July 4, 2022 UPDATE

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 04.07.2022, 20:15

HEAT Romania is presently being affected by a wave of extreme
heat. Meteorologists have issued code orange and yellow alerts against extreme
heat for a number of counties in the west. Temperatures here are expected to
reach and exceed 39 degrees Celsius and stand at 34-37 degrees across the
territory. Starting Wednesday, meteorologists expect temperatures to drop in
the north and west and to reach the normal value for this period starting
Thursday. Meanwhile, rainfall will expand to a number of regions, including in
the capital city Bucharest.

WAR The Ukrainian flag is again flying over the Snake Island in
the Black Sea, after Russian troops withdrew from this very strategic place
close to Romania, sources with the Ukrainian army announced on Monday. Natalia
Humeniuk, spokeswoman for Ukraine’s army, told a news conference that ‘the
military operations have been concluded and the island has been returned to the
jurisdiction of Ukraine.’ In another development, the Russian army presses its
attack in Eastern Ukraine, after on Sunday it conquered Lysychansk, a city of
great strategic value for the Russians’ occupation strategy in Donbas. The Russian
forces seem to be focusing their attacks on Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, two
cities west of Lysychansk. President Volodymyr Zelensky has tried to downplay
the Russians’ announcement, saying his country will not give up an inch of its
territory and that the Ukrainian armed forces will retake the areas controlled
by the Russians owing to the increase in the delivery of modern weapons to
Ukraine.

ATTACK A gunman killed three and wounded several others in a Copenhagen mall
on Sunday night. The suspect, a Danish man aged 22 who was carrying a rifle and
ammunition, was peacefully apprehended by the police on the premises shortly
after the incident. Police announced on Monday that the man was known to
psychiatric professionals and was detained in a closed psychiatric facility.
Gun attacks are relatively rare in Denmark. Copenhagen saw its last major
shooting incident in 2015, when a gunman opened fire during a free speech forum
featuring controversial cartoonist Lars Vilks.

COVID-19 Romania’s Health Minister, Alexandru Rafila, has cautioned the
number of Covid-19 infections has been on the rise in Romania in the past week.
If in May, Romania announced about 2000 confirmed cases, the number of
infections has grown gradually to 8,000 today. Rafila estimates Romania is
going to reach 10 thousand daily cases and see a peak in the month of August.
The Omicron variant continues to be dominant in Romania and its BA5 variant can
infect even the vaccinated or people who suffered from the disease in the past.

GLACIER At least 7 people lost their
lives on Sunday after a glacier collapsed in the northern Italian Alps, local
authorities have announced. According to Radio Romania correspondent in Italy,
at least eight people have been wounded and two have sustained serious
injuries. Helicopters and rescue teams with dogs are looking for those who
disappeared in the avalanche triggered by the glacier collapse. Italian Prime
Minister Mario Draghi said the incident was without doubt linked to climate
change.

(bill)