VISIT Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will be paying a working visit
\nto Bavaria, in southern Germany for talks with Markus Soder, Minister President
\nand leader of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria. The Romanian president will
\nbe attending a session of Bavaria’s government and will be having talks with
\nmembers of this institution on the bilateral relations and the latest European
\ndevelopments. President Iohannis will also be meeting the CSU group in
\nBundestag, where he is expected to present Romania’s vision on the future of
\nEurope. A member of the German community in Romania, Klaus Iohannis, backed by
\nthe ruling National Liberal Party, is presently at his second term in office
\nafter the landslide win in last year’s presidential election against his
\nopponent, the country’s former Social-Democratic Prime Minister Viorica
\nDancila. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
DUTY
\nOver 21 thousand employees of the Romanian Interior Ministry were on duty in
\nthe first three days of this year to ensure citizen safety during the winter holidays, a
\nministry report reads. According to the same sources, no major events were
\nreported at the 180 cultural-artistic events attended by almost 320 thousand
\npeople on New Year’s Eve. Police intervened in 73 hundred cases involving
\npublic order reported at the emergency number 112. Special attention was paid to preventing
\nserious accidents and to streamlining road traffic to the most popular tourist
\nresorts. Up to 1,500 road police were on duty on the most circulated
\nthoroughfares, with around 270 radar speed guns, to safeguard the lives of
\ndrivers, passengers and pedestrians. A series of measures were implemented and
\n4 thousand border police were on duty at the country’s border checkpoints to
\nstreamline traffic and ease the access of the foreign tourists who had chosen
\nRomania as a holiday destination and also of the Romanians who traveled abroad
\nfor the winter holidays. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
RECOMMENDATION The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest is recommending the Romanian
\ncitizens to avoid traveling to Iraq unless necessary, given the latest
\nescalation of tensions in the Middle East. The Romanians already there are
\nadvised to avoid crowded places, where meetings or demonstrations are taking
\nplace. They should report their presence to the closest diplomatic mission or
\nconsulate in order to be contacted in emergency situations. The controversial
\nIranian general Qassem Soleimani killed in a US raid in Iraq on Friday was
\nburied on Saturday. The 62 year old general was considered the second in
\nimportance after leader Ali Khamenei. US president Donald Trump said that
\nSoleimani’s killing was meant to stop a war not to start one, but according to
\nthe BBC ‘the killing marked a major escalation in tensions between Iran and the
\nUS’. Teheran has vowed revenge against
\nthe US for killing the general. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
BUSHFIRE Devastating bushfires in Australia have prompted the authorities to evacuate
\ntens of thousands. The hot weather and strong winds have intensified the
\nbushfires, which in some places have got out of control. Since early September
\nwhen the fire started around five
\nmillion hectares of land have burned, at least 19 people have been killed, and
\nmore than 1,400 homes have been destroyed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
HANDBALL Romania’s national handball side is continuing its training campaign
\nfor the qualification for the World Men’s Handball Championships in 2021 in
\nEgypt. Over January 10th and 12th the Romanians will be
\nplaying Italy, Georgia and Kosovo. Selector Rares Fortuneanu, who is also
\ncoaching French side Saint Raphael has voiced hope for Romania’s qualification for the final
\ntournament, the first with 32 sides attending. The Romanian women’s handball
\nside made it to the group stage of the Women’s World Handball Championship held
\nin Japan last month. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
YO 35
\nathletes will be representing Romania at the 2020 Youth Olympics due in
\nLausanne, Switzerland over January 9 and 22. According to a communiqu\u00e9 issued
\nby the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee the Romanian athletes will be
\ncompeting in several disciplines, such as biathlon, bob-sleigh, ice hockey,
\nspeed skating, sledge, ski-jumping, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and
\nsnowboarding. At the previous edition in Lillehammer, Norway, the first medals
\nin the history of Romania’s participation in such an event went to Eduard
\nCasaneanu, who walked away with gold from the ice-hockey event and Mihaela
\nHogas, who won bronze in the speed skating race. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(translated by bill)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Click here for 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":[35289,35282,35288,29125,35281],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-bushfires","tag-fortuneanu","tag-hogas","tag-iohannis","tag-soleimani"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n