July 30, 2018 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 30.07.2018, 19:05
WEATHER — The weather is unstable in Romania, particularly in the centre, east and north. The authorities have issued a code yellow alert against rainfalls, thunderstorms and gusty wind valid for those regions until Monday evening. Rain water might exceed 20 l/square meter and even 50-60 l/square meter locally. Hydrologists have issued code yellow and orange alerts for several rivers in the country, valid until Wednesday, at midnight. At least two people lost their lives because of heavy rains and flooding over the past few days, many households have been submerged and traffic has been disrupted on several national and county roads.
BREEZE 18 — Three ships belonging to the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group are currently docked at the Constanta Military Port on the Black Sea Coast, until Tuesday. The participating ships include ROS Lt. Lupu Dinescu, TCG Anamur, and FGS Rhein. The ships have made stops in the ports of Burgas, Bulgaria and Odessa in Ukraine. They participated in the multinational exercise BREEZE 18, in Bulgaria’s territorial waters and in the Black Sea international waters, and took part in joint exercises at sea, with Ukrainian ships. Exercise BREEZE provided training to the participants in various fields of maritime warfare and enhanced interoperability among NATO Navies. On Sunday, the ships were open to visitors.
ACTIVITY REPORT — Minister for Romanians Worldwide Natalia-Elena Intotero on Monday presented the activity report for the first six months, outlining the main actions and projects carried out by the ministry she represents, as well as the ongoing projects addressing Romanians across the borders. Some 24 projects of organizations and associations of Romanians worldwide have been approved, with funding standing at over 1 million lei. The Ministry has also sent 3,200 Romanian-language books to the Republic of Moldova, and 1,000 scholarships have been awarded to Romanian children studying in Ukraine.
GREECE — 91 people died in the wildfire that devastated the eastern coast of Attica in Greece, the latest provisional death toll made public by the Greek authorities shows. Several children are among the victims, as well as four foreign nationals-two Poles, an Irish and a Belgian citizen. An investigation carried out by the Greek fire-fighters shows a local would be at fault for starting the first fire and the Greek authorities know who he is. PM Alexis Tzipras has said he assumes full political responsibility for the tragedy, whereas the Opposition has accused the Government of being incapable of protecting the citizens’ lives. We recall the two Romanian military aircraft, one used for extinguishing fire and the other one providing logistical support, which were sent to Greece by the Bucharest authorities shortly after the wildfire broke out, completed their mission on Saturday and returned to Romania.
UNEMPLOYMENT — The unemployment rate stood at 3.48% in late June, the lowest in the last 26 years for the second month in a row, according to data released by the National Employment Agency. The total number of unemployed people was 304 thousand, of whom 51 thousand receive unemployment benefits. Most of them are aged between 40 and 49, while the lowest number are young people aged 25-29. In terms of education, people with basic or no education hold the largest share of the total number of unemployed. The authorities say the rate goes down in the summer months, given that a large number of people get temporary employment as seasonal workers in constructions, farming or the services industry.
INTERNET — Over 500 towns and villages in Romania have been fitted with high-speed Internet connections under the RO-NET program in the last six months, Communications and Information Society Minister Bogdan Cojocaru has said. The Romanian official hopes that over 400 thousand households as well as public institutions in the area will have high-speed Internet access by the end of September. A new project devoted to expanding broadband connections to underdeveloped areas will also be implemented, Minister Cojocaru has announced. With a budget of 64 million euros, the project is aimed at equipping 170 thousand households with Internet access.
OLYMPIAD — Romania’s delegation has won five medals at the International Physics Olympiad this year, one gold, two silver and two bronze, the Education Ministry has announced. Students with the International Computer Science High School in Bucharest and the Mircea cel Batran National College in Constanta are the recipients of the awards. The 49th edition of the Olympiad was hosted by Lisbon, Portugal over July 21-29, bringing together 400 competitors from 90 countries. The first edition was held in 1967 in Poland, Romania being one of the five participating countries. Romania has hosted the Olympiad twice, in 1972 and 1983.
TENNIS — Romanian tennis player Simona Halep continues to be no.1 WTA, according to the world ranking made public on Monday. She is followed by Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki and the American Sloane Stephens. Halep is no.1 for the 39th week, thus equalling the performance of French Amelie Mauresmo. Other best ranking tennis players are Mihaela Buzărnescu (24), Sorana Cârstea (54), Irina Begu (56), Monica Niculescu (60) and Ana Bogdan (87).
(Translated by D. Vijeu & V. Palcu)
