November 24, 2019 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 24.11.2019, 19:40

ELECTION
– The second round of the presidential election is today taking place in
Romania. Romanians have to choose between the acting president, Klaus Iohannis,
supported by the National Liberal Party and the former Social-Democrat Prime
Minister, Viorica Dancila. 2 hours before polling stations close, some 48% of
the total of 18.2 million voters cast their votes. In the Diaspora the voting
process started on Friday at noon and will end on Sunday at midnight. Some
17.500 people living abroad voted by post. The total number of voting stations
abroad stood at 838. So far some 860 thousand Romanians living abroad have cast
their votes.

FRIGATE – The King Ferdinand frigate has returned to the military port of
Constanta after five weeks spent in the Mediterranean. The frigate took part in
the NATO-led Sea Guardian 19 operation and in the Dogu Akdeniz 19 multinational
exercise, during which it carried out joint missions to deter illegal
activities on the eastern flank of NATO and the EU, by means of monitoring
maritime traffic, under Allied Maritime Command.

POPE FRANCIS
– During his tour of Asia, which also included Thailand, Pope Francis visited
Japan on Saturday, where he conveyed an emotion-evoking message against nuclear
weapons. The Pope visited Nagasaki, one of the two cities struck in the Second
World War. The Pope told Japanese bishops he hopes to meet some of the victims
of the nuclear attacks, as well as the survivors of the Fukushima nuclear power
plant disaster. Another goal of his visit to Japan is to encourage the Catholic
community in this country, where only 1% of the population is Christian, half
of which is Catholic. This is the first visit by a Pope to Japan in the last 38
years and the second one in history.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION – Ambassadors of EU Member States have
agreed that the new European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen should
start its activity on December 1 without a British Commissioner on the team,
after the British Government refused to make a nomination. Ambassadors have
adopted the list of the 27 Commissioners, which further requires Parliament’s
vote, slated for Wednesday. Since Brexit has been postponed for January 31,
2020, Great Britain was bound by EU treatises to make a nomination. Boris
Johnson’s Cabinet stated that no nominations can be made ahead of a British
election, as this country will host early legislative elections on December 12.
Following London’s refusal, the European Commission launched infringement
procedures against Great Britain on November 14.

GAUDEAMUS – The Gaudeamus International Book Fair, organized in Bucharest by
Radio Romania, came to a close on Sunday. On the last day of the fair, the
awards of the 26th edition were presented. The Gaudeamus awards went
to the Humanitas, Polirom and ART publishers. The award for the most
sought-after book went to Radu Paraschivescu’s volume, The Man who moves
Clouds. 7 Stories, released by Humanitas publishing house. In the media awards
section, Evenimentul Zilei grabbed the award for best print publication, Pro TV
won the award for best TV station, while Europa FM won the radio award. In the
news agencies section, the award went to the national news agency Agerpres. The
Award for Excellence went to the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi
Publishing House. The Antoaneta Ralian translation prize went to Luminita
Munteanu, for her translation of the Orhan Pamuk series into Romanian, as well
as to Daniel Ionita, the coordinator of the bilingual edition of the anthology
Testament. 400 years of Romanian poetry, released in Australia. 8,000 book
stands were put up as part of this edition, devoted to the 30 years since the
anti-communist revolution of 1989. A total of 900 different events were
scheduled, including book launches, debates and book signing sessions.

HANDBALL – Romanian handball club AHC Potaissa Turda is playing ZRHK TENAX
Dobele of Latvia in the second round of the men’s Challenge Cup. In the first
leg, the Romanian side won 38-35 away from home. Potaissa Turda won the
Challenge Cup in 2018 after defeating the Greek side AEK Athens. On Saturday,
another club, CSM Bucharest, advanced to the Challenge Cup’s round of 16
despite losing to HC Masheka of Belarus, 28-25 away from home, in the second
leg of the competition’s third round. Title holders CSM Bucharest had won the
first leg 34-28 on Friday.

(Translated
by V. Palcu)