October 17, 2014

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Ştefan Stoica, 17.10.2014, 12:00

Allied air raids in the last three days have intensified in the area of the Kurdish town of Kobane, in an attempt to put an end to the aggression coming from the Islamic State Organization. Wednesday and Thursday, air strikes destroyed 19 buildings seized by the Jihadists, as well as two command posts, AFP and Reuters have quoted US Army as saying. The Jihadists have stormed Kobane for a month now. Syria; Human Rights organization said that around 600 people were killed in Kobane, half of whom were members of the Islamic State, while the rest of them were civilians and Kurdish fighters. The United Nations have warned over a potential genocide, if the Jihadists seize the town.

Fifteen African countries in the Ebola-hit regions are to receive extra aid to contain the outbreak, the World Health Organization has announced. A couple of European states were of high alert yesterday. A French nurse treating a patient was admitted to hospital under emergency conditions, another Ebola case has been reported in Denmark, while in Spain three new possible Ebola-infected people were also admitted to hospital. Under the circumstances, the European Healthcare Commissioner Tonio Borg, at the end of a ministerial meeting in Brussels announced the European Union would immediately start checking the efficiency of the anti-Ebola control operations staged on the air[ports of the three west African countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, worst-hit by the Ebola outbreak.

Romanian Naval Forces military will be joining crews of American military ships in the Black Sea Resolve exercise, to be held on October 23rd in Romania’s territorial waters, according to a Romanian Defense Ministry press release. The eventual aim of the exercise is the joint training of American and Romanian military, through a series of exercises focusing on maritime interdiction, searching and discovering submarines, as well as air targets identification and pursuit procedures. The exercise is a sequel of the Romanian-American action, staged with a view to boosting up confidence and security in the Black Sea. Two American vessels will moor in the port of Constanta between October 20 and 23rd.

Romanian President Traian Basescu in Milan today will be taking part in the second day of the Asia-Europe summit ASEM, alongside European Union representatives, as well as presidents and Prime Ministers coming from more than 50 countries on the two continents. This year’s topic is “The Responsible Partnership for Security and Economic Growth”. Basescu has stated the summit was a key one, since it basically tackled the issue of the two regions’ economic relations and sustainable development. Traian Basescu went on to say that included on the talks’ agenda were economic relations, but also security issues. The Romanian president today is today taking part in the restricted session themed as “Dialogue and Cooperation between Europe and Asia, focusing on the future of ASEM”. Basescu will then be taking part in the closing session of the Asia Europe Summit, ASEM..

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the meeting he had in Milan today with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko was a “positive” one, according to Reuters news agency. Talks focused on the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the natural gas dispute between Kiev and Moscow. Joining Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko for the meeting were German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron, the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was also satisfied with the outcome of the Milan meeting. Renzi went on to say there still were points of disagreement, but Italy’s Prime Minister underscored the real wish to find a solution, according to the AFP News agency. A series of bilateral meetings was staged on the sidelines of the meeting in Milan, among which the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel. The meetings were occasioned by the Europe-Asia Summit, these days hosted by the Italian city of Milan.

Judges of Romania’s High Court of Cassation and Justice have ruled that two people should be kept in custody, as they have been placed under criminal investigation in the illegal land retrocession file. The investigation procedure got underway in the case of two other people, who have been placed under home confinement. Romania’s High Court of Cassation and Justice today will be ruling over the anti-corruption prosecutors’ request that two judges of a local tribunal be kept in custody, following accusations of abuse of office with most serious consequences in the aforementioned file. In the illegal retrocession affair, two top-flight members of the main ruling party, the Social Democratic Party, have been placed under criminal investigation. They are senator Ilie Sarbu and deputy Viorel Hrebenciuc. According to the National Anti-Corruption Directorate, the estimated damages stand at 300 million Euro.

The Romanian Football Federation in Bucharest and manager Victor Piturca Thursday night mutually consented to terminating the latter’s contract for the position of Romanian football team manager. Immediately afterwards, Piturca signed a contract with Al-Ittihad Football Club, currently ranking second in Saudi Arabia’ s championship. Ahead of his departure for the Gulf, Piturca’ s legacy as Romania’s national football team manager includes a second position of Group F of Euro 2016 preliminaries. On its record sheet, Romania has seven points out of three games played. We recall Romania has snatched a 1-nil away win against Greece, and a 2-nil win against Finland, also away from home. On home turf, Romania managed a 1-all draw against Hungary. Romania’s upcoming fixture is the home game against Northern Ireland.

The two symbols of Catholic Youth, an almost four-meter tall wooden cross and an icon of Virgin Mary will today arrive for the first time in Bucharest as part of a pilgrimage that will take these symbols to several other countries. The cross and the icon were yesterday visiting several cities in Moldavia, which boast significant Roman-Catholic communities. Since 1984, when Pope John Paul the Second entrusted them to the young Catholic believers, initiating the periodical event World Youth Day, these two symbols have travelled all over the world conveying Christianity’s message of hope. Until the following World Youth Day, due in Krakow, Poland in 2016, the symbols will be traveling across countries in northern and eastern Europe. They will remain in Romania until November 1st.