February 6, 2020
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 06.02.2020, 13:55
TALKS Romania’s
president Klaus Iohannis is today having talks with Parliament parties summoned
after the sacking of the Liberal cabinet led by Prime Minister Ludovic Orban.
The Legislature on Wednesday endorsed a censure motion tabled by the opposition
Social Democrats backed by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania
after the cabinet had assumed responsibility for returning to the two-round
voting system in the upcoming local election. PSD and Pro Romania, a group
created by Social-Democratic dissidents, have announced their endorsement for
the same candidate, Remus Pricopie, a former minister in the Ponta cabinet. The
Liberals who want snap election have announced their support for their leader
Ludovic Orban, while the USR has announced it will nominate the former technocratic Prime
Minister Dacian Ciolos. UDMR will not have their own candidate. President
Iohannis who is also in favour of early election, says that he wants a
government with a reforming agenda formed around the National Liberal Party. According
to the president the PSD does not want reforms and recommended them to stay in
opposition.
WEATHER
The sky is overcast in
Romania’s south-east and snowfalls are still expected tonight in the country’s northern
and eastern regions. The highs of the day range between -3 and 7 degrees
Celsius with a noon reading in Bucharest of 2 degrees. The snowfalls and
blizzard last night caused disruptions in road, rail and air traffic. Some regions have been left without
electricity and schools have been closed down.
VIRUS A ship with 17 Romanians on board has been quarantined in the Japanese
port of Yokohama, after several cases of cornoavirus infections were reported,
the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has today announced. According to the same
sources, the Romanian embassy in Tokyo has been notified by the Foreign Ministry
in Japan. Out of the Romanians on board, two are tourists and 15 crew. Romania’s
consulate in Hong Kong has asked for information from the local authorities on
the situation of the Romanians on board of a ship moored in that port. No case
of coronoavirus infection has been reported in Romania so far.
TENNIS The timetable of the games part of the FedCup contest
pitting the teams of Romania against Russia is to be set today. This coming
Friday and Saturday, the northwestern Romanian town of Cluj-Napoca will play
host to the matches counting towards the qualification for a final tournament,
to be held in Budapest over April 14 and 19. The worlds’ number 2 tennis player,
Simona Halep, said that this year she won’t play for Romania in the FedCup
since she will focus on participating in the Tokyo Olympics, where she keeps
her hopes high for winning a medal, so Romania’s team for the match against
Russia includes only two top 100 tennis players, WTA 98th-placed Ana
Bogdan and Raluca Olaru, who is 48th placed according to the same
rankings. Save for one player, the Russian team is made up only of top 100
tennis players. It is the first time Romania faces Russia in the FedCUp. We
recall that in the past, Romania lost both World Group matches against the
former USSR.
ACQUITTAL
The White House has hailed the acquittal of president Donald Trump at the end
of his impeachment trial saying that the president is not guilty and denouncing
once again what it calls a witch hunt masterminded by his political opponents.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnel has called the impeachment of president
Trump ‘a colossal political mistake’ while United States House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi said ‘president Trump remains a threat to American democracy’. The
Senate on Wednesday voted to acquit president Trump, 52-48 on charges of abuse
of power and 53-47 on obstruction of Congress.
(translated by bill)
