August 1st, 2014
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 01.08.2014, 14:04
14 counties in southern and south-western Romania are under code red and orange alerts for flooding, in place until tomorrow. Over 120 towns and villages have been seriously damaged by the flooding that has hit the area in the past few days. Three people have died, one is missing and over one thousand have been evacuated. More than 17 hundred hectares of land have been flooded. Elsewhere in the country the weather is nice and warm.
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has proposed Dacian Ciolos for a new term as Commissioner for Agriculture. To that end, Ponta has sent a letter to Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the future European Commission. Romanian Government’s proposal is also supported by President Traian Basescu. Aged 45, Dacian Ciolos has been the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development since February 2010. He was also Romania’s Agriculture Minister between 2007-2008. Dacian Ciolos is the initiator of the Common Agricultural Policy. Out of the total European budget, agriculture gets 40%, accounting for 363 billion Euros. Of the 2014-2020 budget, Romania will get approximately 19 billion Euros.
The US Embassy in Bucharest has published the report on religious freedom in Romania in 2013. The document reads that, although the Constitution and other laws protect religious freedom and the Government has all in all” protected religious freedom as well, local authorities still do not manage to solve the claims of discrimination filed by the minority religious groups in this country. Another problem mentioned in the report is the lack of progress with regard to the return of Greek Catholic churches seized by the communist regime and transferred to the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1948. Also, the report says that funding from the state is mainly conditioned by the number of members of a recognized religious denomination, as reported in the census, and only then by the real needs of that denomination”, and the Romanian Orthodox Church in fact gets most of the money.
At least 14 people, including 10 Ukrainian soldiers, were killed on Thursday night in clashes between the Ukrainian army and separatist rebels in Donetk, in eastern Ukraine, France Presse reports. On Friday the Ukrainian forces resumed their offensive against pro-Russia insurgents, which had been halted to facilitate the international investigation into the crash of the Malaysian plane, which led to the adoption of unprecedented economic sanctions against Russia, accused of providing the rebels with arms and ammunition. On the other hand, Russian military planes keep flying over Ukraine without the approval of Ukrainian authorities.
Less than four hours since the enforcement of the cease fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, violence broke out again in Gaza. According to news agencies, several Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers, who accused Hamas of violating the agreement. Lately Israel has been harshly criticized by the West for the destructions it has caused in its attempt to prevent Hamas from deploying missiles along the border. Over 1 400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed, and dozens of thousands have been forced to leave their homes as a result of the Israeli offensive, which started on July 8th. Israel has lost 60 soldiers.
The World Health Organization and the presidents of the African countries affected by the hemorrhagic fever caused by Ebola have today launched in Guinea a 100 million dollar plan aimed at curbing the effects of the epidemics. The most affected countries are Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where Ebola has infected over 1 thousand 3 hundred people and has killed 7 hundred. Romanian specialists say that hemorrhagic fever is not a threat to Romania, but any epidemics, no matter the place on earth it breaks out, must keep authorities on alert. The Romanian Foreign Ministry recommends Romanian citizens to avoid traveling to West Africa.
The fast period preceding the Assumption of Virgin Mary on august 15th starts today for Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians in Romania. This is the third biggest fast period in the religious calendar, after Lent and the fast honoring Apostles Peter and Paul. Although it does not last too long, this fast period is the toughest. Believers are not allowed to eat animal products and will participate in special masses. August 15th is an official day off in Romania.
Romania’s best tennis player, Simona Halep, is to become the second best in the WTA classification, after the Chinese Na Li, who currently ranks second, has announced she will not participate in the upcoming tournaments, because of an injury. Therefore, Na Li will not be able to defend the points she won in 2013 and will thus be outrakned by Simona Halep, who is currently 3rd in the WTA rankings. The world leader is Serena Williams. Simona Halep’s rise to fame started last year. Back than she was ranked 64th and had won no WTA titles. In the meantime she has won 7 such titles. This year she has lost the finals in Madrid and Roland Garros, both to Russian Maria Sharapova.
