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Romania through international eyes

People in the News

November 2005

Mainland Europe’s first reported finding of H5N1 – a form of avian flu that could spread rapidly to humans and kill them – occurred when UK scientists identified it in three ducks from Ceamurlia de Jos in the Danube Delta. Live bird imports from Romania to the rest of Europe were promptly banned and a series of strict measures put in place lest the disease spread, including the culling of thousands of birds. The European Commission warned that Romania risked having its accession to the EU delayed to 2008 lest it tackle corruption and speed up reform of its judicial system, tighten border controls and increase food hygiene. The Washington Post published an article that said the CIA had set up secret prisons in Eastern European countries, in which al Qaeda suspects might be held and even tortured, most likely in Romania and Poland; Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said Romania was not involved and the CIA would not comment. Israeli media said that a deal had been struck between Israel and Romania whereby Romania would purchase $150 million worth of f-16 and f-16i fighter jets from Israel. The International Monetary Fund said it had failed to reach an agreement with Romania over a new loan, but Mr Tariceanu said Romania didn’t need loans from the IMF. Nicolae Danila, the head of the soon-to-be-sold Romanian Commercial Bank, said that the selling price for the parcel of 68 per cent of stock would be 3.5 or 3.6 billion euros, and that of the initial nine potential buyers, only two remained – Erste Bank and Banco Comercial Portugues. Three Romanian women were named as new heads of multinational companies – they are Liliana Solomon at Connex, Camelia Horlaci at Ernst & Young and Alexandra Gatej at Unilever. Zentiva, a Czech drugmaker, said it was willing to pay up to 77 million euros for Romanian pharmaceutical company, Sicomed. Bucharest’s main streets saw a series of strikes and protests, from miners, teachers and public service workers. A thief was shot dead inside the home of fashion designer Romanita Iovan, with the ensuing debate reflecting both the argument for and against the right to bear arms. Three Romanians were jailed in England after being caught selling non-existent goods on eBay, the Internet auction site. A judge in Valcea lodged an application to retry Carmen Paunescu, the sister of the Paunescu brothers, who received a two-year suspended sentence for killing three people in a car accident. Romania’s Mihai Covaliu, otherwise known as ‘D’Artagnan of the Carpathians’ won the world fencing championships, held in Leipzig; he had won the Olympic title five years ago. Adrian Mutu, the captain of Romania’s football team, married Conseulo Berrido in ceremonies in Rome and Bucharest. Phil Collins, the singer, visited Bucharest for a concert performance. Voltaj won Best Romanian Act at the MTV Europe Awards.

Rioting and unrest gripped areas of suburban Paris with large African and Arab communities, after two teenagers of African origin were killed, allegedly evading police; at least 30 policemen were injured, schools and factories were set alight, more than 2,000 cars were torched and hundreds of arrests made.

Two weeks after a devastating earthquake in northern Pakistan and Kashmir the death toll rose to 73,000, though at least 40 villages had not been accessed by relief and rescue teams, and more than three million people remained homeless. Pervez Musharaff, Pakistan’s president, said Western governments would be doing more to help had the quake occurred in a Western country. Saddam Hussein entered a not guilty plea to an accusation of killing 143 people in the village of Dujail in 1982; prosecution lawyers said they had a document countersigned by Saddam authorising the massacre. The number of American troops killed in Iraq since 2003 rose above 2,000. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, the chief-of-staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney of the United States, resigned when he was indicted on charges of perjury and obstructing justice arising from investigations of the public exposure of Valerie Plame as an officer of the Central Intelligence Agency in 2003, at a time when her husband, Joe Wilson, a former ambassador, was denying the President’s claim that Iraq had obtained nuclear material from Niger. Unicef, the UN charity, warned that 18 million children in sub-Saharan Africa could be orphaned by Aids by 2010. Nigeria suffered its third fatal air accident in three years when a Boeing 737 crashed during a severe electrical storm, killing all 117 people on board. A series of three co-ordinated bombs exploded in Delhi, killing at least 60 people ahead of Hindu and Muslim religious festivals. Militants based in Pakistan were suspected, and fears were raised that relations between India and Pakistan would suffer. Three girls were beheaded as they walked to school in Poso, in central Indonesia. Poland elected as president Lech Kaczynski, whose identical twin brother led the Law and Justice party to victory in elections in September. Two schools closed after an outbreak of E.coli in south Wales. Pirates fired guns at a cruise liner anchored off Somalia, but no one was hurt. Telefonica, the Spanish telecommunications firm, made a bid worth $31.5 billion to buy 02, one of Britain’s largest mobile operators. Oil prices fell to below $60 a barrel for the first time since July. President George W Bush nominated Ben Bernanke as the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, replacing Alan Greenspan, who has held the office since 1987 and retires in January. Rosa Parks, whose decision not to give up her seat to a white bus commuter in Alabama sparked America’s modern civil rights movement, died, aged 92. North Korea and South Korea announced that they would compete as one nation at the 2008 Olympics. Makybe Diva won Australia’s biggest horse race, the Melbourne Cup, for the third successive time. The skulls of two lions were unearthed at the Tower of London; scientists dated them to the time of King John, who reigned from 1199-1216 and established the “Royal Menagerie” at the Tower. Albania is to retire its Soviet MiG fighter planes, which have killed 35 Albanians, but not a single enemy.