January 17, 2020 UPDATE

HOLOCAUST - The Romanian president Klaus Iohannis will be in Israel from Tuesday to Thursday, the president's office has announced. He will make this trip in order to attend the 5th  forum of world leaders dedicated to the remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The forum, entitled "Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Anti-Semitism", will take place on the 23rd of January in Jerusalem. The participation of the Romanian president in this international forum is part of the efforts made by the Romanian state to consolidate education about the Holocaust, preserve the memory of the Holocaust, combat anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia and promote European values, tolerance and respect for the fundamental rights and liberties. On the sidelines of the forum, president Iohannis will also have a meeting with his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin.

AID - The Romanian government has approved aid worth 41 million euros, to rescue the National Air Transport Company Tarom. Without the aid, Tarom would no longer be able to finance its activity as of March. According to the head of the prime minister's office Ionel Danca, this is the first step and can take the form of restructuring aid, following the notification of the European Commission and the latter's approval of the aid. Tarom estimates losses of around 36 million euros for 2019. The Romanian state-owned airliner has not had profit since 2007.

AIRPORT - The Avram Iancu International Airport in Cluj has been authorized to introduce pets from third countries for non-commercial purpose, thus becoming the first regional airport to provide this facility to its passengers. Pets could only be introduced in Romania via the Henri Coanda International Airport in Bucharest.

WHO - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday warned that the lack of new antibiotics threatens global efforts to contain drug-resistant infections, which kill tens of thousands of people every year, France Press reports. "Never has the threat of antimicrobial resistance been more immediate and the need for solutions more urgent," says Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. "Numerous initiatives are underway to reduce resistance, but we also need countries and the pharmaceutical industry to step up and contribute with sustainable funding and innovative new medicines." The WHO believes the world is headed to an era where common infections could start killing again. Some 33,000 people die every year in Europe and 35,000 in the United States to drug-resistant infections, one of the greatest health challenges yet identified, WHO officials say. Bacteria develop resistance when patients misuse antibiotics or don't finish their treatment, thus becoming immune to drugs.

BREXIT - The UK will not automatically kick out EU citizens who have not obtained a stay permit, the European Parliament's coordinator for Brexit, Guy Verhofstadt said. The EU official said that those who have not filed for resident status by the end of June 2021 will be given a six-month grace period to solve their status. The information was confirmed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman. Under the current post-Brexit legal framework, EU citizens who have an attested stay of at least 5 years in the UK are granted permanent resident status. The others can file for temporary resident status, which can be upgraded to permanent at the end of 5 years spent in the UK.

TENNIS - Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu, world no. 128, has qualified for the main draw of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. She defeated the Swiss player Stefanie Voegele on Friday in three sets, in the last qualifying round. Three Romanian players go straight into the main draw in the women's singles: world no. 4 Simona Halep, world no. 74 Sorana Cirstea, and world no. 105 Irina Begu. In the opening round, Halep will face world no. 49 Jennifer Brady of the US, Cirstea will face world no. 33 Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic and Begu will face world no. 10 Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands.

(Translated by C. Mateescu & V. Palcu)