September 29, 2020 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 29.09.2020, 20:00
Elections. According to partial results from Sunday’s local
elections in Romania, the governing
National Liberal Party won 15 municipalities, the opposition Social Democratic
Party 14, USR-PLUS 4 and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians also 4.
Regarding the County Councils, the Social Democrats got 20, the Liberals 17 and
the Union of Ethnic Hungarians 4. In Bucharest, the independent candidate
Nicusor Dan, supported by the Liberals and USR-PLUS, obtained about 43% of the
votes for the position of mayor general of Bucharest, and the current mayor,
Gabriela Firea, the Social Democratic candidate, got almost 38%, according to
partial data from the Central Electoral Bureau.
Covid-19
RO. Romania
saw 1,470 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday. Over 125,000 infections have been
confirmed in this country since the start of the outbreak. Tuesday also saw 44
new deaths, taking the toll to 4,792. 551 patients are in intensive care. Also
on Tuesday, the National Institute of Public Health announced that 34.3% of all
cases of new coronavirus infection were recorded over the past week in
Bucharest, Iasi (northeast), Bacau (east), and Constanta (south-east).
Brexit. The final round of Brexit trade talks
between the European Union and the United Kingdom began in Brussels on Tuesday.
If no agreement is reached, higher taxes and quotas will be introduced after
the expiry of the transition period for Brexit at the end of this year. The EU
has expressed hope that the UK will soften its position on controversial
issues, such as government subsidies, fishing rights and dispute mechanisms.
Britain left the EU in January, with the two sides reaching a dead end in
negotiations for a new trade deal to enter into force in 2021. EU leaders will
discuss the issue in a summit next month, but the prospect of a no-deal Brexit
is still possible.
Tennis. Several Romanian tennis players
have reached the second round at Roland Garros, the French tennis open. Ana Bogdan won her first-round match against Hungary’s Timea Babos,
while Patricia Tig defeated Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele on Monday
to reach the second round for the first time in her career. On Tuesday, Irina
Bara pulled off a surprise win against Croatia’s Donna Vekic in two sets to
advance to the next round. Two other Romanian players, Simona Halep, who is
seeded first, and Irina Begu have already qualified and will be facing each
other. Sorana Cirstea
lost, however, to Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in straight sets, while Monica
Niculescu lost to the American player Danielle
Collins in three sets.
