Radio România Internațional

Tag: nobel peace prize

  • October 11, 2024

    October 11, 2024

    Inflation – The inflation rate in Romania dropped, in September, to 4.62%, after, in August, it had registered a value of 5.1%. This is the official data of the National Institute of Statistics published today. The prices for foodstuffs have increased, on average, by 0.8%, and for services by approximately 0.4%. Spectacular price hikes were recorded in the case of citrus fruits and other exotic fruits, approximately 7.5%. Prices of vegetables and canned food also went up by over 5%. Significantly increased prices were also recorded for beans and other legumes. Potatoes, on the other hand, became cheaper by approximately 5.23%, and other products by less than 2%. In the case of services, postal rates increased by 17.8%, air transport by 17.2%, and non-foods such as detergents by 14.7%. The prices for water supply and sanitation services also recorded a 12.6% increase.

     

    Commissioner – The designated European Commissioner of Romania, Roxana Mînzatu, will be heard, on Saturday, by the committees of the European Parliament. MEPs from the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and from the Committee on Culture and Education will participate in the hearings. Another two committees, the one on women’s rights and gender equality and the Committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs will have a guest status, in the sense that they will have the right to ask the commissioner proposed by Romania a written question. Roxana Mînzatu was appointed executive vice-president of the European Commission and could hold, in the next five years, the portfolio on employment, social affairs and education.

     

    Concert season – “Ode to Joy ” was scheduled to open, this evening, the new concert season of Radio Romania’s orchestras and choirs. The show at the Radio Hall, conducted by the Austrian Sascha Goetzel, is designed around one of the most famous works in the history of music, the Symphony No. 9 by Ludwig van Beethoven. At the absolute premiere in Vienna, on May 7, 1824, Beethoven was turned to face the audience to see the applause which he could no longer hear at all, due to his total hearing loss. “Ode to Joy” is the first musical score included in the UNESCO world heritage.

     

    Nobel – The Japanese Nihon Hidankyo movement won, on Friday, the Nobel Peace Prize for the year 2024, for “its efforts to reach a world without nuclear weapons”, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced, according to international press agencies. The Nobel Peace Prize is the only one awarded in Oslo, the prizes for the other categories being awarded in Stockholm. The Norwegian Nobel Institute registered 286 candidacies for this year’s award, including 197 individuals and 89 organizations. Last year, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Iranian Narges Mohammadi “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”.

     

    Schengen – Austria continues to oppose the admission of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area with land borders. The problem was discussed, on Thursday, in Luxembourg, at the meeting of the European Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs. Although the European Commission and the European Parliament say that both countries meet all the conditions for accession, Austrian Minister Gerhard Karner claims that there is still a lot to be done. The European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson expressed optimism that the Council of the EU will decide to remove border checks at the Bulgarian and Romanian Schengen borders before her term ends. She added that the accession of Romania and Bulgaria would be discussed again during the Council meeting in December.

     

    Elections – 14 candidates will be registered on the ballots in the first round of Romania’s presidential election on November 24 – 10 supported by political parties and 4 independents. On Thursday evening, the Central Electoral Bureau established, by drawing of lots, the order in which the candidates will appear on the ballot, but one of the candidates announced the intention to challenge the procedure. The deadline for Romanian citizens domiciled or residing abroad to register to vote by mail in the presidential elections expired at midnight. According to the data of the Permanent Electoral Authority, less than 7,000 people registered on the votstrainatate.ro platform. The second round of the presidential election will take place on December 8. (LS)

  • October 7, 2022 UPDATE

    October 7, 2022 UPDATE

    Prague – President Klaus Iohannis reiterated, in Prague, Romanias position regarding the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and the continuation of Bucharests constant support, on multiple levels, including in preparation for winter, in the context of the new escalations generated by the Russian Federation. Klaus Iohannis participated, on Friday, in the Czech capital, in the informal meeting of the European Council, in which context he expressed Romanias openness to the reconstruction process. On the other hand, in the context of maintaining the high level of energy prices, a constant concern for Romania, Klaus Iohannis recalled the need to adopt measures to ensure the decoupling of the price of electricity from the price of natural gas. The main topics on the agenda of the European Council meeting are related to the situation in Ukraine, on all of its dimensions, the developments in the field of energy, from the point of view of the impact of the high prices and the efforts for security of supply, as well as the economic situation at the European level. As for Ukraine, European leaders strongly rejected and unequivocally condemned Russias illegal annexation of Ukraines regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson following fake referendums.



    Anim’est – Over 340 short and feature films will be presented, between October 7 and 16, at the 17th edition of the Animest International Animation Film Festival. According to the organizers, screenings and special events, parties and masterclasses supported by industry professionals especially invited to Bucharest will not be missing from this year’s festival. The list of films within the festival also includes titles that have attracted the attention of the entire industry in the last year, standing out in the competitions of major international film events. Such an example is the production Flee, directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen (Denmark), which received numerous awards. The list also includes Romanian films. The film Insula — The Island, a surrealist comedy based on the interpretation of the story of Robinson Crusoe and the latest feature film by Anca Damian, will also be presented.



    Nobel — Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatsky, Russia’s human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to document human rights abuses, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday. This award comes as Ukraine battles the Russian invasion, which has drawn accusations that numerous war crimes have been committed. The Norwegian Nobel Committee explained, in its motivation, that the Peace Prize winners have been promoting, for many years, the right to criticize power and to protect the citizens’ fundamental rights. “They have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human rights abuses and the abuse of power.” The committee’s motivation also shows that, together, they demonstrate the importance of civil society for peace and democracy.



    Patients – Five Ukrainian patients will be taken over from Poland by a Spartan aircraft belonging to the Romanian Air Force and transported to Ireland for treatment. The transport is monitored by a medical team made up of specialists from the Bucharest Clinical Emergency Hospital and from the Air Transport Base 90. Ukraine sent the request for air transport through the platform that facilitates communication between the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and the national authorities. (LS)

  • October 9, 2015 UPDATE

    October 9, 2015 UPDATE

    The Nobel Peace Prize 2015 was awarded on Friday to the National Dialogue Quartet “for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011” announced the Nobel committee quoted by France Press. The quartet comprises the following organizations: the Tunisian General Labour Union UGTT, the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, UTICA, the Tunisian Human Rights League and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers and was set up in the summer of 2013. It mediated a long and difficult national dialogue between the Islamists and their opponents, urging them to reach an agreement to make things work at institutional level. The quartet launched a peaceful, alternative political process at a time when the country was on the verge of civil war, the Nobel committee explained. In 2014 the young Pakistani woman Malala Yousafzai and the Indian Kailash Satyarthi were the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education”.



    The Romanian justice minister, Robert Cazanciuc, on Friday participated in Luxembourg in the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting. The ministers agreed on the text of a draft directive regarding the protection of individuals in terms of personal data processing. Discussions on the topic will continue with the European Parliament. In the context of the migration crisis they agreed to strengthen legal cooperation, as a possible solution to the specific challenges posed by migration. Minister Cazanciuc also had bilateral meetings with the Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova as well as with his counterparts from Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Great Britain and Hungary. The next Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting is scheduled for December in Brussels.



    NATO decided to raise response force to 40 thousand troops in Central and Eastern Europe, the structure being able to manage any threat in 48 hours at the most, the NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg announced at a NATO partners’ meeting held Thursday in Brussels. NATO also decided to set up 2 new command centers in Slovakia and Hungary besides those in Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Bulgaria. Tension rose between NATO and Russia after the Russian military planes started air strikes in Syria to support the Bashar al-Assad regime while claiming they were attacking targets of the Islamic State terrorist organization. The US and NATO accuse Russia of having attacked positions of the insurgents who are backed by the West. Since March 2011 Syria has been the stage of violently quenched uprisings and of an armed conflict between the security services subordinated to Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the opposition forces and terrorist groups, including the Sunni organization the Islamic State. The death toll exceeds 250 thousand victims.



    Romania’s national football team on Thursday evening ended in a 1-all draw the match against the Finish eleven, in its last but one preliminary stage fixture ahead of the 2016 European Championships. The Romanian eleven managed to secure its runner-up position in the group, which entitles them to a straight qualification one point ahead of Hungary. Northern Ireland has won the preliminary group. The poor performance of the Romanian footballers, mainly in the second half of the match, disappointed the fans who asked for the resignation of coach Anghel Iordanescu. To secure its qualification Romania’s national team needs to win the match against the Faeroe Islands on Sunday in its last group stage fixture. In another development, Romania’s national youth team on Friday will play in Luxembourg a match counting for the 2017 European Under-21 Championship. In the previous group matches Romania defeated Armenia twice and was defeated on home turf by Bulgaria.



    The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Friday promulgated the Law on processing personal data and protecting private life in the electronic communications sector. The most important provision refers to the fact that, upon the request of a court or of prosecutors, the providers of public electronic communications services have to make available, in 48 hours, personal data related to identification, traffic and location. These data cannot be stored for more than 3 years. Several versions of the so-called “Big Brother Law” have been proposed since 2009, but they have been rejected by the Constitutional Court on grounds of infringing the rights and freedoms of the individual. The former head of the Romanian Intelligence Service, George Maior, resigned in January, claiming subsequently that the reason for his resignation was the rejection of these very laws. matches Romania defeated Armenia twice and was defeated on home turf by Bulgaria.



    On Sunday the Social Democratic Party- PSD, the main party in the governing coalition in Romania will elect its president. More than 530 thousand members are expected to cast their vote. The only candidate to the party’s presidency is Liviu Dragnea, currently interim president of the party. He took over the presidency of PSD in July 2015 after Victor Ponta, the then party president and currently Romania’s PM, resigned his position of party president following the corruption scandal in which he is involved. The PM Victor Ponta has been prosecuted being accused of forgery, accessory to tax evasion and money laundering. After internal elections, the Social Democrats will meet in an extraordinary congress on October 18.