Romania’s three opposition parliamentary parties on Saturday signed a protocol forming the Social-Liberal Union, a political alliance of liberals, conservatives and social democrats.

Romanian President Traian Basescu ha said Romania will not ask to be considered for Schengen separately from Bulgaria, even though reports show Romania has met all technical criteria and Bulgaria hasn’t. "We do not want a split from Bulgaria and we will not seek one," said Basescu after a European Council meeting in Brussels. He added political games to have Romania considered separately would not do anyone any good.

Romania will not draw the last installment of its loan from the International Monetary Fund, of EUR 1 billion, and will use only the disbursement from the European Union, Romanian president Traian Basescu said on Sunday evening.

The five miners missing in the Saturday afternoon explosion at the Uricani mine, southern Romania, have been killed in the blast, said local mayor Danut Buhaescu. He added rescuers were struggling to bring out the bodies, which have been dismembered in the powerful blast. The five were electricians and were apparently servicing an electric transformer when the explosion occurred.

Friday, February 4

18,00 hours Flamenco festival at ARCUB, 14 Batiste St.

19,30 Tango Evening at La

Opening this week-end:

How do you know (trailer below)

with Jack Nicholson, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd

Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc has said that construction works on the Transylvania Highway will continue this year on two sectors, namely Gilau-Nadaselu and Suplacu de Barcau. Boc said money from the state budget has been earmarked to pay off debts to American company Bechtel, the constructor of the Transylvania Highway.

Lufthansa German Airlines carried 615,000 passengers in and out Romania last year, a 10 percent higher passenger volume compared to 2009, according to Stefan Versemann, the company's manager for Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

Let's learn some usual adjectives in Romanian.

The letter “ă” expresses the feminine form of the

The World Bank will offer Romania EUR 750 million for healthcare and social assistance programs, as well as deliver the third and last loan installment, of EUR 400 million, which should cover development policies.

Swedish retailer H&M will open the first store in Bucharest on March 25 in AFI Palace Cotroceni shopping center. The store will be located on two floors in the shopping center. The retailer plans to open six stores in the first half of 2011.

The Romanian Central Bank (BNR) has decided to keep the key interest rate at 6.25 percent during its second monetary policy meeting of the year.