August 16, 2018 UPDATE
Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, dies aged 76
Newsroom, 16.08.2018, 18:35
ARETHA FRANKLIN – Aretha Franklin, the undisputed “Queen of Soul” who sang classics such as “Think,” I Say a Little Prayer” and her signature song, “Respect,” has died at age 76 from advanced pancreatic cancer. Franklin had been in ill health since 2010, when she was diagnosed with a tumour but returned to live performance after undergoing surgery. She died of advanced pancreatic cancer. Known as “the queen of soul”,Aretha Franklin sold more than 75m records in her lifetime and won 18 Grammy awards. She had 77 entries in the US Billboard Hot 100 and 20 No 1 singles on the R&B chart.
SWINE FEVER – The fence that Bulgaria is building at the border with Romania to prevent the African swine fever from spreading on its territory is almost finished. According the Bulgarian deputy Agriculture Minister, Atanas Dobrev, over 100 kilometres out of a total 133 have already been built. Also, at Romania’s checkpoints with Bulgaria, vehicles are being disinfected while vehicles transporting pork are thoroughly checked, the Bulgarian media reports. In Romania, the number of African swine fever hotbeds stands at 677 in 132 localities from eight counties in north-western and south-eastern Romania.
ACCIDENT – The Bucharest Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday night that one of the two Romanian citizens caught in the A 10 viaduct collapse in Italy who were declared dead is in fact in a deep coma. He is now being cared for in a clinic in Genoa. The Foreign Ministry said that the error was due to the fact that the Italian authorities had great difficulties in identifying the victims of the tragedy. The Ministry added that the efforts to take all the victims out of the rubble are ongoing. The provisional body count is over 39, among them children, including French, Chilean, and Colombian citizens. About 35 vehicles and three trucks were caught in the collapse, which occurred during a torrential rain.
PROETNICA — The city of Sighisoara, in central Romania, is hosting from August 22 to 26, the 16th edition of Proetnica Intercultural Festival, an event attended by over 600 representatives of the 20 national minorities. The festival is aimed at preserving and developing ethno-cultural identities in Romania and promote intercultural dialogue and artistic interaction at European level.
PROTESTS — The General Prosecutor’s Office announced on Thursday that military prosecutors have taken from the Romanian Gendarmerie the documents regarding the chemical substances used against protesters on August 10th in Bucharest. The Prosecutor’s Office has said all the substances used have quality and guarantee certificates. Also on Thursday, the coordinator of the gendarmes at the anti-government protest in Bucharest has publicly apologized to the people who suffered, quote, needlessly after security forces intervened. He emphasized that he has not made a decision regarding his resignation, and that he has nothing to feel guilty about. Military prosecutors have opened a case in rem for abusive treatment, abuse of office, and negligence while on the job by gendarmes, during the so-called Diaspora protest. So far, over 200 criminal complaints have been filed against the gendarmes. Also, a number of gendarmes have also filed criminal complaints of their own.
EMPLOYMENT – Employment agencies have found jobs abroad for over 19,000 Romanian citizens in the first half of the year, mainly in Germany, Holland, Austria, Spain and Britain, according to data centralized in Bucharest. At the same time, 282 Romanian citizens got work contracts abroad in the first semester through the EURES network, which facilitates free circulation of workers in the European space. According to the Organization for Cooperation and Economic development through the International Migration Outlook 2017 publication, in mid-2015, over 3.5 million Romanian citizens were living outside the country.
ECONOMY — The economic growth that started four years ago in former communist states in eastern Europe is starting to slow down, according to Bloomberg. Even though Hungary, Romania and Slovakia managed to have higher growth rates, obstacles they face are higher cost loans, a shortage of labor, and the slowdown in the Eurozone, their main market for exports. The region has managed to mostly avoid the turmoil that affected other developing markets, but uncertainties in trade are gradually eroding the demand for products such as automobiles and electronics. Meanwhile, inflation pressure has caused Romania and the Czech Republic to raise interest rates, Bloomberg writes. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Romania’s economy grew in the first semester by only 4.0%. In the second quarter, the economy grew by 1.4% as against the first.
