January 19, 2016 UPDATE
A sudden cold snap hits Romania / Romanian PM, Dacian Ciolos, pays an official visit to France/ 3 of the 5 Romanian players taking part in the Australian Open were kicked out in the first round
Florentin Căpitănescu, 19.01.2016, 19:54
WEATHER– After snowstorms at the weekend, Romania is facing a cold snap until Thursday, meteorologists say. On Wednesday, temperatures will drop to minus 25 degrees Celsius, whereas the highs of the day will not exceed plus 2 degrees Celsius. In another move, railroad traffic is further disrupted in the south and southeast of the country, the areas the most affected by heavy snowfalls and blizzard at the weekend. Several villages have been left without electricity.
DIPLOMACY – Romanian Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos, will pay a two-day official visit to Paris, as of Wednesday. He is due to meet President Francois Hollande, Prime Minister Manuel Valls, and the speakers of the two Chambers of the French Parliament, Gérard Larcher and Claude Bartolone, respectively. The talks will focus on the privileged relations between Romania and France, on stepping up the projects in the roadmap of the bilateral strategic partnership, on improving economic relations and strengthening contacts between the business communities, as well as important topics on the European and international agenda, such as terrorism, migration and the EU security policy. Other focal points of the talks will include Romanias Schengen accession, the forthcoming report of the European Commission under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, as well as cooperation as part of Bucharests preparations to take over the presidency of the EU Council. Ciolos will also meet with representatives of the Romanian community in France and with CEOs and managers of important French companies. France is the fifth largest foreign investor in Romania.
SPECIAL PENSIONS – Romanias Constitutional Court on Wednesday will debate the notification submitted by the technocratic cabinet in Bucharest on the special pensions law for elected local officials. According to the government, the law adopted in December would run counter to several articles in the Constitution, by instating a special regime of privileges for certain elected local officials. Furthermore, the government contests the retroactive granting of special rights and draws attention to the lack of budget resources. Over 16,000 potential beneficiaries, mayors, deputy mayors, presidents and vice-presidents of County Councils, are to receive special pensions ranging from 350 to1,500 Euros.
ECONOMY– Romania is the third EU member state to register, in November 2015, the most significant increase in the volume of construction works, as compared to the same period of 2014. According to the data released on Tuesday by the European Statistics Office, Eurostat, Romania registered an increase of 6.8%, being outclassed only by Slovakia and Sweden. In November 2015, the volume of construction works at EU level increased by 1.9%, on an average, Eurostat also shows.
SPORTS – The Romanian player Alexandra Dulgheru (no. 61 WTA) has qualified to the second round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, after defeating the Australian Storm Sanders (no. 355 WTA) 6-4, 6-2. Three other Romanian players lost their games in the first round. World no. 2 Simona Halep was surprisingly defeated by Chinas Shuai Zhang (133 WTA), Irina Begu (31 WTA) was outperformed by the Swedish Johanna Larsson (50 WTA), and Andreea Mitu (96 WTA) was defeated by the German Julia Gorges (45 WTA). Another Romanian player, Monica Niculescu (no 40 WTA), qualified on Monday to the second round of the tournament, and is to play against the Russian Elizaveta Kulicikova (no 109 WTA).
(Translated and edited by Diana Vijeu)
