August 26, 2014 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
România Internațional, 26.08.2014, 19:46
The EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton emphasised the importance of dialogue for solving the Ukrainian crisis, while in Minsk on Tuesday for a three-party meeting between the EU, the Customs Union, made up of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin said the Ukraine crisis cannot be solved by upscaling military operations. In turn, the president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said he was ready to discuss all the options for a peace strategy, and called for the help of the international community to control the Russian border. The meeting took place after on Monday Poroshenko dissolved the Parliament and called snap elections on October the 26th. Dominated by supporters of the former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich, the Ukrainian Parliament had opposed several reform projects proposed by Arseny Yatseniuk’s pro-Western cabinet. Meanwhile, clashes between the pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian army continue in the east of the country.
The Palestinian movement Hamas says a long-term ceasefire agreement with Israel has been reached, to end a 50-day conflict, a senior Palestinian official announced on Tuesday. The Israeli government has not yet confirmed the deal. According to the Palestinians, Israel agreed to relax the blockade to allow aid and construction materials into Gaza. The conflict between Israel and Palestinian armed groups left 2,130 Palestinians and 68 Israelis dead in 50 days.
Ebola has so far killed 120 healthcare personnel, and in three of the hardest hit countries–Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone—there are only one or two doctors per 100,000 people, the World Health Organisation announced. Several factors contribute to the large number of cases among the healthcare staff, the WHO says, including the lack of individual protection equipment and the personnel shortage, which leads to human errors. Sierra Leone announced a number of measures to contain the epidemic, including prison for people who conceal Ebola cases. So far the virus has killed more than 1,425 people in north-western Africa.
On Tuesday Romanian Andreea Chiţu became the world vice-champion in judo, the 52-kilo category. She won the silver medal in the World Championship held in Chelyabinsk, Russia, where 2 years ago she had won the European title. The Romanian athlete lost the final to the defending champion, Maglinda Kelmendi, from Kosovo. Andreea Chitu thus equals the best performance in the history of Romanian judo, the silver medal won by Constantin Nicolae in 1981, in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Taking part in the World Judo Championship in Chelyabinsk are nearly 640 athletes from 110 countries.
