Radio România Internațional

Tag: Pershing Cup

  • November 13, 2016 UPDATE

    November 13, 2016 UPDATE




    FOREIGN POLICY – Romanian foreign minister, Lazar Comanescu, on Monday will attend the Foreign Affairs
    Council meeting, alongside his EU counterparts. The agenda of the meeting,
    hosted by Brussels, covers such issues as the situation in Turkey, the Eastern
    Partnership, the developments in the Southern Neighbourhood, with special
    emphasis being laid on the Syrian file. The stage of implementing the EU Global
    Strategy for Common Foreign and Security Policy will be approached during a
    common session of the EU foreign and defence ministers, on the same day. On the
    sidelines of the Council, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and
    Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, on Sunday initiated an informal talk
    between the foreign ministers, including Lazar Comanescu, on the trans-Atlantic
    relation.






    NATO – NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, has launched a warning to
    the US President elect, Donald Trump, saying going alone is not an
    advantageous option, either for Europe or for the US. In an article carried by
    the British paper The Observer, NATO Secretary General, Jens
    Stoltenberg, said the West is facing one of the biggest security challenges in
    the past decades. During his electoral campaign, Donald Trump argued NATO is
    anachronistic and suggested that Washington will think twice whether it helps
    or not a NATO ally which comes under attack, if the respective ally hasn’t paid
    its contribution. News agencies recall that some 70% of NATO’s current spending
    is covered by the US, but the American leaders have always admitted to taking a
    high interest in maintaining a stable and safe Europe.




    COMMEMORATION– French President Francois Hollande
    on Sunday unveiled several commemorative plates in memory of the 130 people
    killed in the terror attacks carried out by Islamist militants in Paris, a year
    ago. President Hollande and
    the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, unveiled a commemorative plate while the name
    of the victims were read out. On November 13, 2015 Paris was in shock after gunmen opened fire
    randomly in the streets and blew themselves up. The largest number of victims,
    90, were registered at Bataclan Concert Hall, and the rest of victims died in cafes,
    on sidewalks and restaurant terraces in Paris.




    ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN – The electoral campaign for the parliamentary elections
    scheduled for December 11, started in Romania on Friday. Some 6,500 people are
    running, on behalf of parties or as independent candidates, for the 466 seats
    in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. This
    election, the list system has been reinstated; the last time it was used was in
    the 2004 elections. The parties credited with chances of going past the
    required threshold to be represented in parliament are: PSD, PNL, USR, ALDE, UDMR and PMP.




    FILM – Romanian films Sieranevada by Cristi Puiu and Baccalaureate by Cristian Mungiu have reaped a lot of awards at the Listapad, International Film Festival hosted by the Belarusian capital, Minsk, between November 4 and 11. They included: the film press award (Sieranevada), the Yury Marukhin memorial award for best cinematography (Barbu Balasoiu/ Sieranevada), the special jury award (Baccalaureate), the award for best actress in a supporting role (Lia Bugnar/ Baccalaureate) and the award for best actor in a leading role (Adrian Titieni/ Baccalaureate).


    RUGBY – Romania’s national rugby team on Saturday defeated the US, 23-10, in a test match played in Bucharest. The winner grabbed the Pershing Cup. This is a trophy initiated in 2014 and offered ever since by the Romanian Rugby Federation to the winner of the confrontations between Romania and the US, in remembrance of the match played during the Military Olympics of 1919, the Inter-Allied Games, organised by the commander in chief of the US Expeditionary Force in Europe, General John Joseph Pershing, to mark the end of WWI. The next preparatory game of the Romanian national rugby team is scheduled for Saturday, when Romania meets Canada in Bucharest.


    WEATHER -
    A wave of cold has taken most Romanian regions in its grip. In the following
    period of time, the weather will continue to be particularly cold for this time
    of the year. The sky will be overcast and precipitations are likely to fall across
    the entire territory. Snowfalls and gusty wind are further forecast in the
    mountains and in the north. Meteorologists have issued a code yellow alert
    against gale-force wind valid for Eastern Romania until Monday noon.
    Temperatures will drop below zero, down to minus 10 degrees Celsius in places.
    Gale force wind and snow produced havoc on Sunday, in several regions,
    particularly in the mountains and in the northeast. Bad weather conditions
    disrupted electricity in several counties, with a considerable impact on air
    traffic and the sea and river ports’ activity. (Translated by Diana Vijeu)

  • November 13, 2016

    November 13, 2016

    REP. OF MOLDOVA — Pro-Russian Socialist Igor Dodon and pro-European reformer Maia Sandu face off in the presidential run-off in the Republic of Moldova, a former Soviet state, with a predominantly Romanian speaking population. About three million voters are called to the polls to elect their president through direct voting, for the first time in 16 years, time in which the head of state was appointed by Parliament. According to the media in Chishinau, although the president’s prerogatives are limited in the former Soviet republic to foreign policy and national security, Moldovans hope their future president will also be able to solve the social and economic problems the country is facing. Pundits say the ballot has a political stake, as well as geopolitical implications. Dodon wants Moldova to relinquish accession and free trade agreements with Brussels and join the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Union, whereas Sandu pleads for reforming the state and European integration. In the first round, Igor Dodon got 48% of the cast votes, whereas Maia Sandu got 39%. The turnout in the first round stood at some 49%, a record low in the history of the Republic of Moldova, since elections were held in that country.



    FOREIGN POLICY — The EU foreign ministers are today meeting in Brussels for talks on the impact the results of the US presidential election might have on trans-Atlantic relations. The European leaders are concerned about the future of the relations with the US, after the US President elect, Donald Trump, has repeatedly said he places America on the first place. “It’s good for Europe to be pro-active and do not wait for President Trump’s reaction”, said Dutch foreign minister, Bert Koenders. The meeting in Brussels is held at the initiative of Germany and the Netherlands.



    COMMEMORATION — French President Francois Hollande has today opened the ceremonies marking one year since the Paris terror attacks of November 13, 2015, unveiling a commemorative sign at Stade de France, in northern Paris, where the first of the 130 victims was killed by Jihadists, FP reports. The Bataclan Concert Hall in Paris reopened on Saturday, one year after the attacks claimed by the Islamic State organisation. On November 13, 2015 Paris was in shock after gunmen opened fire randomly in the streets and blew themselves up. The largest number of victims, 90, were registered at Bataclan, and the rest of victims died in cafes, on sidewalks and restaurant terraces in Paris.



    PROTESTS — Protests which started in thousands of towns and cities across the US, at the news of Republican Donald Trump’s winning the presidential election, continued on Saturday, for the fourth consecutive day. Representatives of the protesters say they are aware of the fact that what they say and their taking to the streets do not reverse the result of the presidential ballot, but they want to draw attention on their discontent about the future White House leader. They want to raise public awareness of the main issues raised during Trump’s electoral campaign which included defamatory remarks on women, up to threats of building a wall between the US and Mexico to keep migrants away.



    ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN — The electoral campaign for the parliamentary elections scheduled for December 11, started in Romania on Friday. Some 6,500 people are running, on behalf of parties or as independent candidates, for the 466 seats in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. This election, the list system has been reinstated; the last time it was used was in the 2004 elections. The parties credited with chances of going past the required threshold to be represented in parliament are: PSD, PNL, USR, ALDE, UDMR and PMP.



    BULGARIA — Bulgarian voters are called to the polls today to elect their president, in the presidential run-off. The vote might also entail the removal of Conservative PM, Boiko Borisov, in case of a victory by the Socialist candidate, Rumen Radev, considered to have close relations with Moscow, FP reports. Some 6.8 million voters will choose between Tsetska Tsacheva, the candidate of the conservative Gerb Party, in power, and pro-Russian general Rumen Radev, who had been the commander of the Bulgarian Air Forces until summer, when he accepted to become the Socialists’ presidential candidate. According to the latest polls, Radev is the frontrunner, especially after the big surprise of November 6, when he got 3 percentage points more than the candidate of the majority, criticised for a lack of charisma.



    WEATHER — A wave of cold has taken most Romanian regions in its grip, except for the southeast where temperatures are close to normal for this time of the year. The sky is overcast and precipitations are reported across the whole territory. Rainwater exceeds 20-25 l/square meter in the west, south-west, centre, north and north-east, and even 50- 60 l/square meter in places. Snowfalls are reported in the mountains and in the north, where gusty wind is also reported. A code yellow alert against precipitations and gale-force wind is valid for almost the whole of Romania, as well as a code orange alert against blizzard valid for 14 counties in the centre and the north. Both codes are valid until Sunday evening. The highs of the day range between 0 and plus 10 degrees Celsius.



    RUGBY — Romania’s national rugby team on Saturday defeated the US, 23-10, in a test match played in Bucharest. The winner grabbed the “Pershing Cup”. This is a trophy initiated in 2014 and offered ever since by the Romanian Rugby Federation to the winner of the confrontations between Romania and the US, in remembrance of the match played during the Military “Olympics” of 1919, the “Inter-Allied Games”, organised by the commander in chief of the US Expeditionary Force in Europe, General John Joseph Pershing, to mark the end of WWI. The next preparatory game of the Romanian national rugby team is scheduled for Saturday, when Romania meets Canada in Bucharest.



    FILM — Romanian films “Sieranevada” by Cristi Puiu and “Baccalaureate” by Cristian Mungiu have reaped a lot of awards at the “Listapad”, International Film Festival hosted by the Belarusian capital, Minsk, between November 4 and 11. They included: the film press award (Sieranevada), the “Yury Marukhin” memorial award for best cinematography (Barbu Balasoiu/ Sieranevada), the special jury award (Baccalaureate), the award for best actress in a supporting role (Lia Bugnar/ Baccalaureate) and the award for best actor in a leading role (Adrian Titieni/ Baccalaureate). (Translated by Diana Vijeu)

  • November 12, 2016

    November 12, 2016

    ELECTION CAMPAIGN
    The campaign for the December 11th parliamentary elections in
    Romania started on Friday. Some 6,500 people, both party members and
    independent candidates, have registered for the race to get one of the 466
    seats in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The system used this year is
    the party-list proportional representation system, used back in 2004. The
    parties standing the biggest changes of being represented in the next
    Parliament are the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Save
    Romania Union, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and the People’s Movement
    Party.








    MOLDOVA Sunday will see the
    second ballot of the presidential elections in the neighboring Republic of
    Moldova, the former Soviet country with a predominantly Romanian-speaking
    population. Competing are the pro-Russia socialist Igor Dodon and the pro-West
    reformist Maia Sandu. Some 3 million citizens are thus expected to the polls to
    elect their president, for the first time after 16 years in which the president
    was designated by Parliament. Pundits say that the stake of the ballot is not
    just political, but also geo-political. Dodon wants his country to join the
    Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Union, while Sandu stands for reform and European
    integration.








    PROTESTS Demonstrations have
    been held for three nights in a row in big cities and university campuses in
    the US against the president – elect Donald Trump. Protesters say that,
    although they know they cannot change the result of the election, they want to
    draw attention to the fact that there are many reasons for people to be unhappy
    with the future president, whose campaign included lots of insulting remarks
    against women, as well as threats such as the one about building a wall between
    the US and Mexico to keep immigrants away. Initially, Trump said that
    protesters were professional rioters, incited by the media. Later he
    reconsidered his position, saying the protesters were people who loved their
    country and made an appeal to unity.






    TALIBAN ATTACK NATO has
    announced that Bagram, the largest American base in Afghanistan, near capital
    Kabul, has been hit by an explosion, which killed 4 people. The attack has been
    claimed by Taliban insurgents. The Bagram base is a regular target for the
    Taliban. Six American soldiers were killed in December last year, when a
    Taliban riding a motorcycle blew himself up near the base. That was one of the
    bloodiest attacks against the foreign troops in Afghanistan in 2015.






    FOOTBALL
    On Friday night in Bucharest, Romania’s
    national football team lost the match against Poland 0-3. The national squad
    now stands less chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup hosted by Russia.
    With only 5 points, Romania ranks 4th in the preliminary group E,
    after Poland with 10 points, Montenegro with 7 points and Denmark with 6. In
    the same group, also on Friday, Armenia defeated Montenegro 3-2, and Denmark
    beat Kazakhstan 4-1. On Tuesday, the Romanian national squad will take on the
    Russian team in a friendly game hosted by Grozny. The next official game of the
    Romanian national football team is scheduled for March, on home turf, against
    Denmark.








    RUGBY Romania’s national
    rugby team is today playing in Bucharest against the US squad a test-match at
    the end of which the winner will get the Pershing Cup. The trophy has been
    awarded by the Romanian rugby Federation since 2014, in memory of the game held
    at the Inter-Allied Military Olympics organized in 1919 by the Commander of the
    American Expeditionary Force, General John Joseph Pershing, to mark the end of
    the first world war. Seven of the eight games held so far have been won by the
    US.