July 20, 2014
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 20.07.2014, 12:00
The intervention teams in the east of Ukraine, the place where a Malaysian passenger plane crashed on Thursday, have so far recuperated 193 dead bodies. The Ukrainian government says the recuperation operations are being thwarted by armed pro-Russian separatists who are present in the area. According to the US, the plane running from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was allegedly downed by a ground-to-air missile shot from an area controlled by the separatists, who are backed by Moscow. Against the backdrop of mutual accusations between Ukraine and Russia regarding the origin of the missile, the western counties are more and more concerned about the way in which evidence at the crash site is being handled. All parties involved are asking for an international investigation that should clarify the causes of the plane crash. Interpol and Europol experts will go to Ukraine to provide assistance for the identification of the almost 300 victims of the crash. Two thirds of the victims are Dutch and there are also Australians, Indonesians, Brits, Germans, French, Belgians, Filipinos, and a Romanian with dual citizenship. The Romanian President, Traian Basescu, has said that the plane crash in Ukraine has to be investigated by an international team of experts and the perpetrators should not go unpunished.
The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, is today starting a tour of the Middle East and will soon reach Qatar. He is visiting the region in an attempt to boost the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. Ban Ki-moon will hold talks wiht the leaders in Qatar who represent the diplomatic channel of Hamas. According to the BBC, the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, will also go to Qatar. On the ground the Israeli army announced the intensification of its ground offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, on the 13th day of operations that so far have left behind more than 350 dead. This is the bloodiest conflict reported in the region since 2009. Thousands of Palestinians were leaving Gaza after last night’s Israeli air strikes. The Israeli army aims at destroying the tunnels dug by terrorists to infiltrate from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
Romanians are celebrating today the Romanian Aviation and Air Forces Day. Military and religious ceremonies are being held in the military units alongside sport contests, symposiums and other activities specific to the military tradition. At Base 90 in Otopeni, near Bucharest, it’s Doors Open day, an occasion for enthusiasts to see military technology exhibitions, to witness a tactical drill of the search-and-rescue detachment who will use MIG –21 LanceR planes and helicopters. The main missions of the Romanian Air Forces consist in ensuring the sovereignty of Romania’s air space, in providing transportation, cooperating with allied countries as part of peace keeping missions, intervening in emergency situations and participating in the operations meant to do away with the effects of natural disasters. Over the past years the Romanian Air Forces have participated in several missions under the NATO and EU aegis.
The pair made up of the Romanian tennis player Florin Mergea and Croat Marin Draganja is playing today in the doubles final of the Hamburg tennis tournament against the main favorites Alexander Peya (Austria)/Bruno Soares (Brazil). Semifinalists in Roland Garros, Mergea and Draganja defeated the pair Jamie Murray (Great Britain)/John Peers (Australia) 6-1, 6-3. Florian Mergea is playing in the 3rd ATP final of his career. He has won 2 titles so far in the doubles: last year in Vienna together with the Czech Lukas Rosol and this year in Vina del Mar, Chile, alongside Austrian Oliver Marach. The ATP tennis tournament in Hamburg has prizes up for grabs worth almost 1.2 million euros.
