October 23, 2016 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 23.10.2016, 12:30
TENNIS Romanian tennis player Simona Halep on Sunday clinched a two-set win against US challenger Madison Keys in her first match in WTA Finals in Singapore, a tennis tournament with 7 million dollars in prize money. Halep, the competitions third favourite is playing in the Red Group, which also includes the worlds number one Angelique Kerber of Germany and Dominica Cibulkova of Slovakia. The competitions White Group includes Polish Agnieszka Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, Spanish Garbine Muguruza and Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. The present WTA Finals edition represents Haleps third participation after that in 2014, when she took on Serena Williams in the finals and that last year when she was knocked out in the groups stage.
CETA The EU has called on Belgium to announce until Monday night whether it supports the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). In case of a negative answer the signing ceremony scheduled for Thursday will be cancelled, France Press reports. The signing of the accord was blocked by the French-speaking region of Wallonia in southern Belgium disgruntled about some stipulations in the document, preventing the Belgian federal government from signing it. Romania has pinned its hopes on this free-trade agreement because a visa waiver for its citizens hinges on its conclusion. We recall the Romanian authorities negotiated with their Canadian counteparts the gradual lifting of visas beginning next year. In exchange Bucharest says it gives up any objections congerning CETA. However Wallonias opposition to CETA will also cast a question mark on the visa waiver for Romania whose president, Klaus Iohannis, pledged to continue talks with Canada for the implementation of the waiver irrespective of CETAs fate. Romania and Bulgaria are the only EU countries whose citizens need visas to travel to Canada.
AWARDS Romanian director Cristi Puius film Sieranevada has reaped two major awards at the Chicago International Film Festival, according to the festivals webpage. Sieranevada got the Gold Hugo award for best film and Silver Hugo for best director. Another Romanian production, Graduation by Cristi Mungiu has been awarded Silver Plaque for best screenplay while Adrian Titieni got Silver Hugo for best actor. The Chicago International Film Festival has reached its 52nd edition this year.
RALLY Supporters of Romanias union with the neighboring Republic of Moldova, an ex-soviet Romanian-speaking country, on Sunday held talks with representatives of the Romanian political parties. They believe that under the present geo-political context, the union of the two states is the only solution for the ethnic Romanians in the Republic so that they may not become victims to a possible Russian aggression, like in Ukraine. On Saturday, Romanian capital city Bucharest saw a rally to support the union between the two countries, which was also attended by numerous citizens from the Republic of Moldova. The event was marked by incidents involving some protesters and riot police. Already a tradition in Bucharest, support rallies for Bessarabia were inaugurated in 2012, which marked 200 years since the annexation of this province by Czarist Russia. The present Republic of Moldova was created on a part of the historical province of Bessarabia, which joined Romania after the First World War and was re-annexed by the USSR back in 1940.
