July 8, 2022

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 08.07.2022, 13:55

Japan. Former Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has died from his injuries after being shot in the
street by a former member of the Japanese defense forces, the Japanese public
broadcaster NHK reports. Abe, 67, was delivering a campaign speech near a train
station in the western Japanese city of Nara when he was the target of an armed
attack. Armed violence is extremely rare in Japan, where firearms are banned.
Shinzo Abe was the longest-serving Japanese prime minister in history. He led
the Japanese executive from 2006 to 2007 and then from 2012-2020. He resigned
two years ago on health grounds.

G20. The foreign
ministers of the world’s largest economies have gathered in a closed-door G20
meeting, overshadowed by the conflict in Ukraine. The meeting, held on the
Indonesian island of Bali, has brought together Moscow and its harshest
critics, for the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine. At the
meeting of the foreign ministers of the G20 member countries, which was also
attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the High Representative of
the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell,
called on all participants to help end the war, restore Ukraine’s sovereignty
and ensure that global repercussions are limited. Retno Marsudi, the foreign
minister of Indonesia, called for an end to the war in Ukraine in the presence
of his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. It is our responsibility to end the
war as soon as possible and resolve our differences at the negotiating table,
not on the battlefield, Retno Marsudi said. In reply, Sergei Lavrov accused
the West for the lack of an armistice with Ukraine.

Gas. An
interconnector between the gas pipelines in Greece and Bulgaria, which becomes
operational today, gives Romania access to other natural gas resources, in an
international context in which it becomes increasingly likely that Moscow will stop deliveries to the European Union. Romania will be able to help other states in
the region reduce their dependence on Russian gas, said Prime Minister Nicolae
Ciuca in Athens, where he paid a working visit and met with his Greek
counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Appointment. President Klaus
Iohannis has signed the decree appointing Petre Daea as Minister of Agriculture
and Rural Development. On Wednesday, the leadership of the Social Democratic
Party voted unanimously for Petre Daea to return to the Ministry of
Agriculture. The former Minister of Agriculture, the deputy Adrian Chesnoiu,
retired from office and suspended himself from the Social Democratic Party, as
the National Anticorruption directorate requested his criminal investigation in
a case in which he is accused of abuse of office. He claims that he did not
commit any act of criminal nature or corruption and asked his colleagues in the
Chamber of Deputies to vote for the lifting of his immunity, which happened at
the end of last month.

Conviction. Police officer
Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 21 years in prison by the US federal
justice for violating the African-American George Floyd’s civil rights, France
Presse reports. The 46-year-old former officer had already been sentenced to
22-and-a-half years in prison for murder by Minnesota state justice, but
appealed the sentence. On May 25, 2020, in a Minneapolis police operation,
Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. The
African-American man died in the incident. The footage of the crime, which went
viral, sparked widespread protests against racism and police violence in the
United States.

Swimming. After three days
of competition at the European Junior Swimming Championships in Otopeni, near
Bucharest, Romania climbed to the first place in the country rankings with five
medals, of which three gold and two silver. This afternoon, David Popovici (17
years old), the new double world champion in seniors in 100 and 200 m
freestyle, will swim in the final of the 50 m freestyle even, and Aissia
Claudia Prisecariu in the final of the 200 m backstroke. We recall that
Thursday was a very good day for Romania. Vlad Stancu managed a new performance
winning the 1500 m freestyle. For Stancu it is the second gold medal after the
one won with the 4×100 m relay, a triumph to which David Popovici, Stefan Cozma
and Patrick Dinu also contributed. Also yesterday, Bianca Costea managed to win
a silver medal in the 50 m freestyle. On Wednesday, David Popovici won his
second gold medal in this competition, winning the final of the 200 m
freestyle. On the same day, the mix Romanian relay, including David Popovici,
Patrick Sebastian Dinu, Bianca Costea and Rebecca Aimee Diaconescu, won the
silver medal in the 4×100 m freestyle. About 500 athletes from 42 countries are
participating in the championship. Romania is represented by 26 swimmers – 14
boys and 12 girls. (MI)