27 January, 2020

Some of the main stories in Romania today.

Newsroom, 27.01.2020, 13:55

Parliament. The Romanian Parliament meets in extraordinary session from
today until Wednesday evening to discuss the elimination of special pensions
and the election of mayors in two rounds, with the government seeking to pass
the latter bill by assuming responsibility for it. Senators and deputies can
still submit amendments to the local elections bill today for the government to
debate them tomorrow. The Save Romania Union and the Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats says they will submit amendments, while the Social Democratic Party
in opposition is already preparing to file a no-confidence motion against the
Liberal government. The Social Democrats, supported by the Democratic Union of
Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, are planning to file the motion next week. With
regard to the pensions bill, prime minister Ludovic Orban says his party is in
favour of calculating pensions based on the contribution principle, with the
exception of service pensions for the military. The interim president of the
Social Democratic Party Marcel Ciolacu says the bill is unconstitutional
because it also eliminates the special pensions for magistrates.

Anniversary. Romanian prime minister
Ludovic Orban is today attending in Poland the official events marking the 75th
anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The events are held by the Polish authorities on International Holocaust
Remembrance Day. In a statement by the Romanian government, the festivities,
which are held under the high patronage of the Polish president Andrzej Duda,
are attended by officials from many states, Holocaust survivors and members of
Jewish associations. The Romanian government reiterates its commitment to
continue efforts to assume responsibility for the country’s past, to promote education
and research on the Holocaust and commemorate the victims, the statement also
reads. A foreign ministry release says the dramatic episode of the Holocaust
remains a lesson of national and world history that should never be forgotten,
in the current international context marked by growing intolerance, xenophobia
and anti-Semitism. Last week, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis attended an
international Holocaust remembrance forum in Israel.

Coronavirus. The authorities in
Bucharest are considering whether to introduce thermal scanners on airports in
Romania. These instruments can detect the persons whose body temperature is
higher than 38 degrees Celsius, as high fever is one of the symptoms of the new
coronavirus. In China, tighter measures are being taken to contain the spread
of the virus, which has already killed over 80 people. In Beijing, the
authorities have postponed the reopening of schools, more travel restrictions
are in place and wearing a face mask is becoming obligatory. These exceptional
measures are taken as there is yet no vaccine against the coronavirus. In
China, the number of confirmed cases is nearing 3,000. The coronavirus, which
originates in animals and causes pneumonia, has spread to Europe, the United
States and Australia. The symptoms include severe coughing, fever and breathing
problems, and in some cases failure of the vital organs.

Flu. Another person has died in
Romania because of the flu, with the total number reaching four since the
beginning of the season. The latest victim is a 43-year-old man from Sibiu
county, in the centre. Doctors recall that vaccination is the only effective prevention
measure. The number of people who have taken the anti-flu vaccine in Romania is
higher than last year, when almost 200 people died because of the complications
caused by the flu.

Tennis.
World no. 3 Simona Halep of Romania today defeated Belgium’s Elise Mertens, world no. 17, in straight sets, in the
quarterfinals of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of
the year. In the next round, Halep will face the Estonian player Anett Kontaveit, world no. 31. A finalist in Melbourne
in 2018, Halep has won both of her previous matches against Kontaveit, which
took place in 2017, in Miami and Rome. Also today, in the women’s doubles, the
Romanian-Japanese pair Monica Niculescu and Misaki Doi lost to Hao-ching
Chan and Latisha Chan of Taiwan in straight sets in the fourth round. On the 3rd
of February, Simona Halep will become the tennis player with the most
consecutive weeks in the top 10 WTA among the players born after 1980. She will
reach the 315 mark, overtaking the current holder of the record, the Swiss
player Martina Hingis, who spent 314 consecutive weeks in the top 10.

Handball. The Romanian women’s handball side Gloria Bistriţa on Sunday
night won their first match in the EHF Cup, as they defeated the Danish side
Odense Handbold 25:23 at home. In their previous Group C matches, Gloria had
two draws and a loss. In Group B, Măgura Cisnădie lost at home to the Danish side Kobenhavn Handball 28:33. This
was their fourth defeat in four matches. Group matches will come to an end on
the 9th of February. On Saturday, in their first matches in the
Champions League main groups, Romanian title holders SCM
Ramnicu Valcea defeated the Slovenian side RK Krim Mercator Ljubljana, 31:16,
while vice-champions CSM Bucharest lost to the Hungarian side Ferencvaros Budapest:
23:33.