July 28, 2024

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsroom, 28.07.2024, 14:11

OLYMPICS – Romanian swimmer David Popovici has qualified, earlier today, to the semi-finals of the 200 m freestyle at the Olympic Games in Paris, with the best time of the series, 1:45.65, one of only two under 1:46 in an event where a 1:95-second spread covered the top 19 swimmers. The semifinals are scheduled for this evening. Popovici (19 years old) was fourth in the 200 m freestyle final three years ago, at the Tokyo Olympics. The Romanians Ioana Vrînceanu and Roxana Anghel qualified to the semifinals of the women’s doubles event, after winning the second series. Romanian rowers Florin Arteni and Florin Lehaci also qualified for the semifinals of the men’s double sculls, after finishing second in the second round. Romanian Sabrina Maneca Voinea has the highest score on beam and floor in the qualifications of artistic gymnastics. In the team competition, Romania totaled 159.497 points, being overtaken by Britain with 160.830 points.

SEINE – The heavy rainfall in Paris in the last few days has affected the quality of the Seine, forcing the organizers of the Olympic Games to cancel the training for the triathlon contest, scheduled for Sunday morning, on the river crossing the French capital. The Olympic triathlon, made up of three events, swimming 1.5 km, cycling 40 km and running 10 km, is the first event of the 2024 Olympic Games to be held on the Seine, before the open water swimming events, scheduled for the second week of the Games. Before swimming on Tuesday and Wednesday, the triathlon competitors have the opportunity to “get used” with the river, even if some have decided to continue training in the pool.

WEATHER – The weather  in Romania will be hot into next week. Until Monday evening, a yellow code is also in place in this respect, valid for the south and southwest of the country. Temperatures are expected to rise up to 37 degrees Celsius, while on Monday highs can reach 39 degrees in the south, then, as of Tuesday, the weather will again enter a cooling process until the end of next week, when temperatures are expected to exceed again 35 degrees Celsius. Meteorologists also say that Romania should brace for a new heatwave in August, but the nights will no longer be tropical.

CHECKS – Romanian border police officers have carried out, since the operationalization of the eDAC application until now, more than 557,000 checks to establish the legal status of persons and to prevent and combat possible illegal acts, the application being used including by the mobile teams in the field. The most recent case was reported two days ago, when, following checks carried out in the departure area, a team of the Henri Coandă International Airport  found a man who could not provide documents, declined his identity verbally and presented a photo, on his mobile phone, of a Pakistani passport. Following the checks carried out, it was established that the man was on Romanian soil illegally.

CHILDREN – The total number of children in Romania who had both parents working abroad was, at the end of March 2024, 9,039, some 719 less compared to the the previous year, according to data supplied by the National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption (ANPDCA). Also, the number of children with parents working abroad dropped to 61,007 at the end of March, from 64,936 on December 31, 2023.

FUEL – The average price of a liter of gasoline in Romania increased by 5.1% compared to last month, and the average price of a liter of diesel increased by 4.7%. In Bucharest, a liter of standard gasoline is sold at prices between 7.35 lei and 7.49 lei, and a liter of standard diesel is between 7.44 lei and 7.57 lei (1 euro is the equivalent of around 5 lei). Romania is currently in third place in the European Union among the countries with the cheapest gasoline, after Bulgaria and Malta, and in fourth place in terms of the lowest diesel price, after Bulgaria, Lithuania and Malta.

RACE – Romanian pilot Simone Tempestini is in second place, out of over 100 crews, in the Rally di Roma Capitale, the fifth stage of the European Rally Championship (FIA ERC). Romania’s national rally champion eight times, Tempestini won stages 5 and 6, the latter being the longest of Saturday. Born in Italy to Italian parents, Tempestini has been living in Romania since he was 14 and became a Romanian citizen in 2016, the year he was also world junior champion. (EE)