Vlad Alexandrescu

Romania's third political force in parliament, the Save Romania Union, an anti-corruption political faction set up in mid-2016, has chosen On Saturday its second leader in six months, after its president and founder resigned from the party in June due to a row on gay marriage.

The cabinet of Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos has recorded the third loss after Culture Minister Vlad Alexandrescu quit on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister sought Alexandrescu's resignation following an embarrassing dispute at the Bucharest National Opera, which the minister has failed to find a solution to.

Opera and ballet fans in Bucharest are aghast at a conflict that threatens to tear apart the Romanian National Opera and which centres on the company's now departed Danish dancer and artistic director Johan Kobborg.

The long saga of "The Wisdow of the Earth", one of the finest artworks of Romanian-born modernist sculptor Constantin Brancusi, may be nearing an end after the Romanian government announced its intention to buy the sculpture after years of disputes with its owners.