October 5, 2026
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 05.10.2026, 13:55
NOMINEE Romanian President Nicușor Dan is expected to announce his new nominee for prime minister today, following a fresh round of talks with all parliamentary political groups. The third designated Prime Minister, Liberal MEP Siegfried Mureșan, failed to secure the legislature’s vote of confidence. President Dan believes that early elections—advocated by the populist, ultra-nationalist opposition party AUR and the centrist USR—would not resolve the current political crisis, and he has called on politicians to come up with a viable solution. Of all the parliamentary parties, only the PSD has announced a nominee for prime minister: party leader Sorin Grindeanu. The Liberals have said they will not put forward another candidate and are awaiting the President’s nomination before making a decision. They continue to rule out resuming cooperation with the PSD, a move the UDMR views as the only solution to the crisis.
NOBEL Nobel prize recipients are to be announced today starting with those in physiology or medicine and ending with economy, next Monday, October 12. The Nobel prizes for notable achievements in physics, chemistry, literature and peace are accompanied by the Swedish equivalent of 1.21 million US dollars. According to press agencies, besides money, the awards are giving the recipients unimagined instant fame. The Nobel prizes were created by the rich Swedish chemist and entrepreneur, Alfred Nobel, best known for the invention of dynamite. In his will he said that most part of his fortune be used for funding prizes for those who confer the greatest benefit to humankind.
OLYMPIAD Romanian students won three gold and two silver medals at the 19th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, held in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi. According to the Ministry of Education in Bucharest, the Romanian team—comprising five students— made to the podium in all categories. The competition brought together over 310 contestants from 64 countries.
LETTER The ‘Friends of Cohesion’ group, comprising 17 EU member states, has sent a joint letter to Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin—currently holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the Union—calling for agriculture and cohesion to remain central priorities in the next European budget cycle, announced Romanian President Nicușor Dan. “First and foremost, we want an ambitious European Union budget; we want substantial funding for the cohesion and agriculture sectors, precisely to bridge the gaps between citizens of different European countries,” stated the Romanian head of state.
PRIORITIES The European Parliament’s priorities for the EU multiannual budget, the approval of the new EU defence innovation programme, tackling the cost-of-living crisis, and protecting patients against the health risks posed by counterfeit medicines are the main topics on the agenda of the European Parliament plenary session starting Monday evening in Strasbourg. On Tuesday, the European Parliament will be debating the situation in Ukraine and condemn the elections in Russia in a separate round of talks. The MEPs will look ahead to EU summit on October the 15th and 16th during a debate with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU. Ahead of the meeting of heads of state or government, the MEPs will discuss measures to boost Europe’s economic competitiveness, continued support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s war of aggression, expectations for the 2028–2034 EU budget, and the situation in the Middle East. MEPs will also discuss, among other things, ways to make housing affordable, and, on Wednesday, the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
FOOTBALL Romania’s national football side is today meeting on their own ground Sweden, to which it conceded a 1-2 defeat in the first round of the new season of the the Nations League football tournament. In their second game, the Romanians also lost their home match against Bosnia and came a cropper against Poland in Warsaw, 6-0 last week. Headcoach Gheorghe Hagi thus becomes the only Romanian selector to have registered three defeats in a row since his debut at the helm of Romania’s national eleven. After today’s match against Sweden, Romania will be playing at home Poland on November 14th and will be up against Bosnia on November 17th.
RADIO Dear friends, Radio Romania technical team is moving the broadcasts of the public radio service’s stations to a new technical solution over October 5 and 9. Consequently, we will be broadcasting a backup program via shortwave—in all languages and on all frequencies used by Radio Romania International. In the meantime you can find us at www.rri.ro, including on demand, with up-to-date shows and programmes on the RRI applications for Android and iOS and on RRI’s social network pages.
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