April 15, 2022
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 15.04.2022, 13:56
Ordinance. The Romanian Government approved yesterday an emergency bill on support for the construction sector, to make up for the rise in the prices for building materials and execution services. The Development Minister Cseke Attila has announced that the state will allocate 1.77 billion, because otherwise there are contracts that would have to be frozen and many entrepreneurs that would go bankrupt.
Ukraine. Ukraine claims to have sunk the Moskva cruiser, following a rocket attack on the Black Sea ship. The Russians confirmed the sinking, but said it was because of the “stormy sea”. The Moskva cruiser is the most serious loss registered by the Russian forces since the start of the military operation in Ukraine. The ship, which started it service in 1983 and was named Slava until 1996, became known in December 1989, when it covered, together with the American ship Belknap, the security of the summit in Malta. Later, the ship participated in the campaigns in Georgia in 2008 and Syria in 2015. On the first day of the campaign in Ukraine, Moskva participated in the occupation of Snake Island, an operation in which 82 Ukrainian soldiers were taken prisoner and then, according to the Ukrainian media, participated in the blockade of the ports of Odesa, Mykolaiv and Ochakiv. Heavy explosions took place last night in the capital, Kyiv, and in the southern city of Kherson. On Thursday, the Ukrainian parliament described as “genocide” the crimes committed by the Russian troops in the neighboring country. According to the Ukrainian Prosecutors Office, at least 198 children have been killed and 355 injured since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
Refugees. Some 10,000 Ukrainian refugees have crossed Romanias borders in the past 24 hours, the Border Police Inspectorate has announced. According to Romanian authorities, some 714 thousand Ukrainians have arrived in Romania since February 24th, the start of the Russian invasion. 30 thousand of them are children, and more than 4 thousand have requested asylum.
Food security. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations World Food Program and the World Trade Organization have called for urgent and coordinated food security measures and urged countries to avoid export bans on food or fertilizers. In a joint statement, the leaders of the four institutions warned that the war in Ukraine is adding to the existing pressures due to the Covid-19 crisis or climate change. The biggest risk – they say – is for poor countries, but there is a growing vulnerability in middle-income countries as well.
Collective. The Bucharest Court of Appeal has again postponed its final ruling in the Collective case, the Bucharest club in which 64 people died and almost 200 were injured, almost seven years ago, after a fire broke out there. A final ruling was expected today after several postponements since December last year, when the trial ended. In the first instance, the district mayor Cristian Popescu Piedone, the three owners of the club, the pyrotechnicians and the administrators of the company that provided the pyrotechnic material, the firemen from the Emergency Situations Inspectorate and employees of the City Hall received sentences of 4 to 13 years in prison. The defendants should also pay damages of tens of millions of euros together with the City Hall of the Sector in which the club is located and ESI Bucharest Ilfov.
Cannes. Directors Cristian Mungiu and Alexandru Belc will represent Romania at the 75th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival, which takes place this year, between May 17-28. Cristian Mungiu will compete with the film “R.M.N.”, a French-Romanian-Belgian co-production, in the official competition for the coveted La Palme dOr, while Alexandru Belc will compete with the film “Metronom” in the second most important section of festival, Un Certain Regard. A veteran of the festival, Mungiu was awarded the La Palme dOr in 2007 for “4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days”. At the same festival, his film “Beyond the Hills” was awarded, in 2012, the best screenplay award, and the film “Baccalaureate” won the trophy for best director in 2016. “Metronome” is Alexandru Belcs debut film. 18 films will compete this year for the grand prize of the Cannes Film Festival, and 15 were included in the Un Certain Regard section. The official selection was made from 2,200 films received by the organizers.
Tennis. Romanian Irina Begu will face Magda Linette, today, at Radom, in the first singles match of the competition between the womens tennis teams of Romania and Poland, in the qualifications for the Billie Jean King Cup competition. In the second singles match, Mihaela Buzărnescu will play, also today, against the world leader Iga Swiatek. On Saturday, the other singles matches are scheduled, Begu – Swiatek and Buzărnescu – Linette, as well as the doubles match between Magdalena Frech / Alicja Rosolska and Andreea Mitu / Andreea Prisăcariu. Romanias best player, Simona Halep, is unavailable for this competition, as are Monica Niculescu, Raluca Olaru, Gabriela Ruse and Jaqueline Cristian. Poland leads 4-2 in the direct matches with Romania. (MI)
