August 7, 2021 UPDATE
A roundup of local and international news.
Newsroom, 07.08.2021, 19:15
Attack. The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu welcomed Fridays joint declaration from the G7 foreign ministers and the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell with respect to the recent drone attack on the Mercer Street oil tanker off the coast of Oman. Two crew members were killed, a Romanian and a Briton. The signatories of the declaration condemned the attack, which they say was deliberate, targeted and a violation of international law. They also say that Iran threatens global peace and security and that all available information points to Iran as being behind the attack. Tehran denies any involvement.
Covid-19. Romania added France and Iceland to the red list of countries with high epidemiological risk, while Turkey and Montenegro were moved to the yellow list from Sunday. Travellers to Romania from yellow list countries will not be asked to isolate if they are fully vaccinated or present a negative PCR test result no older than 72 hours. Arrivals from red list countries are asked to isolate unless they are vaccinated, with the exception of children under 3 and those aged between 3 and 16 if they present a negative Covid test result. On Saturday, Romania reported 255 new Covid cases from 30,000 tests and 8 related-fatalities. 540 Covid patients are receiving hospital treatment, including 73 in intensive care. Also on Saturday, as part of a pilot project carried out at Sibiu Airport, in central Romania, dogs trained to detect Covid-19 sniffed out three of the 150 passengers on board a flight from Spain.
Aid. Two Romanian Air Force aircraft will provide assistance to North Macedonia, which has been battling forest fires for several days. According to the Romanian defence ministry, 15 crew members are operating the two planes, a C-27 J Spartan aircraft reconfigured for fire-fighting and a C-Hercules aircraft providing logistical support. This is the second international mission involving these Romanian planes, after July 2018 in Greece.
Fires. The Romanian foreign ministry is advising Romanian citizens travelling to Greece, which is a popular tourist destination for many, to find out in advance about the weather situation in that country, where temperatures of up to 46 degrees Celsius were forecast for Saturday. At least two people were killed, homes were destroyed and thousands of people evacuated because of the fires raging in Greece. Smoke from the fire ripping through Athens suburbs causes poor air quality in the Greek capital. Fire is also wreaking havoc in the island of Evia and the Peloponnese. Ukraine, Cyprus, Israel, France, Switzerland, Sweden and Croatia have sent assistance, while Romania deployed 112 firefighters and 23 special vehicles to help Greece put out the fires. In Turkey, emergency services continued on Saturday to battle the worst fires in that country in over a decade. At least 8 people died and 100,000 hectares of forest and farmland were destroyed.
Tokyo Games. Romanias Cătălin Chirilă finished 11th in the mens canoe single 1,000 m at the Tokyo Olympic Games. A many-time winner of international competitions, Chirilă finished fifth together with Victor Mihalachi in the mens canoe double 1,000 m at an earlier event. Romania won 34 medals in kayak and canoe competitions in the history of Olympic Games, namely ten gold, ten silver and 14 bronze, but no Romania has won a single Olympic medal in these events in the last 21 years, ever since the Sydney Games. (CM)
