Mediafax

A group of hundreds of people participating in the Iasi Pride march on Sunday afternoon in the largest city in eastern Romania were attacked by conservative and religious protesters.

The appeal court ruling on December 23 wrapped up a decade-long case that many saw a test of Romania's commitment to fighting modern slavery. Rights groups and legal experts called the verdict a "huge failure" of the justice system and a betrayal of victims.

Romania will cut value added tax (VAT) for all food products to 9% from 24% starting in June, six months earlier than planned, as budget revenue is higher than expected, Prime Minister Victor Ponta has announced.

He also said the cut in VAT rate to 9% will also apply to non-alcoholic beverages and catering services.

The forthcoming EU Commission report under the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (CVM), will be more positive for Romania than for Bulgaria, European sources say.

Bucharest should expect a text suggesting improvement in 2014 compared to 2013, according to the information cited by Mediafax and Romania Insider.

UDMR ethnic Hungarian party, a junior partner in Romania's government coalition, has decided to leave it following the defeat of Social Democrat Prime Minister Victor Ponta in presidential elections.

Yet, Ponta's centre-left coalition will stay in power as its remaining members - the Social Democrats and two junior partners - together control 332 of the 579 seats in Parliament.

Bulgaria and Romania have agreed to build two new bridges over the Danube River.

Romania's government has approved the signing of a memorandum with Bulgaria on the construction of the two bridges, according to news agencies Adjepress and Mediafax, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.

US Vice-President Joe Biden is to visit Bucharest for talks with Romanian leaders on the volatile situation in Ukraine, among other matters.

President Traian Basescu on Monday said he had invited Biden to Romania, but declined to specify the timing of the visit.

US energy giant Chevron has obtained a new permit by Romania which allows it to look for shale gas in a fifth potential deposit.

Chevron could now start drilling in Urdes, a village that lies in the eastern district of Vaslui, Dnevnik.bg has reported, citing reports by Romania's Mediafax.

Almost 85 per cent of Romanians will spend Easter at home with family or friends, while the average budget allotted to this important celebration will be 359 lei (79 euro), a study published on Monday reveals.

The money spent over Easter is likely to be the much same as last year, according to a poll by MEDNET Marketing research center.

Romanian border police intercepted a Bulgarian truck with 2 tons of spoiled chicken meat, reports Mediafax.

The driver is also Bulgarian. He refused to provide any documents for origin and ownership of the cargo.

The meat, packed in 200 boxes, was supposed to be delivered to two companies in Oltenica and Bucharest.