ELECTION
\n– The second round of the presidential election is today taking place in
\nRomania. Romanians have to choose between the acting president, Klaus Iohannis,
\nsupported by the National Liberal Party, the former Social-Democrat Prime
\nMinister, Viorica Dancila. In the first six hours since voting stations opened,
\nsome 22% of the total of 18.2 million voters cast their votes. In the Diaspora
\nthe voting process started on Friday at noon and will end on Sunday at
\nmidnight. Some 17.500 people living abroad voted by post. The total number of
\nvoting stations abroad stood at 838. So far some 500 thousand Romanians living
\nabroad have cast their votes. <\/p>\n
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FRIGATE – The King Ferdinand frigate has returned to the military port of
\nConstanta after five weeks spent in the Mediterranean. The frigate took part in
\nthe NATO-led Sea Guardian 19 operation and in the Dogu Akdeniz 19 multinational
\nexercise, during which it carried out joint missions to deter illegal
\nactivities on the eastern flank of NATO and the EU, by means of monitoring
\nmaritime traffic, under Allied Maritime Command. <\/p>\n
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POPE FRANCIS
\n– During his tour of Asia, which also included Thailand, Pope Francis visited
\nJapan on Saturday, where he conveyed an emotion-evoking message against nuclear
\nweapons. The Pope visited Nagasaki, one of the two cities struck in the Second
\nWorld War. The Pope told Japanese bishops he hopes to meet some of the victims
\nof the nuclear attacks, as well as the survivors of the Fukushima nuclear power
\nplant disaster. Another goal of his visit to Japan is to encourage the Catholic
\ncommunity in Japan, where only 1% of the population is Christian, half of which
\nis Catholic. This is the first visit by a Pope to Japan in the last 38 years
\nand the second one in history. <\/p>\n
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION – Ambassadors of EU Member States have
\nagreed that the new European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen should
\nstart its activity on December 1 without a British Commissioner on the team,
\nafter the British Government refused to make a nomination. Ambassadors have
\nadopted the list of the 27 Commissioners, which further requires Parliament’s
\nvote, slated for Wednesday. Since Brexit has been postponed for January 31,
\n2020, Great Britain was bound by EU treatises to make a nomination. Boris
\nJohnson’s Cabinet stated that no nominations can be made ahead of a British
\nelection, as this country will host early legislative elections on December 12.
\nFollowing London’s refusal, the European Commission launched infringement
\nprocedures against Great Britain on November 14. <\/p>\n
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GAUDEAMUS – The Gaudeamus International Book Fair, organized in Bucharest by
\nRadio Romania, came to an end on Sunday. On the last day of the fair, the
\nawards of the 26th edition were presented. On Saturday, the 4th
\nday of the Fair, Prof. Thierry Wolton took part in the launch of the second
\nvolume of his trilogy A World History of Communism. In this volume, entitled
\n‘The Victims’, Wolton speaks about the tens of millions that suffered
\nimprisonment, deportation, torture and even extermination for their
\nanti-communist beliefs. 8,000 book stands have been put up as part of this
\nedition, devoted to the 30 years since the anti-communist revolution of 1989. A
\ntotal of 900 different events were scheduled, including book launches, debates
\nand book signing sessions.<\/p>\n
\n
\n(Translated by V.
\nPalcu)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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