May 13, 2017 UPDATE
Simona Halep wins the Madrid Tennis Tournament/ Unprecedented cyber attacks have targeted tens of thousands of computers in some 100 countries, Romania included
Corina Cristea, 13.05.2017, 19:00
UPDATE-TENNIS (22.58): The best Romanian woman tennis player, Simona Halep, (no.8 WTA) has defeated Kristina Mladenovic of France (no. 17 WTA), winning the Madrid tennis tournament, with over 5 million dollars in prize money up for grabs. The Romanian tennis player has also managed to secure qualification to the final of the Madrid tennis tournament in 2012 and 2016. Last year she managed to win the trophy,too.
UPDATE-FOOTBALL(21.51): One of the most
important sports events at the weekend has
undoubtedly been the final leg of the Romanian football championship, which has given us the name of the new champion:
Viitorul Constanta, coached by Gheorghe Hagi. Viitorul defeated CFR Cluj, 1-0, on
home turf. Before the final leg of the championship, Constanta had been best
placed to secure the championship title. In its turn, FCSB (former Steaua), coached by Laurentiu
Reghecampf, defeated CSU Craiova on the National Arena, 3-0. Although FCSB defeated CSU Craiova and accumulated
the same number of points as Viitorul, the team based in Constanta has had an
advantage on account of their face-to-face record, a 3-1 win over FCSB. After
winning against CFR Cluj, Viitorul Constanta became champions for the first time in the
club’s history.
RANSOMWARE– A wave of simultaneous cyber attacks has targeted tens of thousands of computers in some 100 countries, including Romania. The most affected seems to be the UKs NHS, the national healthcare system, followed by the American giant FedEx, the German public railway company and the French car manufacturer Renault. At the Dacia factory owned by the Renault group in Romania, part of the activity has been hampered by some IT systems which have been affected and several employees have been sent home. Also, a crisis cell has been set up to monitor the situation. The European Police Office, Europol, has said the wave of attacks is without precedent, adding that a complex international investigation is needed to identify the culprits. Most cyber attacks in the world are based on a blackmailing principle: access to a computers files is denied until a ransom is paid. Owners of affected computers are advised not to pay any money to the hackers. Experts in the field also advise computer users to upgrade their operating systems, to use anti-virus programs and to store their important or sensitive information on external hard-drives. On Friday, the Romanian Intelligence Service announced it had foiled a cyber attack against a government institution in Romania. The Intelligence Service did not disclose the exact name of the target, but media sources in Bucharest say it was the Foreign Ministry.
VACCINE CRISIS – Romanian PM Sorin Grindeanu on Friday called for urgently setting up an operative group made up of representatives of the government, professionals societies, associations and civil society to find immediate solutions to the vaccine crisis in Romania. The operative group will have a clear mandate, including the responsibility of coming up with a set of proposals to amend the legal framework, to allow, on short term, for purchasing the necessary vaccine shots, and on medium term, to assure the necessary stocks. The vaccine crisis has become a recurrent problem in Romania, as from time to time hospitals and pharmacies are running out of mandatory vaccines for babies.
MILITARY DRILLS – Romanian, British and US military, on board ships and aircraft are carrying out exercises in the Black Sea until Tuesday. Romanias “King Ferdinand Frigate and two sea dredgers, alongside the US destroyer USS Oscar Austin will perform anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare procedures. Anti-aircraft warfare training exercises are also scheduled during this time span, with two MIG-21 Lancer aircraft belonging to the Romanian Air Forces and two Taifun fighters belonging to the British Air Forces simulating an air attack. The military exercises are aimed at enhancing the level of training of all participating teams and at strengthening interoperability between the NATO member countries.
FATIMA SHRINE – Pope Francis, greeted by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from the world over in the Portuguese town of Fatima, has canonised two of the three shepherd children, who reported seeing Virgin Mary, while tending their sheep 100 years ago. Virgin Mary is said to have appeared six times to the two shepherd children and their cousin, Lucia. Jacinta and Francisco died at 9 and 10 years of age, respectively. Virgin Mary is believed to have revealed three secrets to the children. Two of them were written down by Lucia, who became a nun and who died in 2005, aged 97. The prophecies are said to refer to the 20th century world wars. The third vision, although published by the Vatican, is still contested and refers either to the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II, or to the Apocalypse or the fall of the Catholic Church. On Sunday, the Pope will attend masses devoted to 100 years since the revelations. Unprecedented high security measures have been taken on the occasion of the Popes visit, with Portugal temporarily suspending the Schengen open borders pact and reintroducing border checkouts.
