October 25, 2015 UPDATE
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România Internațional, 25.10.2015, 19:33
INVESTIGATION — Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, on Sunday requested clarifications from Prime Minister Victor Ponta and interior minister Gabriel Oprea of the factors that led to the death of policeman Bogdan Gigina. The policeman, who was running a motorbike, lost his life on Tuesday, while opening the interior minister’s official motorcade. The Liberal opposition and several hundred people protested in downtown Bucharest on Sunday, against the lack of an official public reaction by Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea and called for his resignation. The Prosecutor’s Office with the Bucharest Tribunal has started a criminal investigation for manslaughter in the case. The line ministry announced on Sunday that representatives of the institution and the minister can’t make public declarations on the issue until the investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office is completed.
ROMANIAN ARMY DAY — Military and religious ceremonies, shows, military technology exhibitions and sports competitions were among the highlights of the Romanian Army Day celebrations, held on October 25th. Some of the line institutions opened their doors for those interested to come and see how their activities unfold. The first Romanian Military Cemetery, in memory of the troops who died in the line of duty in Stalingrad, on the territory of the former USSR, during Word War II, was inaugurated in the Russian locality of Rossoshka on Sunday. In the battle of Stalingrad, the Romanian Army sustained the largest number of casualties in its history: 155,000 military were reported dead, injured or missing in action. The precise number of fatalities is still unknown.
MILITARY EXERCISES — 250 Romanian soldiers and 170 US troops are taking part in the Exercise “Dragoon Crossing- Romania 2015”, held in Mandruloc, Arad County (western Romania) on Sunday and Monday. The exercise is designed to build relationships, trust and interoperability between the two armies, to develop the planning and leadership capacities of the military participating in the wet-gap crossing of rivers. In another move, until October 28th, Romanian military are taking part in two multinational naval military drills led by Turkey and unfolding concurrently in several Mediterranean and Marmaris Sea regions. The first such exercise, MARSEC 15, is held in the Eastern Mediterranean, in Turkey’s territorial waters, and comes in response to the tense situation in the Middle East and to the illegal migration phenomenon which is gaining ground at a fast pace. Taking part in the second exercise, NUSRET 15 mine warfare drills, are Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, the US and Turkey. The aim of the exercise is to provide training for the planning and execution of mine warfare and to improve the interoperability in mine warfare, between warships from participating countries.
VOTE BY MAIL — Romanian deputies can file amendments to the vote-by-mail” draft law by Monday. The draft was voted by the Senate last week. The document will be debated on Wednesday in the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making forum in the case. The draft law initiated by the Permanent Electoral Authority provides for this voting modality to be exerted in the parliamentary, presidential and EP elections due next year, by Romanian voters who have established their residence or domicile abroad. Six months ahead of the ballot, voters in the Diaspora should notify embassies or consulates of their intention to cast their votes, in order to be enlisted in the Electoral Register. In the Senate, the Liberals (the main opposition party) and the Social Democrats (the main ruling party) voted for the draft. In exchange, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and ALDE did not back it.
WINTER TIME — On Saturday to Sunday night, Romania switched to wintertime. Clocks went back an hour to mark the end of summer time, and thus 4:00 AM became 3:00 AM. The change will mean darker evenings, which will remain until the clocks are put forward again, in March. Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the practice of turning the clock ahead in March, as warmer weather approaches, for people to have one more hour of daylight during the warmer season and thus save energy. The daylight saving time method was first applied during WWI, in 1916, by several European countries, and taken over by Romania in 1931.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep got a favorable start in the WTA Tournament of Champions, held in Singapore. She defeated Italian Flavia Pennetta, in two sets, 6-0, 6-3, in a Red Group match. First seeded Simona Halep outclassed seven-seeded Flavia Pennetta in a match which lasted one hour and ten minutes. Halep got a swift revenge for the US Open semifinals she lost last month to 33- year- old Flavia Pennetta. Russian Maria Sharapova and Polish Agnieszka Radwanska are also playing in the Red Group. Spanish Garbine Muguruza, Czech Petra Kvitova, German Angelique Kerber and Czech Lucie Safarova are playing in the other group of the tournament. The first two players with the best results in each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
