte, a researcher at the University of Colombia, said. “The dragon could have been one of the largest predators in the European ecosystem at the time, given palaeontologists discovered not a single large dinosaur tooth in over one century of research,” Zoltan Csiki of the University of Bucharest, who co-authored the study, said in his turn. “The fossilised remains of the dragon have been known for more...

Romanian researchers discovered a type of cells which, together with stem cells, may encourage the regeneration of the heart muscle, after an infarction, Mediafax reports. Specialists at the Victor Babes Institute found serendipitously, while studying cells in the intestine, tiny cells which contribute to organ regeneration.

According to Laurentiu Popescu, the head of the Academy of Medical Sciences, the “telocite” cells were discovered by Romanian scientists, and their existence was confirmed by independent teams in Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and China. Alongside stem cells, telocites may contribute to the regeneration of vital organs, such as the heart and brain. “If we manage to isolate them, to multiply them together with the stem cells, we may use them efficiently in treating myocardial infarct,” Popescu added.

Telocites are small bodied cells, but with extremely long extensions (akin to the neuronal extensions), present in most body organs. They have...

Despite international criticism over its crackdown on Roma minorities, France will move ahead with repatriations and demolition of illegal nomad camps, with Immigration Minister Eric Besson pledging on Monday to increase expulsions of foreign thieves and beggars, according to Mediafax.

In a joint press conference with Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux and Secretary of State for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche, Besson said French authorities had no intention of rowing back on the crackdown, which has provoked concern from the UN, the EU and many leading figures of French society.

Besson’s comments came just hours after the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe joined the global outcry and denounced the Roma expulsions. But despite criticism, France insists that repatriations are fully in line with EU legislation and that the action is the result of keeping to the law – that the EU’s freedom of movement should not be abused, that the “insalubrities”...

Two people were killed after being infected with the West Nile virus from mosquito bites, from a total of seven cases of infection confirmed in Romania so far, Health Minister Cseke Atilla told a press conference on Monday, quoted by Agerpres. Three more cases are awaiting confirmation, he said. The two people who died from the virus came from Bucharest and Constanta, were both elderly people. The deaths were reported on August 19 and 22 and were caused by health complications, given the patients’ advanced age and the fact they were suffering from other health problems as well, the minister explained.

“The Health Ministry demanded stepped up actions to prevent the spread of the virus,” Cseke also said. He added that from the total number of infection cases, a small portion, about 15 per cent, risk developing meningitis, which is the most severe effect of West Nile, while the death risk is of one per cent. Health Ministry officials say children and elderly people are most...

Over 2,200 children under one year old died in Romania in 2009

Over 2,000 children under one year old died in Romania last year, when the registered mortality rate was concerning. The head of Elias Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Prof. Dr. Radu Vladareanu, told a press conference yesterday that a total of 2,230 children under 1 year of age had died in Romania in 2009, accounting for a concerning mortality rate of 10.1 per cent, the highest in Europe. The hospital official noted that 30 per cent of the infants under one year old had died from pneumonia and viral respiratory infections, an unacceptable situation in any other civilised country. According to the doctor, another cause of newborn death is represented by congenital malformations.

Almost 200 foreigners in Romanian prisons

Almost 200 foreign citizens - 42 from Turkey, 27 from R. Moldova and 19 from Bulgaria – are serving time in Romanian prisons, according to...

Meteorologists issued a rain watch which comes in force today in 30 counties, between 2:00 and 20:00. In the aforementioned interval, rain will fall in Banat, Crisana, Maramures, Transylvania, Moldavia and in all mountain areas, and the quantity of water may surpass, on wider areas, 20-25 l/sq m, and, on patches, 40-50 l/ sq m. There will be showers, possibly in torrents, complete with lighting and hail. Wind speed will intensify in all regions, particularly in the mountains. These phenomena will appear more frequently in Western and central regions, for now, and, tomorrow, will move eastwards. In other regions, such phenomena will cover a more limited ground. Later yesterday, hydrologists also issued a flood watch valid for today, between 4 a.m. and midnight, in 12 counties, mostly in the centre and eastern part of the country, according to Realitatea TV....

The Coalition of Chronic Patients’ Organisations (COPAC) accused the National Health Insurance House (CNAS) of recently modifying the price of medicine that they benefited from free of charge and demanded that the change be reverted because it was not previously discussed with patients, Mediafax reported.

CNAS rejects such a possibility, saying that the change is aimed at helping provide wider coverage for free-of-charge treatment.

The row began when CNAS earlier this year published a new list of compensated medicine, which provides that only the costs of cheaper medicine will be partially or totally supported by the health insurance house. As of tomorrow, an additional list of medicine only for chronic patients will come in effect, but working on the same principle – only cheaper drugs will be 100 per cent covered by the CNAS. This gave birth to fears among patients that they would no longer benefit from free treatment. However, CNAS president Lucian Duta insists...

The Civic Alliance of Roma in Romania yesterday launched a call for a wide-scale protest against a summit on immigration issues that Paris is planning to host next Monday. According to a press release sent to Agerpres, the protest would be organised simultaneously in several locations, on September 6, starting from 11:30 a.m.

The protest is initiated and supported by the Civic Alliance of Roma and by Roma community leaders in several Romanian counties. “This infamous summit is directed against Roma everywhere. This summit proposes stigmatising the entire Roma people. We are protesting against the French government’s ethnic cleansing policy against Romanian and Bulgarian citizens of Roma origin, against mass expulsions and repressive measures against this entire ethnic group,” the release reads. The Alliance also called for a boycott of all French products and services, so that French leaders are reminded of the fact “fundamental rights are non-negotiable.”

Recently,...

The Bucharest Court decided, yesterday, that the nurse Florentina Cirstea, charged with manslaughter and causing severe injuries, should remain in custody until the 29 days’ preventive arrest warrant expires. The court debated the nurse’s contestation of the Bucharest Sector 6 Court’s preventive arrest decision in the case of the maternity fire. The nurse, who was to keep watch of the infants on the night of August 16, when the fire started at the intensive care ward at the Giulesti Maternity Hospital, was arrested on August 24 for 29 days. Her lawyer petitioned the court yesterday to allow her investigation out of custody, on the grounds that she couldn’t possibly foresee, as a medical cadre, the occurrence of a fire or of any other unexpected event. At the same time, the lawyer stated that, according to the nurse’s job description, there was no obligation for her to remain, at all times, in the ward. According to the latter, the nurse was under the obligation to keep an eye on...

EUR 6.2 M lottery prize won in Iasi

The EUR 6.2 M top lottery prize was won on Sunday. According to the Romanian Lottery, the lucky ticket was played in Iasi and had a cost of RON 20.5. The ticket consisted of three simple variants and a special draw variant. According to the aforementioned source, the ticket had a cost of RON 20.5. This was the largest prize won this year. The winning numbers were 28, 21, 12, 7, 23 and 11. The top prize was previously won on March 7 and stood at EUR 1.7 M. The largest prize in the Romanian lottery’s history was won on January 27, 2008 and stood at approximately RON 47 M.

Has Dan Diaconescu’s party reached 20 pc?

In a blogary.ro blog post, presidential adviser Sebastain Lazaroiu says he got his hands on a poll indicating some spectacular changes since the spring surveys. “A very recent opinion poll (I am not going to disclose the name of the pollster, if they want to publish the results of the poll they can...

Former Cluj Prefect Calin Platon was detained for 24 hours after being heard by the traffic police yesterday in relation to a car accident he caused, killing a three-month baby and severely injuring his mother. Platon was to be taken to before a court with the proposal to be remanded, on charges of manslaughter, Realitatea.net reported.

After being interviewed by police for more than two hours and a half, he was taken to the Cluj Judge Hall Prosecutor’s Office to be heard by prosecutors as well, Mediafax said.

On his way to the Prosecutor’s Office, Platon told reporters that he deeply regretted “this terrible tragedy and I will answer in front of the law.” He also said that when the accident occurred, he was “blinded by sunlight” and saw the two victims on the pedestrian crossing in front of him when it was too late to hit the brakes. Platon added that he wasn’t speeding at the time.

A spokesperson for the Cluj County Police, Gina Pop, told Mediafax that...

Just one day after the hottest day of the year, autumn is here. Across the nation, yesterday, the tropical air was replaced by a wave of polar air. While meteorologists announce that heat wave temperatures will go down by up to 12C, doctors draw attention such sudden temperature variations are likely to create medical problems, Realitatea TV reports.

Saturday, mercury rose to 39C at Calafat and Bechet, the highest temperature this year. Saturday night however was a different affair, as a cold air front crossed the country, with temperatures going down by 10-12C. That resulted in a sudden drop in temperature in areas struck by heat wave Saturday. “On Sunday, the significant drop in temperature will be felt across the areas where the heat wave hit on Saturday. For example, those places where temperatures registered 38C will now see temperatures as low as 28C,” duty meteorologist Oana Paduraru told Realitatea.net. The cold air front brings with it precipitations and gusty wind,...

Bucharest General Mayor Sorin Oprescu stated on Saturday that, if the assets of the Giulesti Maternity Hospital are placed under sequestration, this would block the activity of the unit. Oprescu voiced hope that the court would reach a “balanced” decision, arguing that sequestration would be excessive, but that, “in the end, it’s up to the judges.” According to Oprescu, there are no hospital assets in the absence of which activity may continue undisturbed. The mayor’s statements come in response to a statement made by Chief Prosecutor Marius Iacob, the coordinator of the investigation in the Giulesti Maternity Hospital fire, arguing that prosecutors are considering precautionary measures related to the hospital assets, which would not affect the operation of the hospital. Prosecutors of the High Court initiated criminal prosecution against the Giulesti Maternity-“Panait Sarbu” Hospital, and sanctions may go as far as dissolving the healthcare unit.

As far as the...

A United Nations human rights body rebuked France on Friday for its crackdown on Roma and urged the government to try to integrate members of the EU’s biggest ethnic minority as part of a Europe-wide solution, Reuters reported. The 18 independent experts voiced concern that some of the hundreds of Roma flown to Romania in recent weeks under what France calls a voluntary repatriation programme had not been fully informed of their rights or had not freely consented to returning to their homeland.

“We understand that a state has a right and a responsibility to deal with security issues and issues of illegal immigration. But our view is when you are doing so, it should not be on a collective basis, you should not be targeting a group as a whole,” said Pierre-Richard Prosper, vice-chairman of the U.N. Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). “There is an appearance of discrimination,” Prosper told a news briefing. Patrick Thornberry, a British committee...

Traffic beneath the Basarab overpass will resume on both lanes on September 15, with the exception of the Plevnei – Gara Basarab perimeter, Bucharest General Mayor Sorin Oprescu stated on Saturday. While visiting the construction site Oprescu pointed out that traffic beneath the overpass will resume on the evening of September 14, with traffic on the overpass itself set to start in January-February 2011. “I don’t want to open it for traffic while still having to put the finishing touches. No! We will open it for traffic at the end of the year like I promised,” the Bucharest General Mayor stated. He added that after the construction works are completed the overpass will be tested for a month’s time. According to him, the sum spent so far this year for the Basarab overpass stands at RON 164 M, with the final cost tending to reach RON 248-250 M by the time it is completed.

Oprescu also talked about the existence of some “brakesmen” that would like to prevent the completion of...

EU foreign policy chief visits Romania’s Expo Shanghai pavilion

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton yesterday visited Romania’s pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai, where she was greeted by Bucharest’s Expo 2010 General Commissioner Ferdinand Nagy and consul Florin Tacu, according to a press release from the Foreign Ministry. Ashton visited a photography exhibition and the museum presenting Romanian history and civilisation inside the pavilion. She also attended a chamber music concert by the Romanian Piano Trio. Ashton “Declared herself impressed with the pavilion’s design, the arrangement of exhibition spaces and the cultural and artistic programmes conducted within the pavilion,” the release said.

Interior Minister presents Schengen accession stage at Salzburg Forum

Minister of Internal Affairs Vasile Blaga presented in the Ministerial Conference of the Salzburg Forum, the stage of...

International cooperation in the area of Japanese studies, as well as a mounting interest in Japanese culture have led to the need to set up a Centre of Japanese Studies with the purpose of supporting research activity in the field. During the opening of the centre – the first of its kind in Romania – centre director Anca Focsaneanu explained to ‘Nine O’Clock’ that the intention of the project was to diversify research studies and train young people in the area of Japanese studies. It is seen as a way to facilitate the exchange of expertise and the establishment of an international reputation by cooperating with prestigious centres and associations of Japanese studies in Japan and worldwide. “The modernisation of Romania is down to studies, and the Japanese department is a highly dynamic one, having come a long way,” the rector of the Bucharest University, Prof. Ph.D. Ioan Panzaru, said. He also noted it was time to develop Romanian-Japanese relations and that the objective of the...

This weekend a new edition of the “National fair of organic, traditional and natural food” awaits Bucharesters with hors d’oeuvre prepared in cast-iron kettles, bread baked on a hearth, Transylvanian salami and sausages, jams prepared in monasteries, Arges County tuica and Maramures cookies. “At this fair of truly traditional products I provoke you to think with a light heart about serious things. What do you crave in autumn? Is there any dish you consider a legend of autumn? If so, tell us about it! One of our cooks will prepare it for you and you will receive a prize if none of them happens to know how to do it,” Daniela Popa, Media Link Businss manager, stated for Agerpres. The fair will also feature a book exhibition organised by the “Romanian Hospitality Association – tradition and evolution.” Ion C. Rogojanu, the president of the association, will present cook books, woodcuts featuring gastronomy subjects, menus authored by some painters and kitchen utensils....