Bucharest  - A Romanian soldier was killed and four others injured
by an explosive device during a patrol in Afghanistan on Tuesday,
Romanian media reported, citing the Romanian Ministry of Defence in
Bucharest.

According to the Mediafax news agency, the 32-year-old officer was
killed immediately, as one of the four vehicles in his patrol struck
the explosive device on a motorway between Kandahar and Kabul.

The fatality was the ninth suffered by the Romanian military.
Romania stationed 956 soldiers in Afghanistan serving in NATO- and
US-led missions.

London, Mar 27: Alina Percea, the Romanian teen who is auctioning her virginity online for 50,000 pounds, has hit back at her former teacher’s claims that she's not a virgin.

Alina was devastated when former teacher Alexandru Dumitrescu claimed: “Her virginity is a fairytale. She just wants to be famous.”

Speaking for the first time since her decision, the 18-year-old Percea insisted that she’s innocent.

Bucharest - Romania is set to receive a nearly 20-billion euro (26.9-billion-dollar) package cobbled together by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union to help it weather the ongoing financial crisis.

The IMF will make 12.95 billion euros of the money available in a two-year standby credit, said Jeffrey Franks, head of the IMF mission, Wednesday at the end of negotiations.

Geneva  - Swiss voters overwhelmingly supported a government- backed motion to extend cooperation with the European Union in a referendum on Sunday.

Sydney - A Romanian tourist lost for six days in the 40-degree heat of Australia's Red Centre used his mobile phone to ring home and arrange a helicopter rescue, news reports said Thursday.

He set off last week on a 45-kilometre trek from Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock, but ran out of water within three days of his Northern Territory trip.

He turned back and rang home when he was in mobile range, giving his coordinates from his Global Positioning System. Australian police were alerted and a helicopter dispatched.