October 29, 2017

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 29.10.2017, 14:15

RRI – As of Sunday, October 29, RRI will be broadcasting a weekly,
experimental show in Hebrew, devoted to Jews born in Romania and their
families, but also to all Hebrew speakers who are interested in learning about
Romania. The show will be broadcast every Sunday, from 7:05 pm to 8 pm
Romania’s time, on short waves and via the internet. Also, contents in Hebrew
will be available on RRI’s web site, Android and iOS applications, on Facebook,
Twitter and SoundCloud. RRI boast a rich experience in producing shows devoted
to the hundreds of thousand of Jews originating from Romania, who since 1990
have had the opportunity to listen to a show in the Romanian language. Their
descendants, now at the third generation after Aliyah, the immigration of Jews
from the Diaspora to the Land of Israel, speak Hebrew and their ties with their
parents’ and grandparents’ birth country should be developed and maintained,
including with the help of RRI.

BREXIT – The Romanian
Minister Delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu will hold talks in
London, on November 3-4, with representatives of the Romanian community in
Great Britain on the implications of Brexit. The meeting is part of the public
consultations campaign titled ‘Romania against the background of Great
Britain’s exiting the EU’. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, there
are some 328,000 Romanian citizens living in Great Britain.

WINTER TIME – On
Sunday morning, Romania passed on to the winter time. Thus, 4 am became 3 am
(GMT +2 hours), and October 29th is the longest day in the year. This change
reverts the passing to the daylight saving time in March, aimed at using
natural day light at the maximum and preserving energy. Romania will return to
the official summer time on the last Sunday in March 2018.

CATALONIA – Nobody will
recognize the independence of Catalonia and the Spanish government is right in
its attempt to restore constitutional order in the region, said on Sunday the
European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, Associated Press reports. He
stated that the independence referendum held in early October was illegal, also
stressing that the EU would not broker the conflict, as the crisis is a Spanish
domestic issue. According to Tajani, Spain’s decision to organize early elections
in the region was the best. The Madrid Government has started to directly
govern the province of Catalonia. The Catalan leaders and the heads of the
police have been sacked. The Catalan police chief has stated he accepts his
dismissal and has urged his subordinates to show loyalty to the new chiefs. The
former head of the Catalan Government Carles Puigdemont has urged the Catalans
to manifest a democratic and peaceful opposition to the measures enforced by
the central government. We recall that Romania has reasserted its firm support
for Spain’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and has firmly and
irrevocably rejected Catalonia’s unilateral declaration of independence.

DAVIS CUP – Today is the last
day of the singles played as part of the Israel – Romania Davis Cup, counting
for maintaining a place in Group I of the Davis Cup’s Europe-Africa Zone.
Israel is leading Romania 3 – 0 after the first singles and the double, so it
was relegated from Group I after 24 years. This year, Romania has also lost to
Belarus 2-3 and to Austria 1-4.

TENNIS – On Sunday, the
world’s best tennis player, the Romanian Simona Halep, received the WTA world
no. 1 trophy, although she was defeated in the group stage of the Finals
tournament. The only one who could have changed the rankings was Karolina
Pliskova of the Czech Republic, but she was eliminated in the semifinals of the
Singapore tournament. Halep, aged 26, became number one in the WTA rankings
early this month, when she qualified for the Beijing final.

BAD WEATHER – All mountain
areas in Romania are under orange warning for snow and blizzard until Monday
evening. Also, a yellow warning for strong wind and mixed precipitations has
been issued for the rest of the country. The wind will blow hard and will
accentuate the feeling of cold.