2 October 2017

A look at the latest local and international news.

Newsroom, 02.10.2017, 13:45

Visit. Croatia’s president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović travels to Bucharest today for talks with
her Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis about developing and expanding
bilateral relations and European, regional and security issues. According to a
press release by the Romanian president’s office, special emphasis will be
placed on aspects related to the future of the European project and the prospect
of the two countries’ holding the EU rotating presidency for the first time. On
Tuesday, the two presidents will open the Romanian-Croatian business forum.

University year. Higher
education institutions in Romania today held festivities for the start of the
new academic year. Local officials and foreign ambassadors to Romania have
attended the events held in different cities across the country. Almost 460,000
students are registered this year at state and private universities, but only
104,000 places are available in student residences. The price of a place in a
student campus stands at 130 lei per month, roughly 30 euros, but it can also
go up to 200 lei, that’s around 50 euros, depending on the facilities provided.

Protests. Members of the SANITAS trade union federation today picketed
the labour ministry to protest against the problems faced by the healthcare and
social assistance sector in this country. They demand the elimination of the
30% cap on specific bonuses and the implementation of the full amount of salary
increases for all public healthcare and social assistance employees as of March
2018 and also called on the government to abandon plans to transfer social
contributions from employer to employee and to continue granting meal vouchers
in 2018. Trade unions will picket the healthcare ministry on Wednesday, when
large-scale protests are scheduled, with protests continuing on Friday in front
of the finance ministry. SANITAS also plans to hold a rally and march on the 19th
of October and will later decide on a date for a general strike in the
healthcare system.

Unemployment. The unemployment rate in Romania stood at
5.1% in August, down 0.1% compared with the previous month, according to the
National Institute for Statistics. The unemployment rate among men was 2.4%
higher than that for women. The number of the unemployed is estimated at
465,000, fewer than in August last year, when more than 500,000 people were out
of work.

Nobel Prize. American
scientists Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young on Monday were
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2017 for their research on
molecular mechanisms controlling circadian rhythms. The Nobel Prize in Medicine
is the first to be announced. The following awards to be announced this week
will be those for physics, chemistry and peace, and that for economics on the 9th
of October. The Swedish Academy has announced that the prize for literature,
which is traditionally announced on a Thursday, will also be made public this
week, on 5th of October.

US shooting. More
than 50 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in a mass shooting on
Sunday night in Las Vegas, the US. According to investigators, the incident
took place on the city’s main street during an outdoor country music concert.
The gunman, who was firing from the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel, was
shot dead by the security forces. Soon after the attack, the main airport in
the area was closed temporarily.

Catalonia. The Catalan government says more than 40% of the
region’s electorate, that’s 2.5 million voters, cast their ballots in Sunday’s
independence referendum, with 90% backing independence. The leader of the
regional government, the secessionist Carles Puigdemont, said the citizens of
Catalonia have won the right to an independent state in the form of a
republic. The Spanish government, which declared the referendum illegal, has
come under harsh criticism by its European partners for the excessive zeal of
the police forces sent in to prevent the voting. According to Radio Romania’s
correspondent in Spain, the police wounded hundreds of people, stormed schools
and public buildings used as polling stations, confiscated electoral material
and seized control of the centre where votes were to be counted.

Tennis. World no. 2 Simona Halep of Romania
today faces the Slovakian player Magdalena Rybarikova in the second
round of the Beijing tournament worth 6.4 million dollars. Also in the second
round, Romania’s Monica Niculescu, world no. 65, is to face the winner between
Shelby Rogers of the US and Shuai Peng of China. In the first round, Niculescu
defeated the British player and world no. 7 Johanna Konta in straight sets. The
third Romanian player in the tournament, world no. 44 Sorana Cirstea, on
Tuesday faces the winner between the American players Sloane Stephens and Christina
Mchale for a place in the third round.

Football. The Romanian football squad met today in
Bucharest to train for their final two matches as part of the World Cup
qualifiers, first on Thursday against Kazakhstan, at home, and then on Sunday
against Denmark. Romania have no mathematical chances of making it to next
year’s World Cup in Russia. The match against Kazakhstan will mark the debut of
Cosmin Contra as the new manager of the Romanian side. With 73 caps for Romania
and a former player for famous clubs such as AC Milan and Atletico Madrid,
41-year-old Contra has been managing the local side Dinamo Bucharest. Before
that, he also managed teams in Romania, Spain and China. Contra took over from
the German coach Cristoph Daum, who was the first foreign manager in the
history of the Romanian side.