October 8, 2014 UPDATE
For a roundup of domestic and international news, click here.
Roxana Vasile, 08.10.2014, 12:05
EBOLA — The Romanian healthcare authorities are preparing a centre for the reception of potential Ebola infected patients. Over the past months the Romanian doctors have monitored the almost 500 students coming from western Africa where the virus has wreaked havoc. After the first case of infection outside Africa was confirmed, namely that of a Spanish nurse, the virus has started to cause problems at world level. Ever since the start of the Ebola epidemics on the African continent in March over 3,400 people have died. Lately the epidemics has started to spread rapidly contaminating almost 7,200 people, some of the infections being reported even in Europe and the USA.
FORECAST — The National Statistics Institute has revised upwards the estimates regarding the evolution of the Romanian economy in the 2nd quarter of 2014 as compared to the previous quarter, from minus 1% to minus 0.9%, show provisional data made public on Wednesday. Industry together with the Communications and IT domain and real estate have had the most important contribution to the growth of the GDP in the 2nd quarter of 2014, while trade, agriculture and the building sector have dragged the economy down. On Tuesday the IMF revised upwards from 2.2% to 2.4% the estimates regarding Romania’s GDP growth in 2014, shows the World Economic Outlook report. The Romanian authorities expect a 2.8 % economic growth this year. In 2013 the Romanian economy reported an economic growth of 3.5%, this being the highest growth rate across Europe.
HOLOCAUST — Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean on Wednesday expressed concern regarding anti-semitic, racial or xenophobic manifestations in certain European countries. In a commemorative event devoted to the victims of the Holocaust in Romania, Titus Corlatean said the Holocaust marks a dark page in world history due to the unimaginable horrors associated with it, the sheer and systematic extermination of human beings, adding that such tragedies should remain a constant concern for the international community. Holocaust Day was first marked in Romania on October 9, 2004 under a Government emergency ordinance.
EXPULSION — The secretary of the Moldovan Supreme Security Council, Alexei Barbăneagră, said that more than 30 people were ousted from Moldova on suspicion of being Russian military. Most of them were denied entry into Moldova at the airport in Chisinau as they did not comply with the legal requirements for entering the territory of the Republic of Moldova. The Moldovan press writes that Russia is trying to infiltrate soldiers to destabilize the situation in the republic of Moldova ahead of the November legislative elections when the pro-western parties in the government coalition will be facing the influential pro-Russian Communist party.
NOBEL PRIZE — Romanian-born German researcher Stefan Hell expressed his surprise at the news he had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, together with two other US researchers William Moerner and Eric Betzig. The three were rewarded for their efforts to develop the super-resolved fluorescence microscopy. Stefan Hell was born in Arad, western Romania, in 1962. In 1990 he took his PhD at the University of Heidelberg and is currently the director of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and Biophysics. The Nobel Awards Week continues on Thursday with the Award for Literature, while the Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded on Friday. The Nobel Prize for Economy will be awarded on Monday, October 13. All recipients will be awarded a gold medal and a 1.1 million-dollar check.
UKRAINE — Over 330 people were killed in Ukraine on September 5, when the ceasefire agreed by the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian rebels came into force. According to a report by the UN High Emissary for Human Rights, in six months of clashes the death toll has reached 3,600 people, with more than 8,700 wounded. Citizens in Eastern Ukraine are deprived from acces to education, medical care and employment, often having to flee their homes. Nearly 40,000 SMEs in Donetsk and Luhansk have brought their activity to a halt. The UN High Emissary for Human Rights also reports an increase in the number of foreign mercenary groups joining the ranks of the separatists, many of which are allegedly Russian.
GYMNASTICS — The Romanian women’s gymnastics team has finished in fourth place the team event at the World Gymnastics Championships held in Nanning, China. The US won gold, followed by China and Russia. On Thursday, Cristian Bataga will represent Romania in the men’s individual all-around event. On Friday the women’s all-around event will take place, with Laris Iordache holding good chances of grabbing a medal. Iordache will also perform in Sunday’s beam and floor finals, while on Saturday in the first individual all-around event, she is number two on the reserve list for the vault finals.
WAR ON TERROR — The US-led international coalition on Tuesday and Wednesday carried out several air strikes on the outskirts of the Syrian town of Kobane, on the Turkish border, currently sieged by Islamic State terrorists. The Pentagon has announced that US fighter jets targeted tanks, heavy artillery and ground troops. The Islamic State is de facto controlling large areas in Syria and Iraq. This year this terrorist cell has beheaded four US and British citizens and carried out mass-executions in public in the towns they hold.
