January 9, 2019 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 09.01.2019, 20:05

THEATRE ‘The Confession’, a Radio Romania production adapted by Doina
Papp and directed by Ilinca Stihi after Fyodor Doestoevsky’s novel ‘Demons’ has
been shortlisted for the finals of Best European Drama at BBC Drama Awards 2019.
BBC Audio Drama Awards celebrate the range, originality and cut-through quality of
audio drama on air and online and give recognition to the creativity of actors,
writers, producers, sound designers and others who work in this genre.

TENNIS A pair made up of Romanian player Monica Niculescu and
Chinese Zhaoxuan Yang on Wednesday qualified for the semis of the double
contest of the WTA tennis tournament in Hobart, Australia. The two secured a
two set win 6-1, 6-4, against the Romanian-Kazakh pair, Raluca Olaru – Galina
Voskoboeva. Also in the quarterfinals, the all-Romanian pair, Mihaela
Buzarnescu – Irina Begu, conceded defeat to Anastasia Potapova of Russia and
Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine. Begu has qualified for the quarterfinals of the
singles contest after a three-set win against Russia’s Ana Blinkova. In her
first match this year in Sidney, the world’s number one, Simona Halep of
Romania, conceded defeat in the round of 16 to Ashley Barty of Australia. Halep’s
next tournament will be the year’s first Grand Slam in Melbourne. We recall
that in 2018 the Romanian played in the finals of this prestigious tournament.

EU The President of the European Commission,
Jean Claude Juncker and the College of Commissioners will arrive in Bucharest
on Thursday for the official launch of the Romanian Presidency of the Council
of the European Union. Attending the official ceremony will also be the
President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, and the President of the
European Council, Donald Tusk. The moment will be marked by a concert at the
Romanian Athenaeum given by the EU Orchestra, which will be performing Romanian
Rhapsody no.1 by George Enescu and an excerpt of Beethoven’s 9th
Symphony, Ode to Joy, which became the Anthem of the European Union in 1985.
Civil organisations in Bucharest have called on the City Hall to approve the
organisation of an anti-government rally to take place concurrently with the
ceremony under the title We Want Europe Not Dictatorship. A deputy mayor has
explained that under the Romanian law, two events cannot take place at the same
time in the same place and the statute of the EU officials entails increased
security measures. On Friday, Jean-Claude Juncker, will be having talks with
President Klaus Iohannis and PM Viorica
Dăncilă, as well as with the Speakers of the two chambers of the Romanian
Parliament. The European officials are due to hold talks at the Government with
the Romanian ministers who will chair for six months, in Bucharest and
Brussels, working meetings with their EU counterparts.

CURRENCY An Euro was traded for 4.67 RON, Romania’s
Central Bank announced on Wednesday. This is the highest value the Euro has
reached against the local currency, which has also depreciated against other
currencies like the US dollar and the Swiss franc.

(translated by bill)