Safety conditions in Romanian mines came under scrutiny Sunday after the country`s deadliest mining accident in recent years left 12 dead and 13 injured.

`This is too big a tragedy not to wonder about the causes,` said President Traian Basescu, who travelled overnight to the scene.

BUCHAREST, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - Two people were killed after their helicopter crashed Friday in a forest in south-eastern Romania, authorities said.

The helicopter was on its way to the Black Sea resort of Mamaia when it crashed in a forest in Ialomita county and burst into flames.

The pilot and the passenger died in the fire, the head of the emergency services said.

Police and prosecutors were on site to investigate the causes of the accident and identify the victims.

BUCHAREST, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Some 2,500 pigs are to be slaughtered next week after a new outbreak of swine fever was found in a natural park in eastern Romania, local veterinary authorities said Thursday.

'The slaughtering and incineration of the pigs will begin Monday,' the head of the local veterinary authority Gicu Dragan told AFP.

The outbreak was discovered last week and confirmed by the Institute for Veterinary Diagnosis and Animal Health, Dragan said.

BUCHAREST, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - The head of the Romanian central bank urged the government Monday to pursue tighter fiscal policies to keep a lid on inflation, which has accelerated sharply over the past two months.

'An optimistic scenario would be to make sure that wage increases don't exceed increases in productivity, in the public sector too,' NBR national bank head Mugut Isarescu told a seminar here.

The central bank chief nevertheless conceded that such a measure would be 'difficult to implement' given the upcoming European elections in Romania on November 25.

BUCHAREST, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - Romania attracted 4.059 billion euros (5.8 billion dollars) in foreign direct investment in the eight months to August, down 6.3 percent on the year-earlier period, the Romanian national bank said on Monday.

For the whole of 2007, the Romanian Agency for Foreign Investment is forecasting total foreign direct investment of around seven billion euros, down from 9.1 billion euros in 2006.

BUCHAREST, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - Romanian Agriculture Minister Decebal Traian Remes resigned Thursday amid charges of corruption, the government said in a statement.

The resignation came after television footage, filmed using a hidden camera, was broadcast Wednesday, which prosecutors claimed showed the minister had accepted bribes.

The statement said Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu had asked Remes to resign, 'and he complied.'

'The prime minister made this decision following the recent media scandal centering on the agriculture minister,' the statement added.

BRUSSELS, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - The European Commission threatened on Wednesday to withhold 25 percent of its farm aid to Romania unless Bucharest resolved 'serious problems' in its agricultural subsidies system.

European Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has written to Romania's foreign minister warning of the possibility, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Romania 'still has time to rectify the situation, but it is a matter of urgency and swift actions are needed,' Fischer-Beol said in a statement.

BUCHAREST, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - Inflation in Romania accelerated sharply last month, reaching its highest level in over a year as a result of rising food prices, the national statistics institute INS calculated on Wednesday.

The Romanian consumer price index (CPI) rose by 6.03 percent year-on-year in September, the highest rate since August 2006, INS said in a statement.

That was much higher than the 4.96 percent recorded in August and the 3.96 percent recorded in July.

BUCHAREST, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said Wednesday he feared 'delays' in his country's implementation of agricultural reforms requested by the EU would cause the bloc to reduce aid to farmers.

'The most delicate problem is linked to the agency for payments and intervention in agriculture (APIA), through which farming subsidies are distributed,' Tariceanu said after a meeting of the committee for European affairs.

BUCHAREST, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - Romania announced plans to limit the right of its doctors to work abroad, as a survey published Monday showed almost 50 percent of young medics were ready to seek better-paid jobs elsewhere.

'The government is preparing a bill aimed at toughening the conditions under which medical workers trained in Romania, at the state's cost, can work abroad,' Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu said.

BUCHAREST, Oct 7, 2007 (AFP) - Romanian prosecutors have detained a former agriculture minister for 24 hours as part of a graft investigation, the national anti-corruption prosecutor's office (DNA) said Sunday.

Ioan Muresan was accused of having 'given a high official around 15,500 euros (22,000 dollars) on behalf of a businessman who wanted, in return, preferential treatment in a tender process by public institutions', it said.

NEW YORK, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - A 46-year-old technician whose job of refilling ATMs proved just too tempting was jailed in the United States Friday after being caught trying to flee the country with bundles of cash.

Ionel Faina was arrested in Connecticut in January after mailing almost 130,000 dollars he had stolen to an address in Bucharest.

He was believed to be on his way to New York's JFK airport for a flight to Romania when the car he was in was pulled over by police.

BUCHAREST, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - Romania wants to build a second nuclear power station after the Cernavoda plant in the southeast of the country, to ensure its future independence in energy supply, Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said on Friday.

'It's evident that we need to (construct a new power station) so as not to be dependent on resources like gas and oil which are running out,' Tariceanu said at the official inauguration of Phase II of Cernavoda.

Tariceanu had asked the economy ministry to find a site for the new power plant, the minister said.

BUCHAREST, Oct 3, 2007 (AFP) - The Romanian government of Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu survived a key vote of no-confidence in parliament Wednesday after opposition deputies failed by 12 votes to muster the 232 required.

The motion was drawn up by the main opposition Social Democrat PSD party, and had the support of two other parties, but a number of PSD deputies were not in favour of it after only voting in favour of the government in April.

Speaker of parliament Bogdan Olteanu said that 220 of the 463 members of the house had voted for the motion.

BUCHAREST, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - Some 170,000 Romanian children between 11 and 15 years of age have at least one parent working abroad, the Soros Foundation said in a study published Tuesday.

'Although the work abroad is temporary, the impact on the children could be similar to that of the loss of a parent through divorce or death,' the non-governmental organisation said in a statement.

The study was conducted in June on a sample of 2,037 Romanian students.

'Children whose parents are working abroad should be considered at risk,' the foundation said.

BUCHAREST, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - The Romanian government under Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu could face dissolution this week if opposition parties succeed in pushing through a key vote of no-confidence in parliament.

On paper at least, the motion, tabled by the Social Democrat PSD party, seems to have every chance of success when it goes to parliament on Wednesday.

A total 232 votes out 463 in all would be needed to carry the motion.

BUCHAREST, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - The Romanian economy is under threat from a growing current account deficit and rising inflation, the head of an International Monetary Fund mission to the country, Albert Jaeger, said here Tuesday.

'The first concern is the growing current account deficit. We estimate the current account deficit will go to about 14 percent of the GDP (gross domestic product) in 2007, which is a very large external shortfall,' Jaeger told a press conference at the end of a week-long visit to Bucharest.

BUCHAREST, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - Around 30 groups are interested in taking part in a project to build the third and fourth reactors of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant in south-east Romania, Nuclearelectrica said Tuesday, three weeks ahead of a bid deadline.

The companies included construction group Lafarge of France, power company Enel of Italy, as well as German utilities E.ON and RWE, the state-owned nuclear operator said in a statement.

BUCHAREST, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Romanian President Traian Basescu condemned the corrupt practices pervading the country's universities, where bribes to pass exams have become commonplace, in a speech to students Tuesday.

Basescu called on students at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in northeastern Iasi to say 'no to illegal practices' in a speech on the first day of the university year.

'University must symbolise rectitude, solidarity, correctness and not bribes, theft or lies. Unfortunately, Romanian schools are plagued by these flaws,' Basescu said.

BUCHAREST, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - A Romanian personnel carrier drove over a landmine in southeast Iraq on Friday killing one Romanian soldier and wounding five, Defence Minister Teodor Melescanu announced.

The minister said the vehicle had been on regular patrol near its military base at Talal when the 'very serious incident' occured.

A spokesman added that the soldier died during the evacuation of the armoured carrier when explosives onboard detonated.

BUCHAREST, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - A Romanian priest charged with crucifying a nun he believed was possessed by the devil had his 14-year prison sentence cut by half by an appeal court Thursday, legal sources said.

The court in the central town of Alba-Iulia also reduced from eight years to six the jail term imposed on one of four nuns found guilty of being accomplices to the exorism-turned-murder, while maintaing a five-year sentence for the other three.

BUCHAREST, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Romania's anti-graft agency said Wednesday it had sought President Traian Basescu's permission to probe former defence minister Victor Babiuc for alleged corruption.

Babiuc, a minister from the Democratic Party between 1996 and 2000, is accused of having taken bribes over land sold by the defence ministry to Gigi Becali, the owner of football club Steaua Bucarest.

The request came a day after the agency sought the green light for a similar probe into Justice Minister Tudor Chiuariu's financial dealings.

MADRID, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - A Romanian immigrant who suffered horrific injuries after setting fire to himself a fortnight ago in Spain has died, the sub-prefectural office in the eastern city of Castellon said Wednesday.

The man doused himself in flammable liquid and set himself alight outside the prefectural building in an incident which was captured live on Spanish television.

BUCAREST, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - A brown bear looking for food in a Carpathian Mountains sanatorium overnight got more than he bargained for, staff said Wednesday.

The bear entered the building in the resort of Predeal through a window, found some food in a garbage can, and proceeded to lick its way to the bottom before its head got stuck in the bin.

Sanatorium workers found it at dawn and called hunters to come and tranquilise it in order to liberate it from the unintended trap.

Lightly groggy, the bear stumbled into the neighbouring forest after it was freed.

BUCHAREST, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - Romanian President Traian Basescu said Tuesday he was worried his country was 'going through a demographic desert' because of a drop in birthrates since 1990.

'In 17 years, Romania has lost 1.4 million people due to emigration and the lower birth rate,' Basescu said during a conference on population in the central town of Sibiu.

'Today, we count only one child per woman. If this birth rate remains as it is, we will only have 16 million residents in Romania in 2050, 11 million in 2075 and 8.5 million in 2100,' he warned.

FRANKFURT, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) - The head of Ford Europe, John Fleming, said Wednesday that the group had closed a deal with Romania to buy an automobile plant in the southern city of Craiova.

'We signed an agreement to purchase automotive Craiova, which is a plant in truth that we have been working to try to capture for about two years,' Fleming told automotive specialists on the sidelines of the Frankfurt motor show.

BUCHAREST, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) - Five mourners were crushed to death Tuesday and seven wounded when a truck ploughed into a funeral procession in Romania in pounding rain, police said.

Witnesses said the trucker lost control of his vehicle after a bend, hurtling it into the cortege near the central-western town of Cluj.

Four of the injured were in serious condition and were taken to hospital.

Romania has one of the worst road safety records in Europe with 6,617 serious accidents recorded in 2006, which killed 2,464 people.

BUCHAREST, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - Romanian President Trian Basescu left hospital on Sunday after a thyroid operation.

'I feel very well but I will heed the doctor's advice and rest over the next few days,' said 55-year-old Basescu, who had a nodule removed from the right lobe of his thyroid gland.

The president underwent a slipped disc surgery in Vienna in May last year.

BUCAREST, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) - Romania needs to intensify its fight against corruption and organised crime, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Friday after talks with President Traian Basescu.

'We recognise the progress already made, notably the creation of a national agency for integrity, but we believe that there is room to step up efforts to fight corruption, organised crime and, in general, everything else that can be undertaken by the authorities,' said Barroso.

BUCHAREST, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) - Seven people drowned and one was missing after severe floods following heavy rains in eastern Romania, the interior ministry said Friday, updating the toll.

Three elderly women were found dead in their homes in the town of Tecuci in Galati county, the worst hit by the flooding, the ministry said.

Nearly 1,400 people had been evacuated as a thousand homes were flooded, while train services were also badly disrupted.

The labour ministry said it had released emergency aid totalling some two million euros for the victims.

BUCHAREST, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso hailed on Thursday the role played by the Church in encouraging closer European integration, at a major ecumenical conference in Romania.

'The European Commission has always recognised the commitment of Christian churches, which since the beginning have gone along with and encouraged the great adventure of building Europe,' Barroso told participants at the third European Ecumenical Assembly.

BUCHAREST, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Five people drowned and two were missing after severe floods in eastern Romania over the last 24 hours, local authorities said Thursday.

Two elderly women aged 73 and 84 were found drowned in the town of Tecuci in Galati county, the worst hit by the flooding, mayor Eduard Finkelstein said.

Three other people were killed in neighbouring Vrancea county, where police were still looking for a woman who went missing Wednesday evening.

Another person was also missing in Vaslui county, in northeastern Romania.

BUCHAREST, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Two people have died and another is missing following severe floods that have hit eastern Romania in the last 24 hours, Interior Minister Cristian David said Thursday.

One person was killed in Galati county and another in Vrancea county, where police were still looking for a woman who went missing Wednesday evening, David added.

The town of Tecuci was the worst hit by the flooding. The Realitatea TV station showed residents seeking refuge on their roofs as the town was submerged by water.

SIBIU, Romania, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Delegates of European Christian churches called for unity and reconciliation on Wednesday at a major ecumenical conference in the central Romanian city of Sibiu.

Pope Benedict XVI, who did not attend, stressed the need to 'work towards unity for all Christians,' in a message to participants at the third European Ecumenical Assembly, the first to be hosted by a majority Orthodox country.

'Two elements must direct our efforts: the dialogue on truth and the coming together as a fraternity,' the pope said.

MADRID, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - A Romanian man was in a serious condition in a Spanish hospital on Tuesday after he set himself on fire because he lacked the funds to return home with his family, a local official said.

The man, who arrived in Spain with his family several weeks ago, doused himself with a flammable liquid before setting himself ablaze in front of a government office in the eastern city of Castellon, the official said.

BUCHAREST, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Serbia is ready to 'go very far' to reach a compromise on Kosovo, the country's foreign minister said Tuesday in Romania.

'We are prepared to go very far, we are prepared to be very flexible in terms of defining the autonomous powers,' Vuk Jeremic said during a press conference at an annual meeting for diplomats in the Romanian capital.

'Any compromise solution is better than any imposed solution,' he said.

ZURICH, Switzerland, Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - A planned delivery of Swiss military vehicles to Romania, confirmed Friday, has sparked controversy in Switzerland after it emerged they were destined for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Left and right-wing political parties reacted to the news, saying the contract damaged Switzerland's principle of neutrality.

BUCHAREST, Aug 30, 2007 (AFP) - Two people were killed when their small two-seater plane crashed Thursday near Brasov in central Romania, Mediafax news agency reported.

The 54-year-old pilot, who was president of the local flying club, and his 33-year-old passenger died, local authorities said.

The two-seater plane, which was used for training and had some 700 flight hours, had undergone technical checks this week and was considered to be in good working condition, the flying club said.

LJUBLJANA, Aug 27, 2007 (AFP) - Seven people have died in a car accident on the outskirts of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, police said Monday.

'A 27-year-old driver of a vehicle with Romanian registration plates tried to make a U-turn on the highway crossing to the opposite lane where a car driving in the opposite direction crashed straight into it,' a police statement said of the incident wh