Topic: WORLD NEWS

[Martial]

and im surprised they found "cheese" in germany

[ijm123]

I give you a good example from Finland

A couple of years one guy  went to a shop and started demanding money by keeping a knife in his hand. The shop-keeper did not give it to him but took the knife out of the robber's hand and forced him to lie on the floor while he was calling the police.

Finally the thing went to court - and what was the solution? The shop-keeper was fined because he had humiliated the robber and because he had taken away the robber's property (= knife) - but the robber was  released because there was no evidence that he wanted to rob money. 

Absolutely unbelievable.  What the hell is this world coming to?.  Here's another ridiculous example - but from the UK.

A guy had his car stolen.  He was on his way to the police station to report it when he spotted the car on a side street.  He continued to the police station and told them that his car had been stolen but he knew where it was.  The reply from the Senior Police Officer was.....

"Well steal it back then and save us having to do the paperwork"

[Martial]

and there are more serious problems too
like in Italy, when a family wasn't put to jail after killing the daughter who lived a too much "open-minded" live style.. of course the family was muslim and for the italian judge it was fair to respect their beliefs.. that's so insane

[Relyana]

I'm watching the news and I'm shocked.

Is the life of a gypsy, Romanian or not, worth nothing at all ?
the bodies of two drowned Gypsy girls ignored on a beach in Italy

I'm not gonna comment much on this because I am Romanian and you already know what I think and feel about all this. We are not all criminals, full of hate, uneducated people. And yes we do have gypsies, hungarians, germans, turks, russians, ukrainians ... various ethnic communities living in Romania. We all do great things from time to time, terrible mistakes also ... we're only human. I agree 100 % about the law system. It's harsh, sometimes unfair with innocent people as well so whoever thinks of getting rich or simply "getting a life" by cheating understands soon that Romania is not the place to do that and decides to "Go West". That doesn't mean that all Romanians visiting Italy or Spain are criminals. What if I'll overreact and ask "Were's the humanity in western people ?"
This is what people are saying here these days. "They're judging our nation, they're pointing their fingers at us but they're no better ... they only teach us to be rude and insensitive."
Western Europe's so full of preconceptions ... they'll never get to see the "rest of us".
Do they care ?   

[mongol-boy]

Face it, Relyana, Western Europe sucks..big time! And there's nothing we can do about it

[Relyana]

Thousands of Romanian people have protested today against the raise of the auto tax (charged against pollution). They're calling the soon to be former prime minister Tăriceanu a mobster.
It is not the first time when the head of the Romanian Government takes unpopular decisions in order to protect the Romanian economy against the world economic crisis. Not so long ago the Parliament decided to support the Government's idea of raising teacher's wages with 50%, the President promulgated the law but then ... the Government found a way not to apply it much to the public frustration (admitting that Romania can't cope with more budgetary payments in the international context we're living in). It was after all just an election bluff if I may say so.

[Centrix]

Yushcenko: Ukraine guarantees Russian natural gas deliveries to Europe
Ukraine is willing to guarantee for free the delivery of the Russian natural gas until a contract with Russia will be signed, Ukraine's President Viktor Yushcenko announced, adding that Russia has been formally announced about this.
In a press conference in London, Ukraine's PM said that currently, all conflictual commercial issues need to be left aside as this is not what interests the European citizen. He declared that the only official request for Russia is to fill up the pipes to the maximum.

[Centrix]

Lithuanians and Bulgarians protest against their governments

The economic crisis transforms into a political one in the region. First, citizens in Lithuania organized a protest against their government due to the crisis that lead them in a recession and Bulgarians followed suit.
The confrontations between police forces and protesters were held in front of the Parliament in Sofia, a press release of the Bulgarian Interior ministry reads. 31 people were imprisoned and 5 police officers were injured.

[Centrix]

Ukraine urges Romania to take a public stand against Putin's declarations who declared that Romania blamed Ukraine for the Russian - Ukrainian gas conflict

Ukraine urged Romania to officially reject the information made public by Russian mass media according to which Bucharest authorities blame Ukraine in the Russian - Ukraine gas conflict, Ukraine's deputy Foreign Affairs minister Konstantin Eliseev declared, quoted by the Ukrainian news agency URA.
Eliseev declared that after a conversation with Romania's ambassador to Ukraine, he was informed that Romania never made such a declaration. Eliseev declared that, for this reason, he urges authorities to officially deny the false declarations the appeared in the Russian press.
RIA Novosti announced on Wednesday morning that Romania's President Traian Basescu told Russian PM Vladimir Putin that Romania shares Moscow's opinion and blames Ukraine for blocking the natural gas deliveries to Europe.

[Centrix]

Tourism Minister Elena Udrea to turn Bucharest into balneary destination

Tourism Minister Elena Udrea declared on Tuesday that the priority in her mandate is to promote the balneary tourism in Romania, but not only to the classic destinations in the Carpathian mountains, but to Bucharest as well. "Bucharest stands on a thermal water spring and this was never capitalized", said Udrea in a press conference.
The Tourism Minister says that the thermal water spring spreads up to the northern villages of Balotesti and Snagov.
According to Udrea, Bucharest needs to be more than a business tourism destination and local authorities were contacted, in order to conduct a study on the matter.
"Romania owns one third of the thermal springs in Europe. I believe we can become one of the main European destinations for wellness tourism", the minister added.

[Niko]

The oldest person in Finland died



The oldest Finnish person died on January 1st. He was Mr. Aarne Arvonen, who died at the age of 111 and he was born in Helsinki on August 4th, 1897. He was also the last Finnish person who was born in the 19th century. Mr. Arvonen was full of life until hist last days. Last year a part of his 110th birthday was broadcasted in TV  because he wanted to celebrate it in a very special place if we are thinking about his age. He celebrated it in the corner pub, which he visited every day. I remember when he said in the interview that it is not so big fun to go there for a pint, because most of his friends were already dead. Now mr. Arvonen may have hist pint together with his friends in heavenly pubs. 

At the moment of his death, he was the 3rd oldest person in Europe and 7th oldest in the whole world.

The oldest now living Finnish person is a 107 years old man. 




source of the picture: http://static.iltalehti.fi

[Martial]

great to be full of life til the end, im happy for him.. i wish the same to all of us and to myself (im VERY scared of death)

[Centrix]

I would like to live so much. 

[Centrix]

EU: Some car producers may not survive the crisis

The prognosis for the European car producing industry is extremely pessimistic and it is possible for some major companies to prove unable to survive the crisis, the European Commissioner for Industry, Gunter Verheugen, declared on Friday. Representatives of the EU states discuss in Brussels the measures that may be taken to save the industry segment.
"The prognosis for the European car producing industry is brutal. We saw a 20% decrease of sales in the past quarter and we expect another 20% drop in 2009. Hundreds of thousands or even millions of workers will be affected", said the EC official.
"There is no guarantee that all major companies will survive the crisis. We need a series of measured fitted to these circumstances. One of the plausible programs is the discount for new cars in exchange for giving up old vehicles", Verheugen added.

[Centrix]

Bulgaria intends to reopen nuclear reactor, still waiting for Brussels green light

The Bulgarian government announced on Friday that it will launch the technical preparations required to reopen one of the two reactors at the Kozlodui nuclear plant, but still expects an answer from Brussels officials. The reactor was shut in 2006, as part of the EU accession negotiations, but the terms of the agreement allow Bulgaria to reopen in case of energy crisis.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev declared that the preparations take at least 45 days and that such a step would not be taken without approval from the European Commission.
Being dependant on Russian natural gas for 92% of the energy production, Bulgaria was severely affected by the recent gas delivery crisis.
Bulgarian president Gheorghi Parvanov also declared that a popular referendum on the opening of the third and fourth reactor at the Kozlodui plant.

[Centrix]

Moldova to join Nabucco project, counts on Romania's support

The natural gas crisis forces the Moldova government to revise the energy resources scheme, given the fact that the country fully depends on Russian gas. In order to diversify its energy sources, the Kishinev officials hope to become part of the Nabucco  project, Nezavisimaia gazeta reads, quoting recent statements of the deputy Economy Minister, Fedor Copaci.
"We will attempt to obtain a connection to the gas pipeline that will cross Romania, by-passing Ukraine and Russia", said Copaci. Romania's neighborhood may allow Moldova to join the project, Kishinev counting on the support the Romanian government may offer. 
Nabucco officials recently declared that the project will become an operating company in 2013. "Given the current economic circumstances, diversifying the natural gas transport routes is of critical importance. Building the Nabucco gas pipeline is more important than ever", a Nabucco responsible claimed.

[Centrix]

America has new national hero: pilot who saved dozens of crash plane passengers

A pilot who managed to pilot a US Airways plane with 155 passengers on board to crash into the Hudson River near New York on Thursday has become America's newest national hero. Witnesses quoted by US media said they were astonished how the pilot acted calmly and skillfully to save all the passengers on board.
Witnesses said that Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger inspected the plane twice after it crashed into the river and was the last to leave the plane.
Governor David Paterson spoke of "miracle in the Hudson".
The pilot of the 1549 flight, aged 57, was an Air Force pilot in the seventies and later worked in the US commission investigating plane crashes. He had specialised psychologicy studies to deal with such incidents.
The US Airways plane crashed into the Hudson River near New York after hitting a flock of birds on leaving the LaGuardia airport, according to US media. The flight was bound to Charlotte, North Carolina.
The incident came the day President Bush held his televised farewell to Americans before leaving the Oval Office for Barack Obama next week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0ZF47T39uY

[Centrix]

Finnish company Elcoteq shuts down plant in Western Romania, lays off 400

Finnish company Elcoteq, one of the leading producers of telecomm equipment, announced that it will shut down its factory in Arad (Western Romania), where 400 people are currently employed. The company includes the move in a larger re-structuring program, which also includes the shutting down of production facilities in (USA) and St. Petersburg (Russia).
The Elcoteq boards also decided to reduce the number of employees globally, estimating 5,000 lay-offs, out of the current 21,000 personnel. Operations will continue in Mexico, Brasilia, Latvia, Hungary, India and the Czech Republic. The company expects to save between 80 and 100 million Euros as result of the plan.

[Martial]

Handball World Championship held in Croatia is now down to the Final or almost..
Today the first semi-final was held in split..

The French team, 2008 Olympic champions, World Champions in both 2003 and 2005 (but Germany won 2007) won its ticket to the final beating the last nordic country in the competition, Denmark, 27-22

Now the second semi-final will see the home country, Croatia, being defeated by another Eastern European country, the surprising Poland. Down with Russia or Iceland, Croatia would be an interesting match for France, who beat Croatia in the semifinal of the Olympic tournament!

I was just so happy about it, I thought I'd share (why do these WORLD championships sound so European, just like in soccer!? Are there no good handballers abroad? guess not)

WELL GOOD LUCK to what must be France's BEST TEAM-SPORT team, I hope they can create the double golden medal of Olympics and World Championships!

[Centrix]

 

Romanian handball player Cozma stabbed to death

Romanian international handball player Marian Cozma was stabbed to death and two other players were seriously wounded in an attack at a Hungarian nightclub early on Sunday, police and officials said.
Cozma, 26, a centre who joined Hungarian club MKB Veszprem in 2006, and other players were celebrating the birth of a team member's child when a dispute began with another group in the nightclub in Veszprem, police said.
He was stabbed in the heart outside the nightclub and died in hospital, while two other players -- Croatian goalkeeper Ivan Pesic, 19, and 22-year-old Zarko Sesum of Serbia -- who tried to help him were badly hurt.
"We have the strength, will and determination to bring the perpetrators of this serious crime to court as soon as possible," Hungarian Interior Minister Tibor Draskovics told a news conference, news agency MTI reported.
Veszprem police said they were seeking two suspects, Sandor Raffael and Ivan Sztojka in relation with the murder.
According to local website Index (www.index.hu) police were analysing pictures taken by surveillance cameras inside and outside the nightclub in Veszprem, about 100 km (60 miles) west of Budapest.
More than 1,000 handball supporters and Veszprem locals gathered for a memorial outside the sportshall.
"We are hardcore supporters of the team, and I knew Marian personally," said Julianna Laszlo.
"We just can't find the words to describe how we feel."
Veszprem's mayor Janos Debreczenyi told Reuters he had visited the two wounded players in hospital.
"The whole town is shocked, people simply cannot believe this could happen here," he said.
One of Pesic's kidneys had to be removed and Sesum was being treated for head injuries. Both were in a stable condition.
"We are completely shocked by the incident because Sesum is an exemplary young man and an important national team player," Bozidar Djurkovic, the general secretary of the Serbian Handball Federation (RSS) told Belgrade's B92 broadcaster.
Sesum joined Veszprem in 2007 from Serbian first division side Sintelon Backa Palanka. He played for Serbia in last month's World Championship in Croatia and was one of the team's outstanding players.
Here is a video from his youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzAe7Df1vBM

[Relyana]

R.I.P Marian 

I cannot accept that something like this really happend. He was a member of the Romanian National Handball Team, former member of Dinamo. I am shocked ... from what I understood from the media today Marian Cozma was also stabbed in Bucharest in 2005, but he survived the attack back then. Romanian Police never found out who the attacker was in 2005 ... in the end it seems that it was meant for Marian to lose his life this way. 

[My Star]

I feel sick... The Real IRA have shot dead two British soldiers in Northern Ireland... please dont happen all over again... we have peace lets keep it that way

[Martial]

yes we all thought it was over with Ireland
but don't forget
it IS over between Ireland and the United-Kingdom
IRA veritas is like the ETA in Basque country, just a terrorist group you got to deal with! good luck!

[Centrix]

Romania president's flashy daughter seeks EU seat

Elena Basescu prances down the catwalk, goes clubbing until the wee hours and mangles her grammar.
So is she just what the European Parliament needs? She's running for a seat, though one critic has dismissed her as a Barbie doll.
Basescu's father happens to be Romanian President Traian Basescu. And Romanians are riveted by the daughter's dive into politics.
At 28, Elena Basescu is no typical politician. But with her bee-stung lips, waist-length hair and trendy clothes, she gets almost as much coverage as her father.
Not all the attention is favorable. Observers say she lacks experience and stumbles when she speaks. Her candidacy has been derided as a ploy to win votes for the Democratic Liberal Party, which her father used to run.
"She was proposed by people who wanted to suck up to Basescu," Vasile Matei, a history professor in the city of Dej, said Wednesday. "Romania can't fight for its interests with a Barbie doll."
Messages seeking comment from Elena Basescu were not returned.
Matei predicted her candidacy would be withdrawn. Others hope he's right: Alina Mungiu Pippidi, a sober intellectual, said she would not run for the European Parliament if Basescu was on the same slate.
"Save Elena Basescu!" ran a column in the Evenimentul Zilei daily newspaper Tuesday. "Elena Basescu needs a project, not a seat in Parliament."
Traian Ungureanu, a former BBC Romanian Service journalist, was kinder. But he praised Basescu not for what she was but for what she wasn't: She's not corrupt, he said, nor is she a protegee of Romanian oligarchs.
Nor is it certain that she makes all her own decisions. In December she broke up with her boyfriend, Andrei Hrebenciuc — the son of one of her father's rivals.
"I should have listened to my father," Basescu said. "He's always right."
She might be listening to him again soon. In an interview this week, the president failed to express support for her candidacy, saying instead he would speak to her about it.
"Whatever I say, it will be nicely," he said.

 

[Dartacan]

One of Latin America's most famous and greatest authors, Mario Benedetti (Uruguayan) has died. He was 88. He had an intestin disease, which caused it's death.

For remembering him, here are two poems by him, translated into english

            
Tengo miedo de verte         I have fear of seeing you
necesidad de verte         necessity of seeing you
esperanza de verte         hope of seeing you
desazones de verte.         uneases of seeing you.
          
Tengo ganas de hallarte         I have willingness of finding you
preocupación de hallarte         worry of finding you
certidumbre de hallarte         certainty of finding you
pobres dudas de hallarte.         poor doubts of finding you.
          
Tengo urgencia de oírte         I have urgency of hearing you
alegría de oírte         happiness of hearing you
buena suerte de oírte         good luck of hearing you
y temores de oírte.         and fears of hearing you.
          
O sea         So to speak
resumiendo         summarizing
estoy jodido         I am ****
y radiante         and radiant
quizá más lo primero         perhaps more the former
que lo segundo         than the last
y también         and also
viceversa.         vice versa.



Mario Benedetti
Táctica y estrategia           Mario Benedetti
Tactics and strategy
 
          
Mi táctica es mirarte         My tactics is to watch you,
aprender cómo sos,         to learn how you are,
quererte como sos.         to love you the way you are.
          
Mi táctica es hablarte         My tactics is to talk to you
y escucharte;         and to listen to you;
construir con palabras         to build with words
un puente indestructible.         an indestructible bridge.
          
Mi táctica es         My tactics is
quedarme en tu recuerdo,         to stay in yor memory,
no sé cómo ni         I do not know neither how nor
con qué pretexto,         with which pretext,
pero quedarme en vos.         but to stay in you.
          
Mi táctica es ser franco         My tactics is to be frank
y saber que sos franca         and to know that you are frank
y que no nos vendamos simulacros         and that we do not sell ourselves simulacrums
para que entre los dos         so that between us both
no haya telón ni abismos.         there is neither curtain nor abysses.
          
Mi estrategia es en cambio         My strategy is, nevertheless,
más profunda y más simple.         deeper and simpler.
          
Mi estrategia es         My strategy is
que un día cualquiera,         that any given day,
no se cómo ni         I do not know neither how nor
con que pretexto,         with what reason,
por fin... me necesites.         at last... you need me.