19 August, 2017

The US State Department approves the sale to Romania of high mobility rocket artillery rocket systems worth 1.25 billion dollars.

Newsroom, 19.08.2017, 13:45

Arms
sale. The US State
Department has approved the sale to Romania of high mobility artillery rocket
systems worth 1.25 billion dollars, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency at
the Pentagon announced on Friday. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for
this weapons system. Romania said it was interested in buying up to 54 such
systems and related services and equipment, said the Agency, quoted by Reuters.
In a meeting chaired by president Klaus Iohannis on the 1st of
August, Romania’s Supreme Defence Council approved the army’s equipping plan
for the 2017-2026 period. The plan contains a commitment taken in 2015 by all
political parties to allocate 2% of the country’s GDP to defence starting this
year, as well as eight different equipping programmes, including the purchase
of Patriot missile defence systems from the US and 36 F16 multirole fighter
planes.

Spain attack. Spain is on its
second day of national mourning in memory of the victims of the terrorist
attacks on Thursday. A moment of silence was held across the country on Friday
and people gathered in front of improvised altars on Las Ramblas to pay their
respects and bring flowers. The authorities are considering raising the terror
alert from 4 to the maxim level 5, which implies imminent attack and the
presence of armed security forces on the streets. 14 people were killed and
more than 100 wounded in the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils. The victims
came from 35 different countries. Of the three Romanian citizens wounded in the
attacks, two have been released from hospital, while the third is in stable
condition.

World Humanitarian Day. The Romanian foreign ministry has
hailed the celebration of World Humanitarian Day on the 19th of
August, paying tribute to all those willing to take risks and make personal
sacrifices to reduce suffering and help the victims of conflicts, violence and
natural disasters. World Humanitarian Day has been celebrated on the 19th
of August following a 2008 United Nations resolution to commemorate the 2003
terrorist attack on the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad that killed 22
people, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN Secretary
General’s special envoy for Iraq. Between 2014 and 2017, Romania granted
humanitarian assistance worth more than 11 million euros to 12 states facing
crisis situations such as the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, the conflict in
eastern Ukraine, the Matthew hurricane in Haiti, the earthquake in Nepal and
the floodings in Serbia and Bosnia Hertegovina.

Finland knife attack. The Finnish police said on Saturday
that the knife attack that took place on Friday in the south-western city of
Turku is considered a terrorist attack, naming the attacker as an 18-year-old
man of Moroccan origin. Two people were killed and six wounded in the
stabbings. No Romanian nationals are among the victims.

Tennis. World no. 2
Simona Halep of Romania today faces world no. 151 Sloane Stephens of the US in
the semifinals of the Cincinnati tennis tournament worth more than 2.5 million
dollars in prize money. On Friday, Halep defeated British no. 1 Johanna Konta
in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5. Last year in Cincinnati, Halep was eliminated by
Angelique Kerber in the semifinals and in 2015, she lost to Serena Williams in
the final. Also in Cincinnati on Friday, the Romanian-Taiwanese pair Monica
Niculescu and Su-Wei Hsieh reached the women’s doubles final after
defeating the fourth-seed pair Sania Mirza of India and Shuai Peng of China.

Weather. A hot weather alert remains in place today in
Romania. The highs are expected to go up to 37 degrees Celsius, with the
temperature-humidity ratio reaching and exceeding the critical 80-unit level.
It will still be hot on Sunday, but temperatures will drop slightly to 34 and
35 degrees and the weather becomes increasingly unstable in the west.