FEAST DAY – Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians in Romania on
\nSunday celebrated the Baptism of the Christ, the feast day commemorating the
\nbaptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. The feast day marks
\nthe end of the Christmas celebration period. Roman-Catholic Christians in
\nRomania celebrated the Epiphany, the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus
\nChrist. Christian Churches observing the Julian Calendar celebrate Christmas on
\nJanuary 7. The Patriarchy of Constantinople decided in early 20th
\ncentury to switch from the old Julian Calendar to a revised Gregorian calendar,
\nwhich provides for a 13-day gap between the two. Many citizens from the
\nRepublic of Moldova chose to spend Christmas in the Old Julian Calendar in
\nRomania.<\/p>\n
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CONCERTS – The Romanian
\nSymphony Orchestra is on a tour to the United States until January 16. During
\nthis period it will hold seven concerts, in Florida, Palm Beach, Miami, Fort
\nMyers, Detroit and New Jersey. The final concert will be at Lincoln Center in
\nNew York, with famous trumpet player Wynton Marsalis as special guest. The
\nRomanian Symphony Orchestra is made up of valuable former members of the National
\nYouth Orchestra. The tour organizers are the Tinerimea Romana National Art
\nCenter and the Romanian Cultural Institute. <\/p>\n
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BENEFITS – The Romanian Foreign Ministry expressed concern
\nregarding Austria’s decision to slash the benefits for children of EU citizens
\nworking in Austria, adding that the measure goes against principles underlying
\ncommunity legislation. The benefits were cut starting January 1 to the
\ncorresponding amount in the countries of origin, in the case the children
\nremained at home. The measure does not apply to any children currently residing
\nin Austria. Bucharest claims EU membership compels all states to ensure fair,
\nbalanced and unbiased treatment for all European citizens. Several ministries
\nin Romania have criticized the move, and the Minister for Romanians Worldwide
\nsaid Romania would approach the topic as president of the Council of the
\nEuropean Union. <\/p>\n
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PRESIDENCY – The rector of the School of Political Sciences in
\nBucharest, former Education Minister Remus Pricopie said Romania’s presidency
\nof the EU Council will not freeze domestic politics for six months. The theory
\nsaying Governments don’t change during the EU Council Presidency is false,
\nPricopie said in a social media post. Since 1958 14 governments were changed
\nduring their term at the helm of the Council of the EU for various reasons,
\nelections, no-confidence motions or early elections, Remus Pricopie went on to
\nsay. <\/p>\n
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UKRAINIAN CHURCH – Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of
\nConstantinople on Sunday handed the decree granting independence to the
\nUkrainian Orthodox Church to its leader, Metropolitan Yepifaniy. The
\ndecree opens the way for Ukraine’s Orthodox Church to be recognized by other
\nbranches of orthodoxy and other churches. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko
\non December 15 announced the setup of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church
\nafter a historic decision of the Reunification Council of Orthodox Bishops in
\nKiev. Earlier in 2018 Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople
\nrecognized an independent Orthodox Church in Ukraine, revoking a 332-year-old
\ndecree placing the Ukrainian Church under the authority of the Patriarchy of
\nMoscow. In turn, the Russian Orthodox Church announced the severance of ties
\nwith the Patriarchy of Constantinople. News agencies note the escalating religious
\ntension marks a new episode in the political, cultural and social rupture
\nbetween Kiev and Moscow following the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula
\nby the Russian Federation and the armed conflict between the Ukrainian forces
\nand pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine. <\/p>\n
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TENNIS – Romanian-born Canadian player Bianca Andreescu was ousted
\n2-6, 7-5, 6-1 by Julia Goerges of Germany on Sunday in the final match of the
\nAuckland tennis tournament in New Zealand, totaling 250 thousand dollars in
\nprize money. Andreescu, WTA no. 152, had an exceptional run at Auckland,
\nknocking out Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and Venus Williams of the US.
\nFollowing this performance, Andreescu climbed 40 spots in WTA standings. We
\nrecall Simona Halep ended 2018 in top position in WTA standings. Another five
\nRomanians are currently ranked in the Top 100: Mihaela Buzarnescu (24), Irina
\nBegu (67), Ana Bogdan (76), Sorana Cirstea (84) and Monica Niculescu (99). <\/p>\n
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SPORTS – CS Magura Cisnadie on Sunday lost 18-41 to Team Esbjerg of
\nDenmark in the first fixture of Group A in the EHF Cup. The next fixture will
\nbe against SG BBM Bietigheim of Germany at home. Also in the EHF Cup, the title
\nholders SCM Craiova defeated 18-12 another team from Denmark, Nykobing Falster
\nHandbold, in its first Group D fixture. Craiova will next play Spain’s Super
\nAmara Bera Bera on January 12 away from home. On Saturday, Romania’s national
\nvolley team lost 2-3 to Spain in Group F of the European Championship
\npreliminaries. The final match will be played on Wednesday against Bosnia.
\nRomania needs to win a minimum of two sets of advance to the final tournament
\nto be hosted by Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Turkey over August 23 – September
\n8. <\/p>\n
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(Translated by V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":75903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[34356,33090,33689,29686,34357],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-103257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-child-benefits","tag-eu-council-presidency","tag-feast-day","tag-tennis-tournaments","tag-ukrainian-church"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n