October 20, 2024 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news
Newsroom, 20.10.2024, 19:21
PROJECT Romania’s Prime Minister, Social-Democrat Marcel Ciolacu, who is running in the upcoming presidential election, on Sunday presented his ‘Project for Romania’. Raising the citizens’ purchasing power, protecting young people and the Romanians in the Diaspora and ensuring the country’s industrial development are among its main objectives. 14 people are presently running in the upcoming presidential elections – ten backed by political groups and four independents. Nicolae Ciuca, leader of the National Liberal Party, Elena Lasconi, from the Save Romania Union, George Simion from the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, Kelemen Hunor from the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the former deputy secretary general of NATO, the independent Mircea Geoana, are some of the main candidates. The first round of the presidential election is due on 24 November and the second round on 8 December. Between the two rounds, Romanians will go to the polls again to elect their MPs. We recall that this year Romania saw all kinds of elections. In June the Romanians cast their ballots for the local administration and the European Parliament.
TENNIS The Romanian table tennis player Bernadette Szocs and Austrian Sofia Polcanova on Sunday became silver medalists in the European Table Tennis Championships in Linz, Austria. The two lost in the finals 3-2 to the Czechoslovakian pair Hana Matelova/Barbora Balazova. Also on Sunday Szocz got silver in the singles against her partner in doubles, Sofia Polcanova, who won the match 4-1. Romania’s delegation in Linz consisted of 11 players, six in the women’s competition and five in the men’s contest.
WEATHER The duration and frequency of heat waves in Romania have significantly increased in the past years, and by 2040, hot temperatures will be affecting roughly 50% of the urban population – the latest national weather report says. According to the document, entitled Romania’s Weather State 2024, drought is another major challenge as the affected surfaces of farmland have also increased of late. The forecast also mentions the increased frequency of extreme weather phenomena, such as severe thunderstorms. And although climate change has been recognized as a serious issue, only 4% of the Romanians consider it a priority at national level. Most of the interviewees have attached higher importance to economic development, the report also says.
FESTIVAL Bucharest is presently seeing the 34th edition of the National Theatre Festival, unfolding this year under a suggestive motto, “Dramaturgy of the Possible”. Until October 28th, theatre goers are offered the opportunity of watching a series of performances, a selection which, according to organizers, is aimed at expressing various possible scenarios. The edition’s official selection includes over 30 performances mounted by theatre troupes from all over the country. Among these there is the Anthology of Disappearance by Radu Afrim, William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, directed by Andrei Serban, and Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen. This year’s edition has also brought together theatre troupes from abroad, from Germany, Ireland, Poland and Belgium. The event has been produced by the Theaters Union in Romania, UNITER.
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