May 12, 2021

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 12.05.2021, 13:55

PLAN Romania’s Prime Minister Florin Citu is in
Brussels for talks with the EU officials over the projects the Romanian government
has included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Prime Minister
is today expected to have talks with the European Commissioner for Transport
and the European Commission vice-presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis
Dombrovskis. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Citu held talks with the president of
the Community Executive Ursula von der Leyen, which the two officials have
described as constructive.

COVID-19 The entire Romanian territory is presently
in the so-called green zone, as the infection rate has dropped below 1.5 per
thousand. However, the number of daily fatalities remains high, around 100, but
the number of patients in intensive care is also going down. The significant
drop in the infection rate has been influenced by the stepped-up vaccine
rollout, says its chief coordinator army physician Valeriu Gheorghita. Over
3,700,000 people have received at least one dose of the vaccine whereas about
2.5 million got the second jab. Romanians are now able to get the vaccine
without having to register beforehand. After Bucharest and Cluj, Craiova, in
the south-west, has become the third city to stage a vaccination marathon.
Other Romanian cities are expected to follow suit and host vaccination
marathons and drive throughs later this week.

DIRECTORS As of Tuesday night, Romania’s public radio
and TV stations have new interim directors. Parliament in Bucharest has
appointed journalist Liviu Popescu as head of the Romanian public radio while
Ramona Saseanu has become director of the national TV station. The two are to
occupy these positions for 6 months until the appointment of new boards of
directors for the two institutions. We recall that on Tuesday, the Legislature
rejected the activity reports submitted by the two institutions for the years
2017, 2018, 2019, which entailed the sacking of the present board of directors.

TENNIS The world’s third tennis player, Romanian
Simona Halep, is today taking on Angelique Kerber of Germany in the second
round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome with 1.6 million dollars in prize
money. Halep is leading 6-5 the head-to-head matches. The entitre champion in
Rome, Halep is Romania’s only representative in the Italian tournament at Foro
Italico.

MISSION Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has
briefed Parliament on the conclusion of Romanian army’s participation in NATO
Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan and the repatriation of the Romanian
troops according to the schedule agreed upon with its strategic allies and
partners. The Resolute Support mission kicked off on January 1st as a sequel of
the international mission Security Force Assistance ISAF. Its main objective
was the training and counseling of the Afghan security forces.

RIOT The Israeli government has
declared a state of emergency in the central city of Lod after rioting by
Israeli Arabs, as the conflict opposing Israeli forces to Palestinian militants
intensifies, the BBC reports. The city mayor has compared the situation to a
civil war. The fighting
came after weeks of rising tensions that were stoked by violent confrontations
between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at a place in Jerusalem that
is holy to both Muslims and Jews. According to the Israeli press it has been
for the first time after many decades when the authorities need to resort to
the state of emergency to reinstate order. The international community has
urged the two sides to put an end to the escalation. At least 35 Palestinians,
including 10 children, and five Israelis have reportedly been killed in the
violence so far.

(bill)