Radio România Internațional

Tag: World Handball Championship

  • January 6, 2022 UPDATE

    January 6, 2022 UPDATE

    Covid-19Ro.
    In the past 24 hours in Romania, the number
    of new cases of Covid-19 went up by 20% as compared to the previous day,
    exceeding 6000. 63 thousand tests were performed, which means an infection rate
    of over 9%, authorities announced on Thursday. The Strategic Communication
    Group also reported 44 related deaths. Approximately 8 million people have been
    fully vaccinated in Romania, which means a little over 40% of the eligible
    population.


    Pandemic. The Romanian
    Government has adopted the decision regarding the extension on the state of
    alert as of January 8, and the establishment of measures to combat the COVID-19
    pandemic. One of the amendments to the normative act, which is based on the
    measures proposed in the Decision of the National Committee for Emergency
    Situations (CNSU), refers to the wearing of surgical or FFP2 masks both indoors
    and outdoors. At the same time, the Executive maintains the CNSU proposal regarding
    the participation of persons in activities up to 50% of the maximum capacity of
    the space, in the counties / localities where the aggregate incidence rate over
    14 days is less than or equal to 1 / 1,000 inhabitants. The participation of
    persons will be allowed within the limit of 30% of the maximum capacity of the
    space in the counties / localities where the rate is higher than 1 / 1,000
    inhabitants.




    Protest. Romanian Energy
    Minister Virgil Popescu on Thursday told the trade unionists from Alro Slatina
    (southern Romania), the largest aluminum producer in Central and Eastern
    Europe, that he will support the resumption of production. The minister’s
    announcement came in response to the protest held by trade unionists in front
    of the Slatina Prefect’s Office, following the management’s decision to reduce the
    production capacity due to the energy crisis. Protesters say more than 1,000
    employees are in danger of being furloughed. Protests were also held on
    Wednesday at the alumina plant in Tulcea (southeast) against the increase in
    energy prices. The unit has already started to reduce production, and people
    fear that they will lose their jobs. Meanwhile, at political level, the Social
    Democratic Party has announced that it will call on the ruling coalition it is
    part of to urgently amend the legislation and protect citizens from the sharp
    rise in electricity and gas prices.









    Kazakhstan. The European Union on Thursday called on Moscow to respect Kazakhstan’s sovereignty and independence as Russia sends paramilitaries to quell a riot following the bloody violence that has spread to the former Soviet republic. The European Commission has also made a call for restraint from all the parties involved. At the request of the authorities in Kazakhstan, Russia and other countries in the Collective Security Treaty Organization have begun sending peacekeepers to guard state institutions, military units and other important targets, and to assist the local security forces in stabilizing the situation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that the staff of the Romanian Embassy in Nur-Sultan is safe, and the Romanian diplomatic mission in Kazakhstan is in contact with the approximately 100 Romanian citizens in this country, mainly specialists and experts employed by private companies.

    Tennis. Simona Halep
    defeated Gabriela Ruse 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday, in the round of 16 of the
    Melbourne Summer Set 1 (WTA250) tournament, with some 240 thousand dollars in
    prize money. In the quarters, Halep will take on the Swiss Viktorija Golubic, who
    defeated Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove of the Netherlands. Also on Thursday,
    another Romanian, Irina Begu, qualified for the quarter finals of Melbourne
    Summer Set 2, where she will play against the American Amanda Anisimova, who
    defeated Sorana Cirstea. The tournaments are taking place in the run-up to the Australian
    Open, the first Gland Slam of the year, due between January 17-30.




    Handball.
    Romania’s men’s national handball team is
    training for the preliminary qualifying tournament of the World Championship,
    on home turf in Cluj-Napoca (northwest). Between January 7-9, 2022, the
    Romanians will take on the national teams of Israel, Cyprus and the Republic of
    Moldova. Last week, Romania played, also in Cluj, two training matches with the
    Turkish national team, and won both of them. The friendly matches replaced in
    the program of the two teams a new edition of the traditional Carpathian
    Trophy, which was canceled, as several members of the Swiss and Iranian teams
    tested positive for Covid-19. The coach of the Romanian team is the
    famous Spanish Xavi Pasqual, who won the Champions League with Barcelona three
    times. (MI)

  • December 9, 2017 UPDATE

    December 9, 2017 UPDATE


    KING MICHAEL I On Saturday, December 16th, the coffin carrying the dead body of the last sovereign of Romania, King Michael I, will be conveyed by hearse to the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest. After the mass held at the cathedral, the coffin will be carried by the Royal Train to Curtea de Arges, where the former king will be buried. According to the program announced by the Royal House of Romania, on Wednesday, December 13, the coffin will arrive at the Otopeni Airport. Bucharest authorities have declared three days of national mourning on the 14th, 15th and 16th of December. Michael I died on December 5th at his residence in Switzerland, aged 96. The Romanian Parliament will gather on solemn session on Monday, to honour the memory of the last sovereign of Romania.



    COOPERATION On Saturday in Belgrade, Romanias Prime Minister Mihai Tudose and his counterparts from Bulgaria and Greece, Boyko Borisov and Alexis Tsipras, voiced their support for Serbias joining the EU. The three prime ministers and the Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic talked about the process and also about interconnecting their countries electricity and gas networks. This is the second four-party summit this year, after the one in Varna, Bulgaria. The four leaders have decided to also invite the ministers of transport and internal affairs to participate in the next five-party meetings.



    JUSTICE The Romanian Justice Minister Tudorel Toader has announced that on Saturday he presented before the Venice Commission the legislative developments concerning the justice bills that are currently debated in parliament. In a message posted on social media he writes that on the sidelines of the meeting he has had a meeting with Marin Mrcela, the president of the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO). The new justice laws are highly promoted by the ruling left-wing coalition but harshly criticised by civil society. Established in 1990, the European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice Commission, is a Council of Europe independent consultative body on issues of constitutional law, including the functioning of democratic institutions and fundamental rights, electoral law and constitutional justice.



    MEASLES More than one hundred new cases of measles have been reported in the past week in 16 counties in Romania, and the total number of cases has exceeded 10,000 since the outbreak of the epidemic. Most of those affected have not been vaccinated against measles, and 36 of them have died. Statistics show that for one in 1000 people infected, the disease is deadly, and the vaccine protects children against developing the disease.



    ISRAEL On Saturday, Israel launched new strikes on Gaza Strip, in response to rocket fire from the enclave. The Palestinian Islamist Hamas group claims two of its gunmen were killed in the bombings, Reuter reports. Militants fired at least three rockets towards Israeli towns from the Hamas -controlled strip on Friday, which was declared “a day of rage” by Palestinian factions protesting US President Donald Trumps recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel. At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, some of the USs European allies issued a joint statement expressing their opposition to Trumps move. According to them, the decision was made before reaching a final common decision on the status of the city and was by no means helping the peace process in the region. In Bucharest, the Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu has stated that Romania maintains its view on the existence of two states, Israel and Palestine, living as good and prosperous neighbors. According to Melescanu, Trumps announcement is a clear signal that the US wants to get involved in finding a solution.



    HANDBALL Romanias national womens handball team will take on the Czech squad on Monday, in the round of 16 of the World Championship hosted by Germany. On Friday night, the Romanian team lost to France, but they had already secured first seat in Group A, after four wins in their fixtures against Paraguay, Slovenia, Spain and Angola. If they manage to win the match against the Czechs, the Romanian handball players will be further playing against the winner of the game pitching the Netherlands against Japan. The Dutch are world and European champions. At the previous edition in 2015, Romania walked away with bronze. Romania is the only side that has so far participated in all the 22 editions of the world championship.




  • Romania in the Semifinals of the World Women’s Handball Championship

    Romania in the Semifinals of the World Women’s Handball Championship

    The
    Romanian national women’s handball team has got through to the semifinals of
    the World Handball Championship,
    underway in Denmark. In the quarterfinals, the Romanians succeeded a 31-30 win over
    host county Denmark, after a pretty dramatic game. At the end of the regular 60
    minutes, the score was 27-all, and the Romanians had the lead all throughout
    the game. A couple of seconds from time, Romania was granted a 7-meter penalty
    shot, but the best player on the pitch, Cristina Neagu didn’t manage to score.

    Then extra time came, when for the first time during the game Denmark had the
    upper hand. The Romanians braced up and put themselves back into the game,
    leveled the score, then went one goal up. The first extra-time round ended
    29-28 for the Romanians. The last minutes of the game were literally
    heart-throbbing. The score was 30-all in the final minute. Romania had the
    ball, the attacking bout it built was literally by the book, and Ada Nechita
    put her team ahead, and right into the world elite of women’s handball.
    Romania’s best player at the game was Cristina Neagu, who scored no less than
    15 goals.

    Here is what Cristina said right after the end of the game against
    Denmark:

    First, I am very happy we’ve won. I
    wasted the opportunity to turn that 7-meter shot into a goal, and that could
    have cost us dearly on our way to the semifinals. I then tried to put myself
    back into the game. Such moments may be the most difficult in the life of a
    handball player…However, once again we managed to be a real team, we stayed
    together, we played the 10 minutes of extra time, we won and fully deserved it,
    against all odds. To be honest, there are not enough words to describe how proud I am of the
    team, the staff, the coaches, physicians, masseurs, those who look after us…I
    want to thank all the wonderful people who came to support us, people who got
    themselves couched in front of the TV sets and supported us, and all those,
    who, irrespective of the national squad’s results, support and encourage us
    every time.

    In the semifinals
    of the ongoing World Championships, Romania is pitted against defending Olympic
    and European champions Norway, a team that outclassed Montenegro in the
    quarterfinals, 26-25. Here is Romania’s
    Cristina Neagu about the game:


    Norway is Norway. We have never
    managed to grab a win against them in the last 10-15 years. But we’d rather
    make the most of these moments right now, have a rest tomorrow and…may God’s
    will be done! In the semifinal game we will try to do our best on the pitch, at least as we’ve done in our last
    two games.


    We recall that Romania remains the only
    country that, starting in 1957, has participated in all the final tournaments
    of the World Championships, winning
    three medals: gold in 1962 and silver in 1973 and 2005, respectively.







  • RRI Sports Club: Romania qualifies for the World Women’s Handball Championship semifinals

    RRI Sports Club: Romania qualifies for the World Women’s Handball Championship semifinals

    The Romania national womens handball team on Wednesday evening grabbed a surprising win over Denmark (31-30), managing to advance to the semifinals of the World Handball Championship. Cristina Neagu has been declared best player of the match, after scoring 15 goals.



    In the three other fixtures, at this stage of the competition, France lost to the Netherlands, 25-28, Poland registered a surprising win over Russia, 21-20, while Norway defeated Montenegro, 26-25.



    In the semifinals, Romania will be taking on Norway, while Poland is pitted against the Netherlands. Romania is the only country to have participated in all final tournaments of the World Championships, since 1957, boasting three medals: gold in 1962 and silver in 1973 and 2005, respectively.


    (Translated and edited by: Diana Vijeu)