July 4, 2022

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 04.07.2022, 13:55

HEAT – A wave of extreme heat is sweeping Romania. Meteorologists
have issued code orange and yellow alerts against extreme heat for a number of
counties in the west. Temperatures here are expected to reach and exceed 39
degrees Celsius and stand at 34-37 degrees across the territory. Starting
Wednesday, meteorologists expect temperatures to drop in the north and west and
to reach the normal value for this period starting Thursday. Meanwhile, rainfall
will expand to a number of regions, including in the capital city Bucharest.
Extreme weather phenomena have affected a number of areas in Romania, some of
their effects still being felt locally.

SHARK ATTACK – The Romanian Foreign
Ministry has confirmed a Romanian woman was killed in a shark attack on Sunday
in Hurghada, a seacoast resort on the Red Sea in Egypt. According to the
Ministry, the Romanian Embassy in Cairo is making efforts to obtain additional
information regarding the woman’s death. Her family in Romania has been
notified and provided with all the details regarding the repatriation of her
body. This is the second shark attack in the area in recent days. Another
Austrian woman was killed in the same attack. The Egyptian authorities have
closed down a number of beaches on the Red Sea. The Romanian Foreign Ministry
recommends all Romanians in Egypt or planning to travel to this country to
observe the recommendations of local authorities and choose only beach areas
that are labeled safe for swimming.

WAR IN UKRAINE – The Russian army
presses its attack in Eastern Ukraine, after on Sunday it conquered Lysychansk,
a city of great strategic value for the Russians’ occupation strategy in
Donbas. The Russian forces seem to be focusing their attacks on Sloviansk and
Kramatorsk, two cities west of Lysychansk. President Volodymyr Zelensky has
tried to downplay the Russians’ announcement, saying his country will not give
up an inch of its territory and that the Ukrainian armed forces will retake the
areas controlled by the Russians owing to the increase in the delivery of
modern weapons to Ukraine. Moscow, however, is celebrating a major victory.

ESPIONAGE – 70 Russian diplomats and their families were expelled
from Bulgaria after local authorities accused them of espionage. In response,
Russia announced it would close down its Embassy in Sofia, which would be the
first Russian embassy closed down in an EU Member States. Bulgaria’s Prime
Minister, Kiril Petkov, accused Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova of
supporting the no-confidence vote against him. Petkov was removed from office
last week following a vote of no-confidence, and President Rumen Radev is
expected to nominate him again for forming a new government, before calling
snap elections. The Bulgarian Socialists, which were part of Petkov’s ruling
coalition, have accused the Prime Minister of single-handedly deciding to expel
the Russian diplomats, a decision they see as unwarranted, announcing they
would not support a second government led by the current Prime Minister.

THEATRE – The city of Bistrița in central Romania is today
hosting the UNITER Awards Gala. The 30th edition of the gala
rewarding the best theatre productions of 2021 will be attended by artists and
professionals from the world of theatre. According to organizers, the award of
excellence will be bestowed post-mortem to Ion Caramitru, the president of
UNITER for 31 years. Caramitru passed away last year. In other news, the
International Theatre Festival in Sibiu also came to a close yesterday night.
It brought to the public 800 performances of theatre, music, dance and circus,
street performances, exhibitions and conferences, involving 3,500 artists from
75 countries.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona
Halep is today playing Paula Badosa of Spain in the round of 16 at Wimbledon.
On April 30, Halep defeated Badosa 6-3, 6-1 in the second round at the WTA
Mutua Madrid Open. Paula Badosa has never reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals,
although she played in the round of 16 last year. A former world no. 1, Simona
Halep won the Wimbledon Grand Slam in 2019 and the French Open the previous
year. (VP)