August 16, 2021

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 16.08.2021, 13:55

Covid-19. The number of daily cases of infection with
the new coronavirus in Romania is on the rise. 280 new cases were reported on
Monday, in 18,700 tests. Most cases were registered in Bucharest. The number of
patients needing hospitalization is also on the rise, now standing at 940, of
whom 120 are in severe condition. 5 Covid-19 related deaths were also reported.
The interest in vaccination remains low, despite authorities’ efforts to boost
the vaccination campaign. On Sunday it was reported that a little over 5,500
people had got the shot in the last 24 hours. In total, some 5 million
Romanians have undergone a complete vaccination scheme.

Taliban. The Taliban are
now controlling Afghanistan and the British and NATO forces will not return to
fight the insurgents, the British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace was quoted as
saying by Reuters today. According to a US official, most Western diplomats
have left the Taliban-controlled capital of Kabul. In another move, five people
died today at the Kabul airport, while hundreds of people were trying to force
their way into the planes leaving the capital. It is unclear whether the
victims were killed by gunfire or died as a result of the stampede. U.S. troops
are in command of the airport, helping evacuate U.S. embassy personnel and
other civilians. In a bid to put some order into the chaos, American forces
fired shots into the air. A joint statement, backed by more than 60 countries,
calls for Afghans and foreign nationals wishing to leave Afghanistan to be
allowed to leave and for airports and border crossing points to remain open, Reuters reports, quoting the
US Department of State. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also
called on the Taliban and all other groups on the Afghan political scene to
show the utmost restraint. The UN Security Council gathers today to discuss the
situation in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan. The Romanian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs has re-evaluated and raised the alert level for
Afghanistan and urged the Romanian citizens to leave the territory of this
state urgently and to avoid any trips to Afghanistan. The activity of the
Romanian Embassy in Kabul was suspended in 2019, following an attack that
severely damaged the mission building. We recall that the Romanian military have
returned to the country, at the end of almost two decades of uninterrupted
presence in Afghanistan. 27 of them lost their lives in missions or attacks by
Taliban terrorists, and more than 200 were injured. In all, more than 32,000
soldiers from all categories of forces took part in missions in Afghanistan.
The total costs of the Romanian participation in Afghanistan amounted to over 3
billion lei (the equivalent of about 600 million euros).

Baccalaureate. In Romania, the
autumn session of the national Baccalaureate exam started today with the test
in Romanian Language and Literature. The mandatory specialization testing will
be held on Tuesday, and, the next day, the optional test for the selected
specialization. Almost 39,000 candidates
registered for the current session, of whom 60% are from among this year’s high-school graduates, the Ministry of
Education has stated. The final results will be announced on September 3. The passing
rate, after the first session held in June-July, stood at 70%, which is almost
5 percent higher as compared to the same session last year.

Firefighters. The more than 100 Romanian
firefighters that helped put out the wildfires in Greece, under the EU Civil
Protection Mechanism, are retuning to the country today. They were praised by
the media, locals and their foreign colleagues for their intervention manner
and bravery. On Friday, the firefighting team that took part in the operations
in North Macedonia, also came back home, after a week of fighting the fires in
that country.

Earthquake. The number of
people who died as a result of the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that hit Haiti on
Saturday has reached 1,300, and the number of injured is approaching 6,000, according
to the Haitian civil protection service, quoted by news agencies. Many people
are reported missing and many more are still under rubble. Tens of thousands of
homes have been destroyed or damaged in the three most affected southern areas.
The quake was much stronger than the one in 2010, which killed more than
100,000 people and injured tens of thousands.

Rowing. Romania achieved
excellent results at the World Junior Rowing Championships in Plovdiv
(Bulgaria), held between August 11-15: two gold and one bronze medal, which placed it
third in the overall medal standings, the president of the Federation Rowing
Romanian, Elisabeta Lipă, has stated. According to her, for juniors, it was the
first major competition this year, still dominated by the pandemic and numerous
restrictions. Romania participated in the Championships with 11 crews and 43
athletes. It was outranked by the USA and Germany, but finished ahead of
Switzerland, Italy, France or Spain. (MI)