August 13, 2022 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 13.08.2022, 19:38
Celebration. More than 200 thousand tourists are expected, these days, on the Romanian Black Sea coast, to spend the mini-vacation occasioned by the Assumption of Mary, on August 15, when the Day of the Romanian Navy will also be celebrated. The military ports of Constanta and Mangalia have opened their doors for locals and tourists to visit military ships, technical and armament exhibitions or stands presenting the educational offers of military educational institutions. On Monday, everyones attention will focus on the events organized to celebrate the navy. Thousands of people are expected to attend the parade of ships on the sea, in Constanţa, and a naval exercise in Mangalia, but also the seamanship competitions and games in the tourist ports of the two towns. In the evening, there will be music concerts and the spectacular torchlight retreat of the sailors, as well as fireworks. Until then, this weekend, the Romanians who chose to spend their mini-vacation at the seaside can benefit from a wide range of entertaining events, from theater and music evenings, opera and ballet performances to a pop-rock festival and a jazz festival organized outdoors. Throughout this period, 25,000 employees of the Ministry of the Interior – policemen, gendarmes or firefighters – are mobilized at national level to secure order and public safety.
Firefighters. 36 Romanian firefighters, with nine piece of equipment, continued, on Saturday, the mission of extinguishing wildfires in the south-west of France, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations has stated. According to the quoted source, the firefighters must intervene in extreme conditions: high temperature, low humidity (below 10%) and strong wind. The support mission that Romania offers to the French authorities in the fight against wildfires has been carried out by deploying a specialized intervention module made up of 77 rescue firefighters, with specific means of intervention. The aid is granted based on the request for international assistance requested by the French government through the European Civil Protection Mechanism.
Rushdie. In an interview just weeks before he was stabbed and seriously injured by an assailant in New York state, writer Salman Rushdie said he was leading a “relatively normal” life after being forced to hide for years due to death threats, Reuters informs. Rushdie, who has been an American citizen since 2016, said in an interview with the German magazine Stern that he was concerned about threats to democracy in the United States. They are driven by racism and hatred of the achievements of liberalism and constitute “a preliminary stage of fascism”, Rushdie said. New York police have arrested Rushdies attacker, a 24-year-old man from New Jersey, but have not yet determined a motive for the attack. Salman Rushdie has written about 15 novels, stories for young people, short stories and essays. However, he became famous thanks to his novel The Satanic Verses, from 1988. The book, considered blasphemy by many Muslims, generated widespread protests, and the former supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, called for the assassination of the writer and his editors. For decades, Salman Rushdie was forced to live in hiding.
Championships. At the European Championships in Rome, 17-year-old David Popovici grabbed the gold medal in the 100 m freestyle on Saturday, with a world record of 46.86. The young Romanian swimmer shattered the old record fom 2009, when the Brazilian Cesar Cielo Filho stopped the clock at 46.91. Also on Saturday, Romanian athletes won 6 medals in Saturdays events of the European Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany. Romania will take part in the race for medals on Sunday as well, in the finals of the lightweight womens single sculls and womens 8+1. At last years European Rowing Championships, in Varese (Italy), Romanian rowers won six medals, two gold and four silver.
Tennis. The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep has qualified for the semifinals of the WTA 1,000 tournament in Toronto, with over 2.5 million dollars in prize money. Halep (30 years old, 15 WTA) defeated the American player Cori Gauff 6-4, 7-6. In the next round of the competition she will play against another American, Jessica Pegula. The two will face each other for the first time in the professional circuit. Simona Halep won the Canadian Open twice, which is played alternately in Montreal and Toronto, each time winning when the competition took place in Montreal (2016, 2018). She lost the 2015 final in Toronto. (MI)
