Radio România Internațional

Tag: ATP World Tour

  • November 14, 2017 UPDATE

    November 14, 2017 UPDATE


    MOTION – The National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union, both in the opposition, have announced they will file together a no-confidence motion against the government formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania. Also, the Liberals will call on the Ombudsman to challenge at the Constitutional Court the fiscal reform promoted by the Government. According to the Executive, however, the changes adopted last week, including shifting the responsibility for paying social security contributions from employers to employees and the reduction of the income tax from 16 to 10%, will bring more money to the state budget and to the pension fund and will provide simpler procedures for companies. The measures are due to come into force on January 1st.



    ECONOMIC GROWTH – Romania ranks first in the EU in terms of economic growth, and this is the only way to ensure higher living standards, said on Tuesday the Finance Minister Ionut Misa. According to the Romanian official, the countrys economic situation is significantly better than in 2016, and the current development direction is appreciated by investors and international bodies. According to the Statistical Office of the European Union, in the third quarter of this year Romania registered the highest GDP growth in the EU, 8.6%, as compared to 2016. According to the Romanian Statistics Institute, in 2017 Romanias GDP grew by 2.6% in the third quarter, as compared to the previous quarter, and by 8.8% as compared to the previous year.



    PERSONA NON GRATA – On Tuesday, the Bucharest Court of Appeal declared the Serbian citizen Bratislav Zivkovic, a self-proclaimed commander of a paramilitary group, persona non grata in Romania for a period of 15 years. Between 2012 and 2014 Zivkovic took part in the conflict in eastern Ukraine on the pro-Russian separatists side. According to the Romanian Intelligence Service, he has traveled to Romania several times to collect intelligence. He has drawn up preparatory documents with the aim of procuring and transmitting such information to foreign powers and agencies and of setting up intelligence networks on Romanian soil. He has shown interest in classified documents concerning critical national and allied infrastructure in south-eastern Romania. According to the Service, though, the Serbian has not managed to get any document or classified information.



    CELEBRATION – On Tuesday, Romania celebrated 139 years since the south-eastern province of Dobruja was unified with the country. The province had been, up to that point, under Ottoman rule. In 1878, following the Russian-Romanian-Turkish war, the Congress of Berlin recognized Romanias independence and the province of Dobruja together with the tiny Snake Island in the Black Sea as part of its territory. Authorities in the counties of Tulcea and Constanta staged ceremonies to celebrate this historic event.



    ATP WORLD TOUR – The tennis pair made up of the Romanian Horia Tecau and the Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer stands no chances of qualifying for the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour in London. On Tuesday, they were defeated by Henri Kontinen of Finland and John Peers of Australia 7-6, 7-6. In their first match on Sunday, the pair also lost to the all French pair Pierre-Hugues Herbert / Nicolas Mahut. The next game is due on Thursday, against the pair made up of the American Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus of the New Zealand. This year, Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer have won four titles.




  • November 21, 2015

    November 21, 2015

    Another person injured in the fatal fire of October 30th at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest died on Saturday in a hospital in the Romanian capital city, raising the death toll to 59. According to the Health Ministry, 40 patients were still hospitalised, ten of whom are in a critical condition. Around 30 others are receiving care in foreign clinics. A tribute was paid to the victims of the fire, on Friday night, when hundreds of people gathered for a concert in University Square in Bucharest.



    The new Government of Romania, headed by the independent Dacian Cioloş convened on Saturday in an informal meeting. The talks focused on next year’s public budgets, the sector priorities for the coming months, the improvement of the institutions that manage the European fund absorption and on outlining the principles for an administrative reform. According to the PM, such informal meetings will be held on a regular basis, at the weekend, and will focus on the priorities in the governing programme. The technocratic cabinet headed by Dacian Ciolos was sworn in early this week.



    The Gaudeamus International Book Fair, organised by Radio Romania, carries on today with tens of book launches and cultural events. The fair will end on Sunday. This year’s edition is held under the motto “The Most Read Book Fair from the Most Listened to Radio.” Gaudeamus brings together over 300 publishers and 700 events. The guest of honour in this year’s fair is the Group of Francophone Embassies, Delegations and Institutions in Romania.



    The Brussels metro was shut on Saturday after the Belgian authorities raised the terrorist alert status to the highest level, warning people to avoid crowds because of a “serious and imminent” threat, news agencies report. One week after the Paris attacks, perpetrated by ISIS members, and with one of the suspects, based in Brussels, still at large, the city was placed on the top level, 4, of the government’s threat scale. The decision was taken hours after a suspect arrested in Belgium was placed under terrorism charges in relation to the attacks that killed 130 people in Paris on November 13th.



    The UN Security Council Friday unanimously approved a resolution introduced by France, which calls on all nations to strengthen and coordinate actions to prevent further terror attacks from the IS group and other terrorist organisations. The resolution describes the IS jihadist group as an unprecedented global threat to the international security and peace. The document authorises UN member states to use any means to dismantle the shelters the terrorists have established in a sizeable part of Iraq and Syria. The Resolution also calls on the international community to block the flow of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria and to crack down on terrorist financing, the Radio Romania correspondent in Washington reports.



    The Romanian Florin Mergea and Indian Rohan Bopanna Saturday qualified in the finals of the London ATP World Tour, after defeating Ivan Dodig / Marcelo Melo (Croatia/Brazil), 6-4 / 6-2. In the other doubles semi-final, another Romanian, Horia Tecau, and his partner, Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands), are facing the No 1 seeded American twins Bob and Mike Bryan. It is for the first time that Romania has two players in the ATP World Tour Finals, which has 7 million US dollars in prize money and brings together the best-ranking 8 players of the season and the top 8 men’s doubles teams.


    (Translation by: Ana Maria Popescu)