January 5, 2020

A roundup of domestic and international news.

Newsroom, 05.01.2020, 13:59

ELECTIONS – The second round of the presidential election is under way in Croatia. The first round in December 22nd saw Zoran Milanović of centre-left SDP-S&D and centre-right Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (EPP) moving on to the runoff with 29.6% and 26.7% of the votes, respectively. Before the campaign for the presidency began, Grabar-Kitarović maintained a healthy lead over the rest of the candidates in opinion polls while head-to-head polls against Milanović gave her a significant lead as well. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović had a strong advantage entering the race. However, since the beginning of the official campaign period and through the first round, she has seen a steady decline in support.

BUSHFIRE – Australia is being ravaged by the worst wildfires seen in decades, with large parts of the country devastated since the fire season began late July. As many as 24 people have died nationwide, and in the state of New South Wales alone, more than 1,300 houses have been destroyed. State and federal authorities are struggling to contain the massive blazes. All this has been exacerbated by persistent heat and drought, and many point to climate change as a factor making natural disasters go from bad to worse. There have been fires in every Australian state, but New South Wales has been hardest hit. Blazes have torn through bushland, wooded areas, and national parks like the Blue Mountains. Melbourne and Sydney, some of Australia’s largest cities have also been affected, where fires have damaged homes in the outer suburbs.

CONFLICT – Two mortar rounds hit the Iraqi capitals Green Zone Saturday and two rockets slammed into a base housing US troops, security sources said, a day after a deadly American strike. The drone strike outside the Baghdad airport on Friday killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and a number of other Iranian and Iraqi figures. US President Donald Trump has threatened to hit 52 Iranian sites “very hard if Iran attacks Americans or US assets in retaliation for the drone strike that killed the Iranian military commander Qassem Suleimani. The US president made the threat in a tweet hours before Suleimanis body arrived in Iran for burial. In Bucharest, the Foreign Ministry recommends Romanian citizens to avoid trips to Iraq.

VISIT – Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will be paying a working visit to Bavaria, in southern Germany for talks with Markus Soder, President and leader of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria. The Romanian president will be attending a session of Bavaria’s government and will be having talks with members of this institution on the bilateral relations and the latest European developments. President Iohannis will also be meeting the CSU group in Bundestag, where he is expected to present Romania’s vision on the future of Europe. In his turn, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban will travel to Brussels on Tuesday to meet with the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and with the European Council President Charles Michel.

HANDBALL – Romania’s national handball side is continuing its training campaign for the qualification for the World Men’s Handball Championships in 2021 in Egypt. Over January 10th and 12th the Romanians will be playing Italy, Georgia and Kosovo. Selector Rares Fortuneanu, who is also coaching French side Saint Raphael has voiced hope for Romania’s qualification for the final tournament, the first with 32 sides attending. The Romanian women’s handball side made it to the group stage of the Women’s World Handball Championship held in Japan last month.

YO – 35 athletes will be representing Romania at the 2020 Youth Olympics due in Lausanne, Switzerland over January 9 and 22. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee the Romanian athletes will be competing in several disciplines, such as biathlon, bob-sleigh, ice hockey, speed skating, sledge, ski-jumping, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding. At the previous edition in Lillehammer, Norway, the first medals in the history of Romania’s participation in such an event went to Eduard Casaneanu, who walked away with gold from the ice-hockey event and Mihaela Hogas, who won bronze in the speed skating race. (Translated by Elena Enache)