Prime Minister Emil Boc, who went to New York for four days during September to attend a United Nations meeting, was accompanied by a staff of 35 people and the cost of the trip reached EUR 470,000, according to Romanian media reports.

Italian actor and director Michele Placido, known for his Corrado Cattani role in the mafia movie La Piovra, is in Romania for a cinema project about Italy in the 60s and the Italian migration to Romania. Placido will collaborate with Romanian director and producer Bobby Paunescu for this project.

The already famous iPad device from Apple, which has started to shape the online media industry worldwide, is also available for sale in Romania but the prices are considerably higher than in the US. Telecom operators, which are expected to bring the device to Romania at lower selling prices when sold with data and voice subscriptions, are yet to include it in their offers.

Romania ranks 52nd in a worldwide freedom of the press ranking published by Reporters sans Frontières organization, down two places on last year. Romania's ranking is similar to the Maldive Islands' but better than the Republic of Moldova's, Croatia's or Greece's.

Romanian state-owned subway company Metrorex wants to organize a bid for pref-easibility and feasibility studies for works on a new subway mainline which will link southwestern Bucharest neighborhood Rahova to northeastern Colentina, the company has announced.

A Sibiu-based company will start producing in 2011 the isomalt-made sugar-free sweets for people suffering from diabetes, Carmen Socaciu, PhD, of the Cluj-Napoca University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (USMV) told newswire Agrepres. The Isomalt hard candy is the result of a research project awarded under the National Program ''Innovation''.

Romania is the most pessimistic country in Eastern Europe when it comes to consumer confidence and financial expectations, with the two indicators dropping from 120 points to less than 40 in the past two years, a survey from the International Monetary Fund showed. In its latest regional outlook report on Europe, the Washington-based institution noted the Romanians are also most gloomy regarding unemployment projections for the next 12 months.

Romania ranks seventh among world countries which are ready for the applications of tomorrow and 16th out of 72 countries in terms of mobile broadband connection speed in a recent top released by Cisco. Romania managed to outrank countries like Lithuania, Holland, Germany, Portugal, Denmark and Ireland in terms of readiness to use the applications of tomorrow.

A national online Price Navigator will be developed by the Romanian Government with a EUR 2 million budget, allowing customers to check and compare weekly prices for certain products in stores across the country. The project should be ready in a year and will include items on the daily basket.

The state-backed program 'Buy Romanian products' ('Cumpara Romaneste') will be shaped in the next two to three months and will receive EUR 1 million in European financing, according to Economy Minister Ion Ariton. The main purpose of the program is to stimulate the sale of domestic products. The program will also includes debates on creating a public policy to stimulate the purchase of more Romanian-made items.

Prime Minister Emil Boc, who went to New York for four days during September to attend a United Nations meeting, was accompanied by a staff of 35 people and the cost of the trip reached EUR 470,000, according to Romanian media reports.

Italian actor and director Michele Placido, known for his Corrado Cattani role in the mafia movie La Piovra, is in Romania for a cinema project about Italy in the 60s and the Italian migration to Romania. Placido will collaborate with Romanian director and producer Bobby Paunescu for this project.

The already famous iPad device from Apple, which has started to shape the online media industry worldwide, is also available for sale in Romania but the prices are considerably higher than in the US. Telecom operators, which are expected to bring the device to Romania at lower selling prices when sold with data and voice subscriptions, are yet to include it in their offers.

Romania ranks 52nd in a worldwide freedom of the press ranking published by Reporters sans Frontières organization, down two places on last year. Romania's ranking is similar to the Maldive Islands' but better than the Republic of Moldova's, Croatia's or Greece's.

Romanian state-owned subway company Metrorex wants to organize a bid for pref-easibility and feasibility studies for works on a new subway mainline which will link southwestern Bucharest neighborhood Rahova to northeastern Colentina, the company has announced.

A Sibiu-based company will start producing in 2011 the isomalt-made sugar-free sweets for people suffering from diabetes, Carmen Socaciu, PhD, of the Cluj-Napoca University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (USMV) told newswire Agrepres. The Isomalt hard candy is the result of a research project awarded under the National Program ''Innovation''.

Romania is the most pessimistic country in Eastern Europe when it comes to consumer confidence and financial expectations, with the two indicators dropping from 120 points to less than 40 in the past two years, a survey from the International Monetary Fund showed. In its latest regional outlook report on Europe, the Washington-based institution noted the Romanians are also most gloomy regarding unemployment projections for the next 12 months.

Romania ranks seventh among world countries which are ready for the applications of tomorrow and 16th out of 72 countries in terms of mobile broadband connection speed in a recent top released by Cisco. Romania managed to outrank countries like Lithuania, Holland, Germany, Portugal, Denmark and Ireland in terms of readiness to use the applications of tomorrow.

A national online Price Navigator will be developed by the Romanian Government with a EUR 2 million budget, allowing customers to check and compare weekly prices for certain products in stores across the country. The project should be ready in a year and will include items on the daily basket.

The state-backed program 'Buy Romanian products' ('Cumpara Romaneste') will be shaped in the next two to three months and will receive EUR 1 million in European financing, according to Economy Minister Ion Ariton. The main purpose of the program is to stimulate the sale of domestic products. The program will also includes debates on creating a public policy to stimulate the purchase of more Romanian-made items.