The third seed was pushed all the way by the Romanian in the first set, but, having taken it on a tie-break, ran away with the second as she closed out a 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 triumph.
Kuznetsova will now face either Slovenian 28th seed Katarina Srebotnik or Austrian Yvonne Meusburger in the next round.
World number 53 Cirstea made a solid start to the match and, after the first five games had gone with serve, had her opponent in trouble as she secured the first break to move 4-2 ahead.
Crucial break
However, she could not maintain her advantage and Kuznetsova crucially broke straight back as the set headed into a breaker.
Both players instantly exchanged mini-breaks before the Russian took a stranglehold on proceedings, reeling off five straight points to move to set-point.
Cristea fought off the first two on her own serve, but a crisp delivery from Kuznetsova ended her resistance and closed out the set.
The Romanian's spirit broken, the third seed breezed clear in the second set as she found her range with some powerful groundstrokes.
Kuznetsova looked set to make it a clean sweep but after losing a game for the first time she brought the match to its conclusion in the next, sealing victory by putting away a smash from a half-court return.
Struggling seed
Jelena Jankovic also reached the next round of the final Grand Slam event of the season, though she was given an almighty scare by Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson.
The second seed appeared to be strolling through when she won the first set 6-3 and then twice gave herself opportunities to serve out the match in the second.
However, she failed to make the most of her chances, allowing Arvidsson to battle back and level matters by winning a tie break 7-5 after being 3-0 down.
The deciding set saw Jankovic once again take control, a break giving her a 3-0 advantage against the world number 63.
Yet she still made hard work of finishing the job off, a double fault giving the break back in the seventh game before Jankovic eventually triumphed 7-5.
Davenport win
In the evening match, Lindsay Davenport used her experience to notch a 7-5 6-3 win over Russian teenager Alisa Kleybanova.
Davenport, champion at Flushing Meadows in 1998, capitalised on 27 unforced errors from Kleybanova to book her place in the third round.
"I didn't play quite as well as I did the other day (in the first round)," said the 32-year-old, who missed last year's US Open while on maternity leave.
"Didn't find my rhythm but sometimes you just have to get through these matches. I'm ecstatic to be in the third round."
Davenport, seeded 23rd, will next face Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli.
Svetlana Kuznetsova booked her place in the third round of the US Open after a straight sets victory over Sorana-Mihaela Cirstea.
Europe's largest wind farm comes to... Romania
Construction is expected to begin next month in Romania on what backers claim will be Europe's largest onshore wind farm with an expected capacity of 600 megawatts.
Formed from the sale of two adjacent sites owned by renewable power developer Continental Wind Partners (CWP) to Czech utility company CEZ, the combined site will generate around 354 megawatts by the end of 2009, with the rest of the turbines expected to be in operation by the following year.
Situated in the Dobrogea province of Romania, around 117 kilometers from the Black Sea, the Fantanele and Cogealac sites will represent around 30 per cent of the renewable market in the country, which also includes large hydroelectric projects. The project was originally developed by CWP for Good Energies, an investor in renewable energy who procured the turbines for the project.
However despite the scale of the planned Dobrogea project, wind farm development has been very limited to date in Romania with only a handful of existing turbines offering around 7MW of capacity.
"There are about three turbines standing in Romania, very small ones, which you can just see in the distance from our site with a powerful pair of binoculars," said Andrew Lee, director of Good Energies. "Effectively Romania has no wind capacity at the moment."
Lee claimed the lack of investment in wind farms to date in Romania can be largely explained by the current legislative regime, which he argued does not encourage independent renewable power developers to invest. He said that Good Energies had wanted to back the scheme itself rather than sell to CEZ but had been forced to offload the project because Romania's green certificate incentive regime expires in 2012 despite repeated calls for the government to extend it.
"We are really somewhat disappointed not to be building this facility," he said. "We had waited 18 months for the parliament to renew the legislation and in the meantime companies such as CEZ and others were making strong pitches to us to buy the assets so eventually we decided to go down that route."
The Romanian green certificate scheme is similar to that which operates in the UK and was put in place around eight years ago for a ten year period. The Romanian government's slow action over renewing the scheme, meant that Good Energies was effectively forced to sell the project to a company which has a sufficiently large assets to be able to finance the project until the certificate scheme is eventually extended.
"If you are a utility and not having to use off-balance sheet debt financing, then you can make the investment anyway and finance it on your balance sheet because under European Law the Romanians will have to renew this tariff sooner or later," said Lee. "However we are not going to be able to borrow five hundred million from the bank at the moment."
The new backers are expecting to get around 35 per cent efficiency from the turbines, on a par with what would be expected from a similar scheme in Scotland.
Despite the size of the project, around 139 turbines initially, Good Energy claims that it faced little or no resistance from the local community about the facility. "It is a large facility but then the site is simply huge," said Lee. "It's in quite an empty part of the country and will be enormously beneficial to the local population, in terms of the rents farmers are getting for use of their land."
Good Energy is also setting up a charitable foundation, which it claims will be for the benefit of the local population.
Formed from the sale of two adjacent sites owned by renewable power developer Continental Wind Partners (CWP) to Czech utility company CEZ, the combined site will generate around 354 megawatts by the end of 2009, with the rest of the turbines expected to be in operation by the following year.
Situated in the Dobrogea province of Romania, around 117 kilometers from the Black Sea, the Fantanele and Cogealac sites will represent around 30 per cent of the renewable market in the country, which also includes large hydroelectric projects. The project was originally developed by CWP for Good Energies, an investor in renewable energy who procured the turbines for the project.
However despite the scale of the planned Dobrogea project, wind farm development has been very limited to date in Romania with only a handful of existing turbines offering around 7MW of capacity.
"There are about three turbines standing in Romania, very small ones, which you can just see in the distance from our site with a powerful pair of binoculars," said Andrew Lee, director of Good Energies. "Effectively Romania has no wind capacity at the moment."
Lee claimed the lack of investment in wind farms to date in Romania can be largely explained by the current legislative regime, which he argued does not encourage independent renewable power developers to invest. He said that Good Energies had wanted to back the scheme itself rather than sell to CEZ but had been forced to offload the project because Romania's green certificate incentive regime expires in 2012 despite repeated calls for the government to extend it.
"We are really somewhat disappointed not to be building this facility," he said. "We had waited 18 months for the parliament to renew the legislation and in the meantime companies such as CEZ and others were making strong pitches to us to buy the assets so eventually we decided to go down that route."
The Romanian green certificate scheme is similar to that which operates in the UK and was put in place around eight years ago for a ten year period. The Romanian government's slow action over renewing the scheme, meant that Good Energies was effectively forced to sell the project to a company which has a sufficiently large assets to be able to finance the project until the certificate scheme is eventually extended.
"If you are a utility and not having to use off-balance sheet debt financing, then you can make the investment anyway and finance it on your balance sheet because under European Law the Romanians will have to renew this tariff sooner or later," said Lee. "However we are not going to be able to borrow five hundred million from the bank at the moment."
The new backers are expecting to get around 35 per cent efficiency from the turbines, on a par with what would be expected from a similar scheme in Scotland.
Despite the size of the project, around 139 turbines initially, Good Energy claims that it faced little or no resistance from the local community about the facility. "It is a large facility but then the site is simply huge," said Lee. "It's in quite an empty part of the country and will be enormously beneficial to the local population, in terms of the rents farmers are getting for use of their land."
Good Energy is also setting up a charitable foundation, which it claims will be for the benefit of the local population.
SBP Romania Releases Version 2.0 of the XLogViewer .NET Development Tool
SBP Romania Releases Version 2.0 of the XLogViewer .NET Development Tool
Software Business Partners, a software outsourcing company based in Romania, announces the release of version 2.0 of XLogViewer .NET Development Tool, a complete logging and tracing solution targeted at .NET applications. The new version of XLogViewer features many improvements including an important update to its programming interface for the primary .NET languages: VB.NET and C#.
(PRWEB) August 24, 2008 -- Software Business Partners, a software outsourcing company based in Romania, announces the release of version 2.0 of XLogViewer .NET Development Tool, a complete logging and tracing solution targeted at .NET applications. The new version of XLogViewer features many improvements including an important update to its programming interface for the primary .NET languages: VB.NET and C#.
The outsourcing company from Romania states the new version has been developed not only to support the latest .NET features but also to incorporate the large amount of user feedback received after the previous release. The SBP website, accessible at http://www.sbp-romania.com/ , was a great opportunity for outsourcing customers to contribute their suggestions of what should be included in the application. The experience gained with the large number of outsourcing projects successfully completed in Romania has also been a very important factor in the new set of features.
The installer has been improved to deploy the software in a more intuitive manner, which helps developers better find their way when looking for the installed files and resources. The new installer uses a bootstrap executable to automatically download and install the .NET Framework and the other prerequisite programs (if they not already already present); this makes deployment simple and straightforward.
New users are going to get faster up-to-speed with the product from SBP Romania thanks to the new integrated documentation. It explains the main user interface options, command line parameters, and more detailed things, such as the programming interface (which can be VB.NET, C#, or any other .NET supported language). The VB.NET interface is targeted at productivity, while C# can be used when more control is needed for programming the library.
A test application has been included in the package, allowing programmers to better understand what happens when errors are encountered, how does the logging library handle them, and what is written in the log file. The test application, available in the C# and VB.NET programming languages, is also a good way to generate logs that can be then analyzed by XLogViewer, to familiarize developers with the overall process.
The logging library from SBP Romania now supports better integration with the Visual Studio development environment and with the main .NET programming languages - VB.NET and C#. Debugging applications that rely on XLogViewer has become faster by instructing the debugger to skip irrelevant VB.NET and C# code.
The outsourcing company from Romania is pleased to announce that one the features long expected since version 1.0 made its way into the current release too -- the ability to sort the log entries not only by time, but also by the various other details included in the logging process.
Prior to this release, SBP Romania made a beta version available its outsourcing customers; the feedback gained from the outsourcing partners helped build a very stable release.
Software Business Partners, with headquarters in Bucharest, Romania, is an IT company that provides outsourcing services for software architecture, development and support, on a variety of platforms, including .NET. You can find more information on the SBP Romania corporate website, at http://www.sbp-romania.com/Press/2008-01-16-SBP-Romania-XLogViewer-Software-Tool.aspx
Software Business Partners, a software outsourcing company based in Romania, announces the release of version 2.0 of XLogViewer .NET Development Tool, a complete logging and tracing solution targeted at .NET applications. The new version of XLogViewer features many improvements including an important update to its programming interface for the primary .NET languages: VB.NET and C#.
(PRWEB) August 24, 2008 -- Software Business Partners, a software outsourcing company based in Romania, announces the release of version 2.0 of XLogViewer .NET Development Tool, a complete logging and tracing solution targeted at .NET applications. The new version of XLogViewer features many improvements including an important update to its programming interface for the primary .NET languages: VB.NET and C#.
The outsourcing company from Romania states the new version has been developed not only to support the latest .NET features but also to incorporate the large amount of user feedback received after the previous release. The SBP website, accessible at http://www.sbp-romania.com/ , was a great opportunity for outsourcing customers to contribute their suggestions of what should be included in the application. The experience gained with the large number of outsourcing projects successfully completed in Romania has also been a very important factor in the new set of features.
The installer has been improved to deploy the software in a more intuitive manner, which helps developers better find their way when looking for the installed files and resources. The new installer uses a bootstrap executable to automatically download and install the .NET Framework and the other prerequisite programs (if they not already already present); this makes deployment simple and straightforward.
New users are going to get faster up-to-speed with the product from SBP Romania thanks to the new integrated documentation. It explains the main user interface options, command line parameters, and more detailed things, such as the programming interface (which can be VB.NET, C#, or any other .NET supported language). The VB.NET interface is targeted at productivity, while C# can be used when more control is needed for programming the library.
A test application has been included in the package, allowing programmers to better understand what happens when errors are encountered, how does the logging library handle them, and what is written in the log file. The test application, available in the C# and VB.NET programming languages, is also a good way to generate logs that can be then analyzed by XLogViewer, to familiarize developers with the overall process.
The logging library from SBP Romania now supports better integration with the Visual Studio development environment and with the main .NET programming languages - VB.NET and C#. Debugging applications that rely on XLogViewer has become faster by instructing the debugger to skip irrelevant VB.NET and C# code.
The outsourcing company from Romania is pleased to announce that one the features long expected since version 1.0 made its way into the current release too -- the ability to sort the log entries not only by time, but also by the various other details included in the logging process.
Prior to this release, SBP Romania made a beta version available its outsourcing customers; the feedback gained from the outsourcing partners helped build a very stable release.
Software Business Partners, with headquarters in Bucharest, Romania, is an IT company that provides outsourcing services for software architecture, development and support, on a variety of platforms, including .NET. You can find more information on the SBP Romania corporate website, at http://www.sbp-romania.com/Press/2008-01-16-SBP-Romania-XLogViewer-Software-Tool.aspx
Democratic Liberals Lead All in Romania
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many people in Romania are supporting the Democratic Liberal Party (PD-L), according to a poll by INSOMAR released by Realitatea TV. 38 per cent of respondents would vote for the PD-L in this year’s legislative election.
The Social Democratic Party (PSD) is second with 26 per cent, followed by the National Liberal Party (PNL) with 16 per cent, the Hungarian Democratic Alliance of Romania (UDMR) with four per cent, and the New Generation Party (PNG) and the Party of Great Romania (PRM) both with three per cent. Support is lower for the Conservative Party (PC), the National Peasant Christian-Democratic Party (PNT-CD), the National Initiative Party (PIN), and the Hungarian Civic Party (PCM).
The Alliance for Justice and Truth (DA)—comprising the Democratic Party (PD) and the PNL—won the November 2004 parliamentary election, securing 132 seats in the 332-member Chamber of Deputies. DA candidate Trian Basescu won the presidential run-off in December 2004 with 51.23 per cent of the vote, defeating PSD contender Adrian Nastase. Basescu later appointed fellow alliance member Calin Popescu Tariceanu as prime minister.
In December 2006, several members of the PNL—including former prime minister Theodor Stolojan—assembled as the Liberal-Democrats (PLD) to protest the leadership of Tariceanu. In 2007, the governing alliance underwent major changes as Tariceanu dismissed the PD ministers and the coalition dissolved. Tariceanu assembled a minority administration comprising the PNL and the UDMR.
In January 2008, the PLD and the Democratic Party (PD) merged to form the PD-L. The organization joined the European People’s Party (EPP) and is led by Emil Boc, the elected mayor of Cluj-Napoca, the largest city in Transylvania.
On Aug. 13, Romanian lawmakers rejected a request by prosecutors to investigate allegations of corruption against former prime minister Adrian Nastase. The country’s prosecutors want to open several investigations for corruption against Nastase—who headed the government from December 2000 to December 2004—but their request for a probe needs to be approved by a majority in the legislature.
Ilie Sarbu, vice-president of Nastase’s opposition PSD, commented on the vote, saying, "This is the Parliament’s will, deputies labelled this case as a political one and they did not want to play the game of those who orchestrated it."
The next legislative election is tentatively scheduled for November 2008.
Polling Data
What party would you support in Romania’s next parliamentary election?
Democratic Liberal Party (PD-L)
38%
Social Democratic Party (PSD)
26%
National Liberal Party (PNL)
16%
Hungarian Democratic Alliance of Romania (UDMR)
4%
New Generation Party (PNG)
3%
Party of Great Romania (PRM)
3%
Conservative Party (PC)
2%
National Peasant Christian-Democratic Party (PNT-CD)
2%
National Initiative Party (PIN)
2%
Hungarian Civic Party (PCM)
1%
Source: National Institute for Public Opinion Studies and Marketing (INSOMAR) / Realitatea TV
Methodology: Interviews with 1,506 Romanian adults, conducted from Jul. 22 to Jul. 30, 2008. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.
The Social Democratic Party (PSD) is second with 26 per cent, followed by the National Liberal Party (PNL) with 16 per cent, the Hungarian Democratic Alliance of Romania (UDMR) with four per cent, and the New Generation Party (PNG) and the Party of Great Romania (PRM) both with three per cent. Support is lower for the Conservative Party (PC), the National Peasant Christian-Democratic Party (PNT-CD), the National Initiative Party (PIN), and the Hungarian Civic Party (PCM).
The Alliance for Justice and Truth (DA)—comprising the Democratic Party (PD) and the PNL—won the November 2004 parliamentary election, securing 132 seats in the 332-member Chamber of Deputies. DA candidate Trian Basescu won the presidential run-off in December 2004 with 51.23 per cent of the vote, defeating PSD contender Adrian Nastase. Basescu later appointed fellow alliance member Calin Popescu Tariceanu as prime minister.
In December 2006, several members of the PNL—including former prime minister Theodor Stolojan—assembled as the Liberal-Democrats (PLD) to protest the leadership of Tariceanu. In 2007, the governing alliance underwent major changes as Tariceanu dismissed the PD ministers and the coalition dissolved. Tariceanu assembled a minority administration comprising the PNL and the UDMR.
In January 2008, the PLD and the Democratic Party (PD) merged to form the PD-L. The organization joined the European People’s Party (EPP) and is led by Emil Boc, the elected mayor of Cluj-Napoca, the largest city in Transylvania.
On Aug. 13, Romanian lawmakers rejected a request by prosecutors to investigate allegations of corruption against former prime minister Adrian Nastase. The country’s prosecutors want to open several investigations for corruption against Nastase—who headed the government from December 2000 to December 2004—but their request for a probe needs to be approved by a majority in the legislature.
Ilie Sarbu, vice-president of Nastase’s opposition PSD, commented on the vote, saying, "This is the Parliament’s will, deputies labelled this case as a political one and they did not want to play the game of those who orchestrated it."
The next legislative election is tentatively scheduled for November 2008.
Polling Data
What party would you support in Romania’s next parliamentary election?
Democratic Liberal Party (PD-L)
38%
Social Democratic Party (PSD)
26%
National Liberal Party (PNL)
16%
Hungarian Democratic Alliance of Romania (UDMR)
4%
New Generation Party (PNG)
3%
Party of Great Romania (PRM)
3%
Conservative Party (PC)
2%
National Peasant Christian-Democratic Party (PNT-CD)
2%
National Initiative Party (PIN)
2%
Hungarian Civic Party (PCM)
1%
Source: National Institute for Public Opinion Studies and Marketing (INSOMAR) / Realitatea TV
Methodology: Interviews with 1,506 Romanian adults, conducted from Jul. 22 to Jul. 30, 2008. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.
Woman, 44, gives birth to 18th child in Canada
BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhuanet) -- A 44-year-old Romanian immigrant to Canada gave birth to her 18th child in Abbotsford, British Columbia, media reported Monday.
Last Tuesday, Livia Ionce gave birth to a 3 kg (seven pounds, 12 ounces) baby girl, the 10th girl in the family.
Their 17 other children range in age from 20 months to 23 years old.
"We never planned how many children to have. We just let God guide our lives, you know, because we strongly believe life comes from God and that's the reason we did not stop the life," said the proud dad Alexandru Ionce.
The husband said he and his wife had expected a boy to make the number of boys and girls even.
"We thank God all of them are healthy and happy," said Ionce.
(Agencies)
Last Tuesday, Livia Ionce gave birth to a 3 kg (seven pounds, 12 ounces) baby girl, the 10th girl in the family.
Their 17 other children range in age from 20 months to 23 years old.
"We never planned how many children to have. We just let God guide our lives, you know, because we strongly believe life comes from God and that's the reason we did not stop the life," said the proud dad Alexandru Ionce.
The husband said he and his wife had expected a boy to make the number of boys and girls even.
"We thank God all of them are healthy and happy," said Ionce.
(Agencies)
Romania Parties Bicker over EU’s Graft Report
BalkanInsight.com
23 July 2008 Bucharest _ Romania’s government praised an EU report on the Balkan country’s fight against corruption, while opposition parties and analysts took a more critical approach. "The report is fair and balanced as it stresses that Romania has made progress in its fight against corruption," Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu said in a press statement.
On his part, Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said the government will continue the policy of "zero tolerance" against graft.
On Wednesday, the European Commission said in a report that Romania needs to step up efforts to combat high-level corruption, notably by its parliament and courts, where judges often used minor excuses to delay cases.
The report condemns parliament for delaying corruption inquiries involving the former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and other top officials.
It also calls on Romania not to adopt legal changes that would make it much harder for prosecutors to search the homes and wire-tap the phones of corruption suspects.
Opposition politicians had a different opinion on the report than that of the government.
"The findings of the report are unfair. There was no delay in parliament, on the contrary. There wasn't any lack of political will by deputies to fight graft," Nicolae Vacaroiu, the speaker of Romania's Upper Chamber, the Senate, said.
Vacaroiu is also a leader of opposition Social Democratic Party.
Experts say Romania still has a long way forward in its fight against corruption.
"The greatest liability in Romania is that the fight against corruption has become a political instrument in the power struggle among parties,” explained Victor Alistar, Executive Director of Transparency International Romania.
“This is why a national consensus on anti-corruption policies has failed and no high-level corruption case has been concluded so far. We believe that any new anti-corruption reform must be designed on a purely technical basis and backed by strong political will," he added.
Romania, together with Bulgaria, are the newest EU members having joined the bloc in 2007. They have been under stringent monitoring over concerns they will be unable to absorb millions of euros in EU funding amid fears of corruption and organised crime.
23 July 2008 Bucharest _ Romania’s government praised an EU report on the Balkan country’s fight against corruption, while opposition parties and analysts took a more critical approach. "The report is fair and balanced as it stresses that Romania has made progress in its fight against corruption," Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu said in a press statement.
On his part, Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said the government will continue the policy of "zero tolerance" against graft.
On Wednesday, the European Commission said in a report that Romania needs to step up efforts to combat high-level corruption, notably by its parliament and courts, where judges often used minor excuses to delay cases.
The report condemns parliament for delaying corruption inquiries involving the former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and other top officials.
It also calls on Romania not to adopt legal changes that would make it much harder for prosecutors to search the homes and wire-tap the phones of corruption suspects.
Opposition politicians had a different opinion on the report than that of the government.
"The findings of the report are unfair. There was no delay in parliament, on the contrary. There wasn't any lack of political will by deputies to fight graft," Nicolae Vacaroiu, the speaker of Romania's Upper Chamber, the Senate, said.
Vacaroiu is also a leader of opposition Social Democratic Party.
Experts say Romania still has a long way forward in its fight against corruption.
"The greatest liability in Romania is that the fight against corruption has become a political instrument in the power struggle among parties,” explained Victor Alistar, Executive Director of Transparency International Romania.
“This is why a national consensus on anti-corruption policies has failed and no high-level corruption case has been concluded so far. We believe that any new anti-corruption reform must be designed on a purely technical basis and backed by strong political will," he added.
Romania, together with Bulgaria, are the newest EU members having joined the bloc in 2007. They have been under stringent monitoring over concerns they will be unable to absorb millions of euros in EU funding amid fears of corruption and organised crime.
Flooding blankets Romania, Ukraine, Moldova
Large parts of Ukraine and Romania have been flooded after heavy rainfall caused a number of rivers to burst their banks. The authorities have declared a state of emergency in the affected areas. Moldova has also been hit by flooding.
In Ukraine, 13 people drowned in what the government says is the worst flooding in a century. Thousands were evacuated from dozens of villages and more than 20,000 houses have been flooded.
In northeastern Romania, three vacationers were killed when a landslide swept away the hut in which they had sought shelter. Dozens of villages have been inundated and bridges and roads severely damaged by the swollen rivers.
In Ukraine, 13 people drowned in what the government says is the worst flooding in a century. Thousands were evacuated from dozens of villages and more than 20,000 houses have been flooded.
In northeastern Romania, three vacationers were killed when a landslide swept away the hut in which they had sought shelter. Dozens of villages have been inundated and bridges and roads severely damaged by the swollen rivers.
Romania: Construction of a permanent U.S. base in Romania to house 1,700 personnel is well under way
MIKHAIL KOGELNICEANCE AIR BASE, Romania — Construction of a permanent U.S. base in Romania to house 1,700 personnel is well under way, with work on a similar facility for up to 2,500 personnel due to start in Bulgaria this winter, according to a U.S. official.
George Bostick , a civilian serving as the Joint Task Force-East deputy commander for support, said the Romanian base is slated for completion next year.
Bostick oversees the feeding and housing of 900 soldiers training in Romania and Bulgaria this summer.
The troops in Romania are living and working at two Romanian facilities — Mikhail Kogelniceance Air Base and Babadag Training Area.
Personnel at MK Air Base live in temporary two-man containers known as ATCO buildings, Bostick said. The base includes outdoor tennis and basketball courts, a small post exchange, gymnasium and dining facility.
At the more-isolated Babadag Training Area, which can be reached only by dirt farm tracks leading from small villages where people still use donkeys and carts for transportation, soldiers eat from a field kitchen and sleep in bunks inside a large metal shed.
Bostick said the permanent facility in Romania is being built near MK Air Base on a site that was formerly the Romanian Army’s 34th Mechanized Brigade Headquarters. The Soviet-era facility was demolished to make way for new buildings that will include a dining facility, administration buildings and a post exchange as well as barracks built to the Army’s 1+1 standard, in which a soldier has a private living space and shares a bathroom and small kitchenette with another soldier.
"It will have the basic things you find on any American installation minus things for dependents because this is an unaccompanied tour," Bostick said.
Maj. Dragos Axinia, a Romanian army spokesman, said people in his country are eager for more U.S. soldiers to move into Romania.
"We have been waiting 60 years for the Americans to come," he said, adding that locals do not have fond memories of the long Soviet occupation that followed World War II.
The Bulgarian facility, at Novo Selo Training Area, will be similar to the Romanian base but larger, Bostick said.
This year’s exercise, which includes Army, Air Force, Navy and National Guard troops, builds on work done during last year’s initial training in Romania and Bulgaria, Bostick said.
The Romanian soldiers involved in the training are from the 21st Mountain Battalion, which will deploy to Afghanistan later this year with soldiers from the U.S. Army’s Company B, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment.
The Romanian portion of the exercise began last month and wraps up July 30. The Bulgarian training runs from Sept. 1 to Oct. 17.
News Source: http://www.starsandstripes.com/
George Bostick , a civilian serving as the Joint Task Force-East deputy commander for support, said the Romanian base is slated for completion next year.
Bostick oversees the feeding and housing of 900 soldiers training in Romania and Bulgaria this summer.
The troops in Romania are living and working at two Romanian facilities — Mikhail Kogelniceance Air Base and Babadag Training Area.
Personnel at MK Air Base live in temporary two-man containers known as ATCO buildings, Bostick said. The base includes outdoor tennis and basketball courts, a small post exchange, gymnasium and dining facility.
At the more-isolated Babadag Training Area, which can be reached only by dirt farm tracks leading from small villages where people still use donkeys and carts for transportation, soldiers eat from a field kitchen and sleep in bunks inside a large metal shed.
Bostick said the permanent facility in Romania is being built near MK Air Base on a site that was formerly the Romanian Army’s 34th Mechanized Brigade Headquarters. The Soviet-era facility was demolished to make way for new buildings that will include a dining facility, administration buildings and a post exchange as well as barracks built to the Army’s 1+1 standard, in which a soldier has a private living space and shares a bathroom and small kitchenette with another soldier.
"It will have the basic things you find on any American installation minus things for dependents because this is an unaccompanied tour," Bostick said.
Maj. Dragos Axinia, a Romanian army spokesman, said people in his country are eager for more U.S. soldiers to move into Romania.
"We have been waiting 60 years for the Americans to come," he said, adding that locals do not have fond memories of the long Soviet occupation that followed World War II.
The Bulgarian facility, at Novo Selo Training Area, will be similar to the Romanian base but larger, Bostick said.
This year’s exercise, which includes Army, Air Force, Navy and National Guard troops, builds on work done during last year’s initial training in Romania and Bulgaria, Bostick said.
The Romanian soldiers involved in the training are from the 21st Mountain Battalion, which will deploy to Afghanistan later this year with soldiers from the U.S. Army’s Company B, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment.
The Romanian portion of the exercise began last month and wraps up July 30. The Bulgarian training runs from Sept. 1 to Oct. 17.
News Source: http://www.starsandstripes.com/
Romanian president bids national Olympic team good luck in Beijing
BUCHAREST, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Romanian President Traian Basescu said on Saturday it would be a great joy for him to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games with his country's team.
The president participated in the presentation of Romania's Olympic team in Izvorani, 33 km north of the capital city Bucharest.
The 104-member Romanian team will compete in 15 sports at the Beijing Games. They are scheduled to leave on Sunday evening.
"I am not doing a political gesture by attending the opening of the Olympic Games together with other heads of state. I am first of all doing a symbolic gesture for Romania's delegation," said Basescu, adding that after the Games, he would meet the medal winners and other athletes in the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.
"The people who competed with all their power for the glory of sports must be welcomed and respected by the whole nation, the headof state included," said Basescu.
The president voiced his belief that Romania's Olympic team will score good results in Beijing and the country's medals will grow in number.
"You have a history written in much gold, silver and bronze. You have 82 gold medals, 88 silver medals and 114 bronze medals. They stand for the performance and the sports history of the Romanian Olympic movement since 1952...It is a history that honors all of us," said the Romanian Head of State.
Basescu said all members of the national team had made special efforts to qualify for the Beijing Games. He expressed confidence that the Games will overwhelm the athletes with "glory and respect."
"We owe respect and glory not only to the sportsmen who will win medals. Any one of you will come back from Beijing overwhelmed with glory and respect as long as he or she will take part in the competition. The level of performance you had to reach to qualify for these Games is already something common people, common sportsmen cannot do," said Basescu.
He wished the Romanian sportsmen much success, assured them of his entire support and conveyed to them "the message of love and respect from the 22 million Romanians."
After the speech, the president handed Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee Chairman Octavian Morariu a national flag, which will be carried to Beijing, and received a team T-shirt in return.
The president participated in the presentation of Romania's Olympic team in Izvorani, 33 km north of the capital city Bucharest.
The 104-member Romanian team will compete in 15 sports at the Beijing Games. They are scheduled to leave on Sunday evening.
"I am not doing a political gesture by attending the opening of the Olympic Games together with other heads of state. I am first of all doing a symbolic gesture for Romania's delegation," said Basescu, adding that after the Games, he would meet the medal winners and other athletes in the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.
"The people who competed with all their power for the glory of sports must be welcomed and respected by the whole nation, the headof state included," said Basescu.
The president voiced his belief that Romania's Olympic team will score good results in Beijing and the country's medals will grow in number.
"You have a history written in much gold, silver and bronze. You have 82 gold medals, 88 silver medals and 114 bronze medals. They stand for the performance and the sports history of the Romanian Olympic movement since 1952...It is a history that honors all of us," said the Romanian Head of State.
Basescu said all members of the national team had made special efforts to qualify for the Beijing Games. He expressed confidence that the Games will overwhelm the athletes with "glory and respect."
"We owe respect and glory not only to the sportsmen who will win medals. Any one of you will come back from Beijing overwhelmed with glory and respect as long as he or she will take part in the competition. The level of performance you had to reach to qualify for these Games is already something common people, common sportsmen cannot do," said Basescu.
He wished the Romanian sportsmen much success, assured them of his entire support and conveyed to them "the message of love and respect from the 22 million Romanians."
After the speech, the president handed Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee Chairman Octavian Morariu a national flag, which will be carried to Beijing, and received a team T-shirt in return.
23 injured in factory explosion in central Romania
BUCHAREST, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Twenty three persons were injured on Saturday in the explosion of a sawdust drier at a wood processing factory in the city of Gheorgheni, central Romania, police said.
The explosion took place at SC Transilvania Industry in Gheorgheni and 23 workers, who were at that time in the section, were injured.
The explosion occurred in a silo where wood dust and sawdust were stored and a team of investigators are trying to find out the cause.
Twenty-one workers were hospitalized with burns of various degrees on their bodies, said Geza Jeszensky, manager of the Municipal Hospital in Gheorgheni. Four of the injured have second and third degree burns on about 50 percent of their bodies and the remaining ones have second degree burns on their hands and faces, he added.
According to Jeszensky, the condition of the injured workers is stable and their lives are not in danger.
The explosion took place at SC Transilvania Industry in Gheorgheni and 23 workers, who were at that time in the section, were injured.
The explosion occurred in a silo where wood dust and sawdust were stored and a team of investigators are trying to find out the cause.
Twenty-one workers were hospitalized with burns of various degrees on their bodies, said Geza Jeszensky, manager of the Municipal Hospital in Gheorgheni. Four of the injured have second and third degree burns on about 50 percent of their bodies and the remaining ones have second degree burns on their hands and faces, he added.
According to Jeszensky, the condition of the injured workers is stable and their lives are not in danger.
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