December 11, 2020 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 11.12.2020, 20:04
TENNIS Romanian tennis player Sorana Cirstea, WTA
86th, on Friday qualified for the finals of the ITF tournament in
Dubai, with total prizes of 100 thousand dollars after a 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 win
against second-seeded Polona Hercog of Slovenia. On Saturday Cirstea will be
playing Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the finals. If she wins,
the Romanian will climb up to the 71st position in the WTA ranking.
BREXIT In less than three weeks, Britain could
leave the European Union without a trade agreement, British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen
said on Friday. According to Reuters, the European Union and Britain are at
loggerheads over fishing rights, economic fair play and dispute settlement in
spite of months of talks to cover trade from January 1st, when the
UK finally exits the bloc.
COVID-19
In its session on Friday the
Government decided to extend the state of alert by another 30 days starting
December 14. State Secretary Raed Arafat said all restrictions remain in place,
including the nighttime curfew. One new measure will be introduced, regarding
cable transport operators in ski resorts. Cable transport facilities will
remain open, although the Government intends to avoid overcrowding in order to
limit the spread of the virus. Therefore aerial trams with 20 seats will only
carry 10 people. Raed Arafat called on Romanians to limit their visits, avoid
going caroling or to New Year’s Eve parties during the winter holidays. 545
thousand Romanians got infected with COVID-19 since the start of the outbreak,
of whom 80% have recovered. So far over 13,100 people have died to the virus.
6,460 new infections were reported on Friday, most case being signaled in
Bucharest. Some 1,300 patients are in intensive care.
TALKS President Klaus Iohannis on Monday invited
political parties to consultations with a view to designating the new Prime
Minister. Taking part in consultations will be the Social-Democratic Party, the
National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union – PLUS Alliance, the Alliance
for the Union of Romanians and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians. The
Social-Democrats have nominated Prof. Alexandru Rafila, Romania’s
representative at the WHO, whom they want to lead either a Social-Democratic
Cabinet, or a technocratic government. The Liberals, in turn, have nominated
Florin Cîţu, the current Finance Minister and say they will hold official talks
with a view to forming a majority in Parliament with the Save Romania Union -
PLUS Alliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians starting Saturday.
(bill)
