September 27, 2016

A roundup of domestic and international news...

Newsroom, 27.09.2015, 12:01

Currently on a
formal visit to the US, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis is today speaking
before the UN General Assembly in New York, in relation to the adoption of the
sustainable development agenda for the next 15 years. On Friday, Iohannis
participated in the opening of the UN Summit, where an ambitions sustainable
development plan was adopted, entailing costs of thousands of billions of Euros
per year. On Saturday, the Romanian head of state had a meeting with his
Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. The two officials discussed means of boosting
bilateral economic cooperation, especially in fields such as infrastructure and
tourism. Also on Saturday, Klaus Iohannis met with representatives of the
Romanian community in New York. The visit agenda also includes a meeting with
the US vice-president Joe Biden, with whom he will discuss the refugee crisis
in Europe and the fight against terrorism.

The UN warns that
the current inflow of migrants towards Europe is not going to get smaller,
especially given that living conditions in Iraq are very likely to get worse in
the coming period. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
estimates that some 8,000 people enter Europe every day. The European
Commissioner for Enlargement, Johannes Hahn, has too warned that a growing
number of refugees is expected from Lebanon. Croatian authorities have
announced that over 10 thousand migrants have entered the country in the past
24 hours, a new record for one day.

Pope Francis is
giving a sermon in the city of Philadelphia, on the last day of his visit to
the United States. In New York on Friday, the Sovereign Pontiff denounced drug
trafficking, which, he said, silently kills millions of people. In his first
speech delivered before the UN General Assembly, the pope voiced his concern
with the weakness of the fight against this scourge, which is accompanied by
human and arms trafficking, money laundering, child exploitation and other
forms of corruption. The Pope had earlier called on the US Congress, divided
over the issue of migration, to reject hostile mentalities in relation to this
problem.

Some 5.5 million
Catalans are today expected to the polls to elect their regional parliament.
The event is seen as crucial by the separatist parties and a step forward towards
the separation of Catalonia, in the north-east of Spain. Supporters of
independence claim that this region,
which has its own language and culture, is home to a nation entitled to have
its own state. According to them, Catalonia, one of the richest autonomous
regions in Spain, sends too much money to Spain’s poorer regions. The central
government in Madrid, however, predicts a catastrophe for Catalonia’s economy
if the supporters of its separation win. Blocking exports, the disappearance of
hundreds of thousands of jobs and the loss of the European citizenship are just
some of the consequences of such a separation, warns the government.

A rare astronomical event,
namely the occurrence at the same time of two spectacular phenomena – a super
moon and a moon eclipse – is to be witnessed tonight. The previous one occurred
30 years ago, and the next one is due approximately 20 years from now. The
phenomena will be visible almost everywhere in the world, in North and South America on Sunday night,
and on Monday morning in Europe, Africa and several regions in Central Asia.

Romanian tennis player Irina
Begu, currently ranking 29th in the WTA classification has today won
the WTA tournament in Seul, South Korea, with 426,750 dollars in prize money.
She got the second title in her career by defeating the player from Belarus
Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 6-3, 6-1. Begu got her first title at the Tashkent
tournament in 2012, and she also managed to made it to the finals of the
tournaments in Marbella, Budapest and Moscow, in 2011 and 2014. Thanks to this
achievement, on Monday, Irina Begu will officially become the 26th
best player in the world.

Romania’s national rugby team
is today meeting in London the Irish national squad, for the second match in
World Cup’s Group D. In the first match, Romania was defeated on Wednesday by
the world vice-champion France, 38 to 11. Also part of Group D are Italy and
Canada. Dubbed ‘the oaks’, the Romanian rugby players have participated in all
the previous seven editions of the World Cup, but never made it to the groups
stage.