October 1, 2013 UPDATE

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news.

Florentin Căpitănescu, 01.10.2013, 18:54

Bucharest and eight counties in the southeast are under a code orange alert for heavy rain and gusty wind until Wednesday. Another code yellow alert for heavy rain and storms targets 13 other counties in the south. Storms have flooded households and streets, caused blackouts and uprooted trees. Road traffic was disrupted in Bucharest. Traffic is heavy in the mountains because of snow. Several rivers are under a code orange alert for flooding, along 7 of which there is a high risk of flash flooding. All ports were shut down on the Black Sea Coast because of gale force wind.

Romania’s Higher Defence Council met in Bucharest on Tuesday. The focal points of the meeting, chaired by president Traian Basescu, were the strategy of the national security industry and the draft law on establishing and maintaining a minimal level of crude oil reserves and petroleum products. Romania will focus on the exploitation of natural gas deposits other than those already belonging to the energy companies OMV Petrom and Exxon, Romanian Minister Delegate for Energy Constantin Nita announced on Tuesday. OMV Petrom, owned by the Austrian oil and gas company OMV and the US-based Exxon company have announced the discovery of new natural gas deposits in the Black Sea of as much as 84 billion cubic metres, tantamount to six times Romania’s annual consumption.

Some 450,000 Romanian university students resumed classes on Tuesday. Of these 340,000 have enrolled in state universities in both state-funded and self-supported programmes, while the rest have chosen private universities. Prime Minister Victor Ponta said the Government would continue to support universities. Ponta admitted the Romanian education system was confronted with many shortcomings, despite some progress. The Government has also stepped up its EU fund absorption rate, which may bring in additional funding to higher education units, given that state subsidies are still low, the Prime Minister also said.

The European Central Bank on Tuesday made public the Euro-Romanian leu exchange rate, which will be used as reference unit to calculate excise duties in 2014: 1 Euro stands at 4.4485 Romanian lei. The rate is 1,6% lower than in the previous year, 2013. Excise duties are taxes levied by the state on some products made in the country or imported. The major categories where excise duties are applied are fuels, electricity, alcoholic products and tobacco.

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly on Tuesday elected Iulia Motoc judge at the European Court of Human Rights, after hearing the three candidates, nominated by Romania. Iulia Motoc, a judge at Romania’s Constitutional Court got 132 votes, whereas her contenders, Florin Streteanu and Tudor Pantiru got 7 and 10 votes, respectively. Pundits say Iulia Motoc’s international experience weighed heavily on her appointment. Motoc worked as a UN expert in Africa’s areas of conflict. The mandate of Romania’s current representative at the European Court of Human Rights, Corneliu Barsan, is due to expire in December.

The first edition of the Grand Prix Nova International Radio Drama Festival hosted by Radio Romania continues in Bucharest. Competing are 60 productions from 22 countries. The festival is held under the high patronage of Crown Princess Margaret of Romania and marks 85 years since the foundation of the Romanian Broadcasting Corporation.

Corruption is a scourge which severely affects education at world level. This is one of the main conclusions highlighted by a survey commissioned by Transparency International and made public on Tuesday. According to the aforementioned NGO, diverting national funds destined for education, the hidden costs of education, buying diplomas and titles are current practices in many countries. At world level, one in five people gave bribe last year, in exchange for receiving services in the field of education, the survey issued by Transparency International also shows.

Over 115,000 people, mostly fighters, have died in the wave of violence in Syria, the Syrian Human Rights Observer announced on Tuesday. According to him, the number of civilians who got killed stands at 42,000, among which 6,000 children. According to the Syrian Human Rights Observer, the death toll does not take into account the tens of thousands of people taken into custody by the Syrian regime or the 3,000 prisoners detained by the rebels. The uprising which broke out in March 2011 turned into a devastating civil war, after the brutal intervention of the troops loyal to the regime. UN sources say millions of Syrian nationals fled their country because of war, among which 2 million sought refuge in the neighbouring countries.

Here are the exchange rates set by the National Bank of Romania on Tuesday: 1 Euro stands at 4.45 Romania lei; 1 US dollar is being traded for 3.28 lei; 1 Swiss franc stands at 3.63 lei;1 pound sterling is being traded for 5.34 lei and 1 Moldovan leu stands at 0.25 lei.