July 1st, 2014

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Ştefan Stoica, 01.07.2014, 12:14

Former French right-of-center President Nicholas Sarkozy in Paris today has been detained for an alleged influence peddling charge. It is the first time ever in the history of the 5th French Republic when a former head of state has been detained. Prosecutors will be trying to check if the former French president, during his 2007-2012 term in office, tried to get information from a magistrate, who was offered a high-raking position as tradecraft for information regarding an investigation targeting Sarkozy himself. Yesterday, Sarkozy’s lawyer and two high-ranking magistrates were also detained in the aforementioned case. The far-reaching implications of the case target an alleged illegal financing operation initiated for Nicholas Sarkozy’s election campaign in 2007, whereby Sarkozy allegedly received tens of millions of Euro from former Libyan president Muammar Kadhafi. Sarkozy has been detained amid growing fears triggered by recent news about his possible comeback to domestic politics. We recall that in the 2012 presidential race Sarkozy was defeated by the socialist Francois Hollande.

The antiterrorist operation staged against pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine has been resumed, the President of the Ukrainian Parliament Oleksandr Turcinov has sated today. Previously, Ukraine’s president Petro Poroshenko announced the truce with the separatists, which expired Monday night, would not be renewed. Poroshenko accused the rebels of breaking the truce, and of failing to abide by the peace plan the Ukrainian president put forward. According to the AFP Poroshenko took the decision despite the pressure coming from French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian president Vladimir Putin. We recall last week a series of four-way telephone conferences was held, focusing on the tension which is still looming in eastern Ukraine.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry has firmly condemned the assassinations of the three Israeli teenagers and conveyed its condolences and compassion message to the mourning families Also the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest voiced hope the perpetrators would soon be brought to court. The Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry’s reaction has occurred right after Israeli authorities have confirmed they found the dead bodes of the three adolescents who had been reported missing three weeks ago in the West Bank. Israel has threatened the Palestine Islamist Hamas group they would pay dearly for the triple assassination. according to the AFP, the Israeli army has already brought down the lodgings of those suspected of having imitated the operations and on Monday night placed Gaza Strip under heavy shelling. Hamas has repeatedly denied the kidnapping accusations leveled at the organization, yet they hailed the kidnapping of the three Israeli adolescents.

Italy as of today will be taking over from Greece the European Union’s quarterly presidency, against a troublesome background which includes the Ukrainian crisis, news agencies worldwide have headlined. The Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi stated that among the Priorities of Italy’s European Union presidency are the economic relaunch, fighting unemployment, especially among youngsters, as well as finding ways to contain illegal migration. Also today, the European Parliament will be electing its new leadership. The main favorite for the top position in the European Parliament is the current president, the German Marin Schulz, whom the European socialists have designated their candidate. Also, for two of the 14 vice president positions, Romanian euro-deputies Corina Cretu and Adina Valean have submitted their candidacies. We recall the European Commission’s new president is Jean Claude Juncker of Luxembourg.

The Baccalaureate exam, which is underway in Romania these days, has been besmirched by corruption accusations targeting several inspectors and teachers. Those people are being investigated for having tried to help high school graduates to pass the exam, in exchange for a sum of money. Adding to the worrying news in the fact that during the first written exam– the Romanian Language written test held on Monday, a couple of high schools students were expelled following cheating allegations. The first session of the baccalaureate exam continues today, with the mother tongue written test, tailored for national l minorities high-school students. On Wednesday, all high school graduates are to sit in for the specialty’s compulsory exam, while Friday, they will take the optional subject exam. The final results will be made public on July 11.

Utilities tariffs are subject to change in Romania as of today — the natural gas price increases, while the price for energy is going down. Also, tens of taxes or tariffs with a non-fiscal origin will be waived. We recall the government vowed to dispose of or to agglomerate such taxes. As of July the 1st, 2014, the level of minimum wages in Romania will increase, from 850 Lei (194 Euro) to 900 Lei ( 205 Euro). The measure will also trigger bigger traffic fines, as a quota of the fine accounts for 10 per cent of the minimum wages. With details on that, we’ll revert to the topic after the news.

The Romanian tennis player, WTA 3rd seed Simona Halep today will be facing Kazakh tennis player Zarina Dizas, in a match counting towards the eighth finals of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, which is the year’s third Grand Slam event. Should she make headway into the competition, Halep’s next fixture will see the Romanian facing the winner of the game pitting the German Sabine Lisicki against Iaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan. If she reaches as far as the Wimbledon finals, Halep will climb up to the 2nd position in the WTA rankings, outclassing the Chinese Na Li.

Argentina vs Switzerland and Belgium vs United States are the two fixtures scheduled today, counting towards the round of last 16 at the Word Championship in Brazil. On Monday, Germany snatched an extra-time nail-biting 2-1 win against Algeria, while France make headway into the competition’ s next stage, following a hard-fought 2-nil win against Nigeria. In the quarterfinals France will be taking on Germany. Two other fixtures in the eighth finals will see Brazil taking on Germany and the Netherlands facing Costa Rica.