November 1, 2024

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 01.11.2024, 13:55

Floods. One of the Romanian nationals missing in the devastating floods in Spain has been found dead, said the foreign ministry in Bucharest this morning. The ministry will continue inquiries, with the help of the Romanian Consulate in Castellon de la Plana and of the Romanian Embassy in Madrid, into the fate of the other estimated 15 Romanian citizens on the missing persons list. The south-eastern Spanish region of Valencia was hit by disastrous flash floods two days ago, which specialists have described as “unprecedented”. 158 people have been killed and dozens are still missing. Spain has declared three days of national mourning.

Elections. The election campaign for the parliamentary elections of December 1^st officially got under way today. Romanian voters will elect 466 MPs, 330 in the Chamber of Deputies and 136 in the Senate. The election campaign will come to an end on 30^th November. Romanian citizens residing abroad will be able to cast their ballots either through postal voting or in person at one of the polling stations set up abroad. The Romanian foreign ministry submitted to the Permanent Electoral Authority its proposals for the 950 polling stations to be set up abroad for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. The election campaign for the presidential elections began a week ago. The first round will take place on 24^th November, and the second round on 8^th December. In June, Romania also saw European and local elections.

Anniversary. Radio Romania today celebrates 96 years of uninterrupted service. With over 3 million listeners a day, the public radio station must reinvent itself and make itself more attractive to younger audiences, said the director general of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, Răzvan-Ioan Dincă. Radio Romania broadcast its first programme at 5 pm on 1^st November 1928. In recognition of its decisive role in the country’s history, in December 2019 Parliament declared 1^st November National Radio Day in Romania. To mark this occasion, the Radio Concert Hall is tonight hosting an anniversary concert conducted by the celebrated Romanian conductor Cristian Mandeal.

Journalists. In most cases in which journalists get killed around the world, their killers go unpunished, said UNESCO in a report on International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, which is marked every year on 2^nd November. 85% of all crimes against journalists recorded by UNESCO in 2006 are still not solved, the report also writes. Over the two years covered by the UNESCO report, namely 2022 and 2023, 162 journalists were killed, almost a half of them in countries with ongoing armed conflicts. In 2022, Mexico reported the largest number of journalists killed, 19, followed by Ukraine, with 11 journalists killed. In 2023, Palestine reported the largest number of journalists killed, namely 24.

Trade. The Romanian minister for the economy, entrepreneurship and tourism Ştefan-Radu Oprea and the Turkish trade minister Omer Bolat are today chairing the second session of the Romania-Turkey Economic and Commercial Committee. According to the Romanian ministry, the event will focus on developing economic ties and consolidating the strategic partnership between the two countries. On 31^st December 2021, commercial exchanges between Romania and Turkey amounted to 8.342 billion dollars, with exports accounting for 3.103 billion dollars and imports for 5.238 billion dollars. Trade exchanges grew by more than 30% compared with the same period last year.

Handball. The Romanian men’s handball champions Dinamo Bucharest defeated the German side Füchse Berlin 38-31 on Thursday evening in Bucharest, in Champions League Group A. Dinamo will again face Füchse Berlin on 21^st November, away. In the Group A ranking, Dinamo are in third place, after the Hungarian side Veszprem and the French side Paris Saint-Germain.