Angela Gheorghiu - The world's most glamorous opera star" (New York Sun)

Superstar Angela Gheorghiu, the most glamorous and gifted opera singer of our time, was born in the small Romanian town Adjud. From early childhood it was obvious that she will become a singer, her destiny was the music. She attended the Music School in Bucharest and graduated from the Bucharest Music Academy, where she studied with the remarkable music teacher Mia Barbu. Ms. Gheorghiu's magnificent voice and dazzling stage presence have established her as a unique international opera superstar

In 1992, she made her international debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, followed the same year by debuts at the Metropolitan Opera and the Wiener Staatsoper. Since then, she has graced the stages of the world's opera houses and concert halls, excelling both vocally and dramatically. Today, at the height of her career - and looking as glamorous as ever - she is widely recognised by critics and opera lovers as one of the great sopranos of all time.In 1998, Gheorghiu signed an exclusive contract with EMI Classics for whom she has recorded Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Tosca and Il trittico, Massenet's Manon and Werther, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Bizet's Carmen and Verdi's Il trovatore, several duet albums with Roberto Alagna and concerts with orchestra or choir and orchestra including Verdi's Requiem, Live from La Scala, Live from Covent Garden, Casta Diva, My Puccini, and Diva.All her CDs have received widespread critical acclaim and have been awarded many prizes such as Gramophone Awards, Diapason d’Or Awards, Choc du Monde de la Musique in France, Cecilia Prize in Belgium, Deutsche Schallplattenkritik-Preis in Germany, the Echo Award, the Italian Musica e dischi Foreign Lyric Production Award, the USA Critics’ Award etc. Mrs Gheorghiu won the title of “Female Artist of the Year” at the Classical Brit Awards in 2001 and 2010.Last year she made her much-acclaimed debut in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, a new production of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. The Observer wrote: "It's hard to imagine anyone bettering Angela Gheorghiu in this part. Her voice, feather-light and creamy yet with a core of steel, matches the liquid way she moves on stage. She's a natural actress and made the improbable death scene heartbreakingly believable and her signature aria "Poveri fiori" simply unforgettable."After Angela Gheorghiu's July 2011, performances as Tosca with Jonas Kaufmann and Bryn Terfel at The Royal Opera House under the baton of Antonio Pappano, The Independent wrote, "Gheorghiu, like Tosca, is a born diva." The Guardian added, "Her bloodcurdling outburst at the realisation that (Mario) is dead, not merely pretending, reminded us why this Romanian diva draws the crowds." This production will be screened in cinemas around the world in the autumn.Angela Gheorghiu's 2011-2012 season includes performances in Gounod's Faust at London's Royal Opera House, in Puccini's La Bohème at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, the Staatsoper Hamburg, the Nationaltheater, Munich and La Scala, Milan, a concert performance of Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur at New York's Carnegie Hall and song recitals in Tokyo, Essen, Washington, D.C. and Paris.Angela Gheorghiu's latest project on EMI Classics is 'Homage to Maria Callas', a collection of beloved French and Italian operatic masterpieces. The programme is inspired by the career and recordings of Maria Callas, the greatest diva of the last century. The arias are shared favourites of both Callas and Gheorghiu, and Angela's new recording demonstrates once again her extraordinary vocal and emotional range.Recorded at London's iconic Abbey Road Studios in London, and in New York, the repertoire of Gheorghiu's first studio recital in six years (during which time she recorded several complete operas, including a multi-award-winning Madama Butterfly), shows her versatility in lyric, spinto and mezzo roles, with each of which she feels a strong emotional connection

Gabriel Marcu - Apple - 35 patents and patent applications

Gabriel Marcu is a Senior Scientist for Apple where he is responsible for color calibration and characterization of all display products. His achievements are in color processing on displays, digital camera and desktop printing (characterization/calibration, halftoning, gamut mapping, ICC profiling, HDR imaging, RAW processing) and he holds more than 35 patents and patent applications in these areas. Dr. Marcu has taught seminars and short courses on color topics for UC at Berkeley, IMI London-UK, and various IS&T, SPIE and SID conferences. He is co-chair for IS&T/SID Electronic Imaging Color Conference: Display, Hardcopy, Processing, and Applications. He is a Fellow of SPIE and IS&T.

24 Gold medals for Romania at Geneva Exhibition for Inventions- 24 de medale din aur pt Romania la Expozitia de Inventii de la Geneva

The Romanian delegation won 24 gold, 18 silver and 7 bronze me­dals, plus 20 special awards at the 39th edition of the Interna­tional Exhi­bition of Inventions of Geneva, the National Authority for Scientific Research (ANCS) an­nounces, quoted by HotNews.

Romania a obtinut 24 de medalii de aur, 18 medalii de argint si 7 de bronz la Salonul de Inventii de la Geneva. Toate cele 49 de inventii romanesti au fost medaliate la Geneva.

Printre inventiile romanilor se regaseste un dispozitiv de reducere a consumului de combustibil la automobile, un procedeu inovativ de tratare a acneei, patul rabatabil prevazut cu un sistem ce permite o utilizare indelungata, precum si un echipament de drenaj in cazul hemoragiilor ventriculelor.

Ro­mania attended the Geneva exhibition on April 6-10, with 49 inventions, of which 40were financed and displayed under the aegis of ANCS, while the other 9 were financed by inventors themsel­ves, or by various R&D units. One of the special awards, with applicability in medicine, was granted to Teodora Tihan, Ingrid Ionescu, Aurelia Meghea and Ioana Deme­trescu for their “Method of obtaining polymeric films for medicine.”

Medal for engine which saves fuel in heat
The car engineer Corneliu Birtok-Baneasa won the bronze medal in the 2011 Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions, for inventing a device which boosts the power of a car engine, while reducing fuel consumption, on hot days, Realitatea.net reports. The Romanian’s invention is called “integrated deflector for thermal radiation issued by internal combustion engines”. The device forces the air current which goes through a car radiator to adopt a descending trajectory, thus preventing its access to the engine compartment. Thus, the car’s intake manifold and air filter are protected from overheating, particularly on hot summer days. “The de­flector comes in handy in summer, as it maintains a high air density, preventing overheating and power losses. The use of the deflector boosts the engine’s power and reduces fuel consumption,” Birtok-Baneasa stated.

Vasile Sirli - Music Director of Disneyland Paris

Vasile Sirli este romanul responsabil cu entuziasmul in cel mai cautat parc de distractii de pe continent, Disneyland Paris. Mai exact, este directorul muzical al parcului. 12 milioane de oameni pe an aud, fara sa banuiasca macar, muzica pe care o gandeste si o scrie un roman.

The man behind millions of smiles and moments of extreme magic and entertainment at Disneyland Paris is our Romanian Valisle Sirli. For the past 16th years he makes Mickey Mouse and the rest of the fairy world dance from the heart. (http://www.dlrpmagic.com/interviews/vasile-sirli-musical-director-mickey%E2%80%99s-magical-party/ )

"Nascut la Varias, la 40 km de Timisoara, am inceput scoala la Sanicolau Mare, acolo unde s-a nascut Bela Bartok, sunt foarte mandru de asta. La Timisoara am facut liceul de muzica. Sunt de educatie banateana, de influenta muzicala germana, toti profesorii nostri veneau cu scoala de la Dresda sau Leipzig. Noi aveam mai putina televiziune pe vremea aceea, am citit mult, am vazut mult film.
Dintre povestile romanesti, care v-au placut mai mult?
- Tot ce este Creanga, Ispirescu. Chiar ma gandeam la basmul romanesc, la atitudinea romanului fata de miraculos, fata de fantezie. Este imposibil pentru romani sa fi inventat povestea lui Dracula. Romanul are alta atitudine fata de diavol. Daca citim povestile lui Ion Creanga, diavolul e altceva decat cel de care ne e frica.
Dumneavoastra unde va situati?
- Pentru americani sunt un francez, pentru ca sunt in Europa, pentru francezi sunt un american, pentru ca lucrez pentru Disneyland, iar pentru cativa prieteni sunt un roman care incearca sa se adapteze. " (http://www.zf.ro/ziarul-de-duminica/un-roman-la-disneyland-3048569/)

Crina Coco Popescu the first alpinist who made the Seven Volcanoes circuit

Odată ajunsă în vârful muntelui Vinson, COCO a devenit şi cea mai tânără alpinistă din lume care a urcat pe Mt. Vinson în Antarctica.Nou record mondial.

Crina Coco Popescu became the first alpinist in the world who successfully ended the Seven Volcanoes circuit after she conquered Mount Sidley (4,285 meters) the biggest volcano in Antarctica, Romanian news agency Mediafax reads. The Seven Volcanoes circuit means that an alpinist has to conquer the highest volcanoes on the seven continents.

Crina conquered Mount Sidley together with Alex Abramov, Mario Trimeri and Scott Woolams. Ager 16, Coco became the first woman alpinist to climb Mount Sidley. Crina said that all alpinists touched the highest point at the same time. On January 4, 2011 Crina conquered the Mount Sidley the highest peak of the Vinson Mountain, in Antarctica which marked the seventh highest volcano in the 7 Summits circuit.

Cristina Neagu - Grabs the 2010 Player of the Year Award.Cristina Neagu, cea mai buna handbalista din lume in 2010!

Federatia Internationala de Handbal a anuntat-o pe Cristina Neagu ca fiind cea mai buna jucatoare de handball a anului 2010.

Known as one of the most powerful handball players of our times, Cristina Neagu won this year the first ever Rookie of the Year Award from the International Handball Federation.

IHF (International Handball Federation) named Cristina Neagu as the 2010 Player of the Year. Winner of last year’s European Championship bronze medal with Romania, the 22-year-old received her second such award after the 2009 Best Young Player one.

Neagu started his career with Rulmentul Brasov back in 2006 to join the national team one year later. In 2009, the youngster signed one of the most successful teams in Europe, Oltchim Ramnicu-Valcea to become one of the most desired players in the world. One of her most recent successes include the third place at the Danish European Championship, tournament that also brought Neagu the Best Passer award. She finished the competition with 34 assists and 53 goals that allowed her end the competition as top scorer.

Edward Granville Theodore -20th Premier of Queensland, Australia

Basil (1884-1950), originally surnamed Teodorescu, was by father, Romanian.
Premier, Federal treasurer and company director, was the 20th Premier of Queensland, Australia.

With others he formed in 1907 the Amalgamated Workers Association of North Queensland, becoming at 22 its first secretary. Helped by William McCormack, who was to remain a close friend, he built the union into a broad-based and militant organization whose major achievements included the absorption of the sugar workers in 1910, victory in the sugar strike of 1911 and amalgamation in 1913 with the Australian Workers' Union, of which Theodore became State president.

Believing that workers' interests—conceived as improvement in job opportunities, wages and hours, and the exclusion of 'alien' labour—could not be served effectively by industrial action alone, Theodore had early affiliated the A.W.A. with the Labor Party, had subsequently thrown the resources of the A.W.U. behind that organization, and had embarked upon a political career. In October 1909 he won the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Woothakata (from 1912 Chillagoe) for Labor.

Theodore's rise was swift. In 1912, when Tom Ryan was elected leader of the parliamentary party, he became deputy leader, and, on Labor taking office in June 1915, deputy premier, treasurer and secretary for public works. In October 1919, when Ryan resigned to enter Federal politics, Theodore became premier.

During 1931 Theodore faced the greatest economic crisis in Australian history. The government imported an advisor from the Bank of England, Dr Otto Niemeyer, who recommended an "orthodox" solution, including sharp reductions in government spending such as pensions and unemployment benefits. The radical Premier of New South Wales, Jack Lang, on the other hand, campaigned for the repudiation of Australia's debt to bond-holders in London.

Theodore rejected both these alternatives and proposed instead an expansion of credit to farmers and small business, through the issue of "fiduciary notes" which could be redeemed after the Depression. His Fiduciary Notes Bill was denounced as financially unsound by orthodox economists and the banks, and was eventually defeated in the Senate. Theodore has been described as a visionary proto-Keynesian for this proposal, although it cannot be known what effect his measures would have had on the Depression had the bill been passed.