Bucharest
The Arab immigrant community in Romania won praise this week for helping secure the release of three Romanian journalists held hostage for two months in Iraq. A Romanian Arab business association managed to contact the kidnappers, and several Romanian imams negotiated with them. “This release is the result of a call by the Islamic authorities of Romania, who deployed tremendous efforts to make their voice heard,” said diplomat Octavian Harseu. The kidnapping initially strained relations between the Arab community and the government, which has been investigating prominent Arab businessmen for suspected tax evasion. Romanian newspapers speculated that the Arab community worked so hard to free the hostages in exchange for the government’s agreement to back off.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Crisis in Cuba: a ‘golden opportunity’ for Washington?Talking Point The Trump administration is applying the pressure, and with Latin America swinging to the right, Havana is becoming more ‘politically isolated’
-
5 thoroughly redacted cartoons about Pam Bondi protecting predatorsCartoons Artists take on the real victim, types of protection, and more
-
Palestine Action and the trouble with defining terrorismIn the Spotlight The issues with proscribing the group ‘became apparent as soon as the police began putting it into practice’
