August 19, 2013
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news.
Ştefan Stoica, 19.08.2013, 13:51
EU Foreign Affairs Ministers will hold an exceptional meeting on Wednesday in Brussels in order to examine the developments in Egypt and to agree on a common stand on this matter, a European Commission spokesperson has announced. The decision was made during an emergency meeting of EU ambassadors charged with security problems on Monday after clashes have been reported between supporters and opponents of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Hundreds were killed and several thousand injured over the last days in Egypt in a bitter standoff between Morsi’s supporters and the riot police that intervened in order to disperse the crowds. Scores of Egyptian inmates, members of the Muslim Brotherhood, lost their lives on Sunday in circumstances the police still deem as unclear. Apparently they died intoxicated with tear gas while being transferred to a prison near Cairo. Authorities claim they were trying to escape. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy have called on both sides to put an end to all violence.
The National Anticorruption Agency has called on the Prosecutor General’s Office to notify the Chamber of Deputies with respect to filing a request to start criminal proceedings against MP Ovidiu Silaghi for influence peddling. In 2012, while he was Transports Minister, Silaghi allegedly asked businessman Nelu Iordache, who runs a group of businesses, to open new air routes in exchange for extending the contracts Iordache had signed with the National Highway and National Roads Company. Silaghi allegedly took a 200,000-euro bribe to influence decision-makers within the aforementioned company.
The autumn session of the baccalaureate, which lasts until August the 26th, started on Monday in Romania, with a Romanian language and literature test. Over 87 thousand high school graduates are taking the baccalaureate this autumn. The first session of the high-school leaving examination, held in summer, was marred by a major incident, when a case of fraud was discovered in a high school in Bucharest, whose headmaster has been arrested. According to the Education Ministry, the passing rate in the baccalaureate exceeded 55% at national level, in the June-July session.
Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has expressed readiness to “eradicate terrorism”, referring to the rebels who have been fighting against the regime for the last two years and a half, the official press agency, Sana, has reported. According to the UN, the conflict in Syria has taken a death toll of 100,000 lives and prompted 2 million other Syrian nationals to flee their conflict-ravaged country. In another move, a team of UN inspectors is currently in Damascus to assess whether or not chemical weapons have been used in Syria, against the backdrop of mutual accusations being formulated by both the regime of president Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian opposition. The Syrian government has agreed to the arrival in Syria of a UN team of experts, after it had earlier accepted a series of conditions imposed by the United Nations in order to assure the security and efficiency of the mission.
South Korea and the US on Monday started joint military drills, simulating an attack launched by Pyongyang. Started against the backdrop of eased tensions between the two neighbours and rivals, the drills will last 12 days and will involve the participation of 80 thousands South Korean and US troops. Previous drills had stirred the irritation of Pyongyang, who regarded them as a provocation and a repetition for a future invasion. After months- long tensions on the peninsula, the two Koreas have resumed contacts and signed several agreements. The re-opening of the Kaesong inter-Korean industrial compound, closed down in April, makes the object of one of those agreements.
The Romanian Government’s Department for Policies for the Romanians Around the World is organising in the southeastern sea resort of Mangalia the Week devoted to the associative environment and the Romanian language press from aboard. The ultimate goal of the event is to boost relations between the Romanians living abroad and their country of origin, by promoting the Romanian language, culture and traditional values. Debates, conferences and seminars on such issues as tourism, trade, the business environment, European funds, education and culture, folk art and the mass media are among the highlights of the event.
Four Romanian football teams are playing the first round matches of the European competitions’ playoffs this week. In the Champions’ League, Romania’s champion, Steaua Bucharest on Wednesday will meet the Polish team Legia Warsaw on home soil. In Europa League, the Romanian teams Astra Giurgiu, Pandurii Targu Jiu and Petrolul Ploiesti on Thursday will meet Maccabi Haifa of Israel, Sporting Braga of Portugal and Swansea City of Wales, respectively. Pandurii will play on home soil, whereas Petrolul and Astra away from home. The return matches are scheduled for next week.
