Deputy PM Sevil Shhaideh and the minister delegate for European funds Rovana Plumb face criminal investigation as part of a corruption case.
Corruption. The Romanian deputy prime minister and minister for regional development Sevil Shhaideh and the minister delegate for European funds Rovana Plumb are under criminal investigation in a corruption case. According to the National Anticorruption Directorate, Sevil Shhaideh is being investigated for abuse of office while serving as a secretary of state in the ministry of regional development and public administration, while Rovana Plumb is suspected of complicity to abuse of abuse while she was a minister for the environment and climate change. The Directorate says that in 2013, through a concerted action of a number of persons holding public office, sections of the Belina Island and Pavel branch located in the Danube floodplain illegally became the property of the Teleorman county, in the south, to be managed by the Teleorman County Council, before being illegally rented out to a private company a few days later. The two plots of land are state property so could not come into the possession of a county council through a government decision, but only by law, prosecutors say. In the case of Rovana Plumb, who is also an MP, the Anticorruption Directorate has informed the Chamber of Deputies with a view to filing a request for the start of criminal investigations.
Measles outbreak. There are almost 9,300 confirmed cases of measles in Romania, according to an announcement made on Friday by the National Centre for the Supervision and Control of Transmissible Diseases with the National Public Health Institute. No new deaths have been recorded in recent weeks, the toll remaining at 34. Because of the large number of cases, the World Health Organisation has included Romania among the five countries totalling more than 80% of the total number of measles infections worldwide. Last month, the government adopted a bill on the organisation and funding of vaccination for the population. The bill is now in Parliament for debate and approval and is expected to come into force on January 1st 2018.
Education fair. Universities, high-schools and foreign language centres from all over the world are presenting their educational offers in Romania during the 27th edition of the World Education Fair. The event is held in the cities of Timisoara, in western Romania, on September 22nd, Bucharest, on September 23rd and 24th, Iasi and Galati between September 25th and 27th and Constanta on September 28th. According to the organisers, over 10,000 young Romanians interested in studying abroad have benefited from counselling services over the last 9 editions of the fair.
Football. The Executive Committee of the Romanian Football Federation has approved a proposal made by the Federation president Razvan Burleanu to appoint Cosmin Contra as manager of the Romanian national side. Aged 41, Contra has had 73 caps for Romania and has played for famous football clubs such as AC Milan and Atletico Madrid. He has also coached various football clubs in Romania, Spain and China. Contra has reached an agreement with the federation for taking over from the German coach Cristoph Daum, the first foreign manager in the history of the Romanian football squad. During Daum's tenure, Romania failed to qualify for the World Cup to be held in Russia next year. Romania still have two more games to play, first against Kazakhstan on October 5th and then against Denmark three days later.
Tennis. The Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea on Friday lost to Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum in the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament in Seoul. Cirstea, world no. 52 and seeded fourth in Seoul, lost in only 65 minutes to world no. 155. In the doubles, where Cirstea was playing alongsgide Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, she withdrew from the quarterfinals. In the men's singles, Romania's Marius Copil failed to qualify for the semifinals of the tournament in Metz, France, losing to Germany's Peter Gojowczyk in straight sets. Previously, Copil had pulled off a surprising victory against world no. 22, France's Lucas Pouille.
Invictus games. The Romanian defence minister Mihai Fifor and the chief of the General Staff, general Nicolae Ciuca, will attend the opening of the Invictus Paralympic games in Toronto, Canada, on Saturday. Romania is represented by 15 military who have sustained injuries in theatres of operation in Iraq and Afghanistan. They compete in six individual sports disciplines: archery, athletics, indoor rowing, weightlifting, cycling and swimming.
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