Elections in Romania: Will voters back pro-Western candidate or hard-right populist?

Press Review

PRESS REVIEW – Friday, May 16: Romanians head to voting booths for the second round of presidential elections, which pit pro-Europe candidate Nicușor Dan against the populist, hard-right frontrunner George Simion. Who will prevail? Also: The New York Times looks at ground-breaking gene editing therapy which saved the life of an infant and could save many more. It also helps us find out why ginger cats are mostly male (it's a genetic thing).

Romanians head to the polls on Sunday for the second round of voting in a presidential election with huge repercussions for Europe, all because of one man: George Simion. The hard-right populist, a Trump-loving candidate, is tipped to be the winner of this closely fought election. He could take Romania in a new direction, away from the traditional pro-Brussels mainstream. Simion is on the cover of Politico magazine this week. Early polls show his centrist rival Nicusor Dan, the mathematician mayor of Bucharest, catching up, but it's too early to tell. Politico's news site explains that it's been an unusual presidential campaign. The election campaign has been fought largely on TV and social media – neither candidate has spent much time campaigning on the ground. Simion hasn't even been in the country and attended only one debate with his rival.

Cotidianul, a Romanian daily, references the Politico cover story. It examines the similarities between Italy's Giorgia Meloni, a populist or neo-populist leader, and Simion. The two are most similar in terms of opening up their respective countries to the US. However, the article says that if Simion wins, he will discover, like Meloni, that populism as preached and populism as practiced are two different things – and this could affect his popularity within his own electorate. Romanian business paper Bursa sees Romanians as having a choice between "the plague and cholera". On its front page, it portray the two candidates in futurist outfits. The second round is perceived as a science fiction film, a Romanian-Russian production – in reference to Simion's closeness with the Kremlin.

French daily Le Monde, meanwhile, has published a report by two Romanian journalists on a road trip to meet the Romanian diaspora. More than 60 percent of the Romanian diaspora in Europe voted for Simion in the first round of elections. Journalists Elena Stancu and Cosmin Bumbut hit the road in a campervan, travelling around Europe to document the lives of Romanians who have left the country since it joined the EU. It's believed that two to five million Romanians live in Western Europe. Life is not always easy for them: many take precarious jobs in which they are exploited; a common criticism by Simion.

In some good news for science, an infant boy born with a rare genetic disorder has been healed in groundbreaking gene-editing treatment. KJ, a nine-month-old boy, was born with a genetic disorder that affects one in 1.3 million babies. His parents had a choice: palliative care or cutting-edge technology. They chose the latter. KJ has become the first patient to receive custom gene-editing treatment. The New York Times explains that his disorder was the result of a single incorrect DNA letter in the human genome. Researchers concocted an infusion, covered in fatty lipid molecules which were sent to the liver. Inside the lipids were instructions to command the cells to produce an enzyme that edits the gene. The revolutionary research was built on decades of federally funded research. The problem with rare disorders is that it's not viable for companies to spend time and money on specific treatments. However, this technology can be customised and forgoes long years of development and testing. It offers hope, notably to many people suffering from rare genetic disorders.

Finally: new research in The Times of London has shed light on why 80 percent of ginger cats are male. And it's due to genetics! The ginger colour is caused by a ARHGAP 36 gene within pigment cells. In other mammals like orangutans and humans, the chances of being ginger are pretty much 50-50 because the genetic disruption that leads to the orange colour takes place earlier. In cats, though, it happens on the X chromosome. A male cat (XY), would only need one variant to be ginger whereas the female (XX) chromosome needs two. This explains why most ginger cats are male!

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