Romania
<\/p>\n
Schools.<\/strong> Education minister Sorin C\u00eempeanu said
<\/p>\n
Romania-Spain.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n
Aid.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n
Moldova-France.
<\/p>\n
Russia.<\/strong> The US and other western
<\/p>\n
Tourism.<\/strong> 6.3 million tourists
<\/p>\n
Tennis.<\/strong> World no. 2 Simona Halep of
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The latest news and main stories today.<\/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":[35339,31270,35673,28939],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-coronavirus","tag-diplomacy","tag-schools","tag-tennis"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nCovid update.<\/strong> More than 600,000 people have received the Covid vaccine in Romania,
\nof whom 140,000 also received the second dose. The total number of infections
\npassed 735,000 on Wednesday, almost one year since the first case was reported
\nin this country, while the death toll hit 18,600 have died. More than 1,000
\nCovid patients are in intensive care. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\ntoday that he will issue a joint order together with the health minister
\ncontaining all the measures for the reopening of schools in Romania as of 8th
\nFebruary. The order will stipulate the rules to be respected when children
\nphysically return to classrooms beginning with the second semester. Schools,
\nhigh schools and kindergartens will be reopening for in-person learning in
\nRomania next week, Romania thus joining most European Union countries in
\nthis respect.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nSpain’s foreign minister Arancha Gonz\u00e1lez
\nLaya today began an official visit to Romania. According to a foreign ministry
\nstatement, the trip comes in the context of Romania and Spain’s celebrating the
\n140th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year and ahead of a
\njoint meeting of the two governments also this year. Arancha Gonz\u00e1lez Laya
\nwill be meeting prime minister Florin C\u00ee\u0163u and her counterpart Bogdan Aurescu
\nand will be received by president Klaus Iohannis. This is Laya’s first foreign
\ntrip this year and takes place at the invitation of her Romanian counterpart. The
\ntwo foreign ministers are expected to discuss a series of topical issues on the
\nbilateral, European and international agenda. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe Romanian government is expected to approve emergency humanitarian to Croatia
\nin the wake of December’s earthquake near Zagreb, aid worth some 130,000 euros.
\nIn its meeting today, the government is also due to approve a number of
\nmeasures in the education system, including payments to teachers doing extra
\nhours for pupils to catch up on lost learning during online teaching. An
\namendment to a loan agreement signed in 2014 by the Romanian government and the
\nInternational Bank for Reconstruction and Development and linked to a project
\nto reform the healthcare system and improve its quality and efficiency is also expected
\nto be approved today. The total cost of the project is estimated at 250 million
\neuros. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The pro-western president of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu is in Paris
\ntoday and tomorrow for official talks with her French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
\nShe will also be meeting the French minister for Europe and foreign affairs Jean-Yves
\nLe Drian and other officials. According to the president’s office in Chi\u015fin\u0103u, the
\ntrip to France is meant to give a new impetus to the political, economic and
\ncultural relations between the two countries. This is Maia Sandu’s third visit
\nabroad, after Kiev and Brussels. After taking office, at the end of last year,
\nshe met Romanian president Klaus Iohannis in Chi\u0219in\u0103u and together signed a joint declaration on
\nthe consolidation of bilateral strategic partnership. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\npowers have met with concern Russia’s jailing of Putin critic Alexei Nalavny
\nand the violent reprisal of anti-government protests and have called for his immediate
\nrelease. On Tuesday, the Russian police arrested more than 900 people during a
\npro-Navalny rally. Navalny had been detained since 17th January when
\nhe returned from Germany where he had received treatment for a Novichok
\npoisoning he blames on president Vladimir Putin and the Russian secret services.
\nHis arrest led to large street protests, with the police using force and making
\nthousands of arrests. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nvisited Romania last year, half compared with 2019. More than 90% were
\nRomanians and only 7% from abroad, according to the National Institute for
\nStatistics. The most popular destinations were Constan\u0163a county,
\nin the south-east, on the Black Sea coast, the mountain city of Bra\u015fov and the
\ncapital Bucharest. Most foreign tourists who visited Romania last year came
\nfrom Germany, Italy, France, Israel and the UK. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nRomania today defeated Germany’s Laura
\nSiegemund to reach <\/strong>the quarterfinals of the Gippsland Trophy tennis tournament in
\nMelbourne, in Australia. Halep will next be playing Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova. Another Romanian player, Irina
\nBegu, defeated UK’s Johanna Konta in three sets and will be facing world no. 3
\nNaomi Osaka of Japan in the quarterfinals. Gippsland Trophy is organised as a
\nlead-up to the Australian Open, which gets under way on 8th
\nFebruary. In another similar tournament, Grampians Trophy, also held in Melbourne,
\nRomania’s Sorana
\nC\u00eerstea defeated Georgia’s Oksana Kalashnikova to reach the round of last 16,
\nwhere she will be playing second seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland. (CM)<\/p>\n