Radio România Internațional

Tag: Al Qaeda

  • October 29, 2020

    October 29, 2020

    COVID19
    RO     A record number of 6,481 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2
    have been registered in Romania in the last 24 hours, following 36,169 tests
    performed nationwide, the Strategic Communication Group has announced. The
    number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 was 83, bringing the total number of
    victims to 6,764. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 229,040 cases of people
    infected with the new coronavirus have been confirmed in Romania, and 163,852
    patients have been declared cured. 868 patients are admitted to intensive care,
    7 more than the previous day. The highest infection coefficients per 1,000
    inhabitants in the last 14 days were registered in the counties of Cluj (4.3),
    Sălaj (4.11), Alba (3.8), in the capital Bucharest (3.69) and in the counties of
    Timiş (3.61) and Harghita (3.32). These areas are subject to the red scenario
    that imposes additional restrictions, such as wearing a mask in all open
    spaces. The good news comes from abroad, where there have been no new cases of
    infection or death among Romanians in the last 24 hours. So far, 6,851 Romanian
    nationals have fallen ill and 126 have lost their lives abroad.






    PANDEMIC
    More than 44 million people have tested positive for the new coronavirus worldwide and
    nearly 1.2 million have died from COVID-19. Ranking first with regard to the confirmed cases of
    infection is the United States, with 9 million, followed by India, with 8, and
    Brazil, with almost 6. The same countries occupy the first three places in
    terms of deaths due to COVID-19. The pandemic continues to severely affect
    Europe. France is re-imposing quarantine nationwide from Friday to December 1
    to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, President Emmanuel Macron announced
    on Wednesday night. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Paris, people
    will have to stay in their homes, except for when they need to purchase
    essential goods, for doctor’s appointments or daily outdoor exercise. For all these,
    the French will have to fill in a self-declaration. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel, has agreed with the leaders of the federal states
    to set up a so-called limited lockdown, in parallel with tightening the rules
    already in place. These measures are burdensome, she admitted, but she stressed
    that they are aimed at restoring much of public life in Germany in December.
    The new measures will enter into force starting Monday, November 2, two days
    earlier than previously expected, being valid until the end of the month, the
    Radio Romania correspondent in Germany reports.








    SENTENCE The former Liberal President of
    the Bucharest Chamber of Deputies, Bogdan Olteanu, has been sentenced today to
    5 years in prison for influence peddling in a case in which he is accused of
    receiving one million euro from a controversial businessman. The sentence is
    final. Olteanu led the lower chamber of Parliament between 2006 and 2008, and
    in 2009 he was appointed deputy governor of the National Bank. He resigned
    after being detained by anti-corruption prosecutors in 2016, to be heard in the
    influence peddling case.






    GREENEPEACE
    The environmental organization Greenpeace Romania launches a campaign entitled
    Green barrier for replanting forest curtains and protection forests in
    plain areas. In the next 30 years, over 40% of Romania’s territory will
    become an arid steppe, and climatologists claim that over 11 million Romanians
    will be affected by rising temperatures, drastic reductions in water reserves
    and desertification. According to Greenpeace Romania, illegal logging in recent
    years has exceeded the darkest estimates: 20 million cubic meters of timber
    disappear annually without a trace, including from plain areas.




    AL-QAEDA A senior UN official has
    warned that al-Qaeda remains a global threat, even though the Taliban have
    vowed to prevent the terrorist group from launching further attacks from
    Afghanistan. The US intervention in Afghanistan, following the 9/11 attacks,
    aimed to eliminate al-Qaeda and overthrow the Taliban regime that hosted the
    group. 19 years later, President Donald Trump is determined to withdraw the US
    forces from Afghanistan. The agreement his administration signed with the
    Taliban earlier this year sets a temporary timetable for withdrawal, provided
    insurgents prevent their former allies from further attacks against the West.






    FOOTBALL
    The Romanian football champion, CFR Cluj (northwest) plays, tonight, on home
    turf, against Young Boys Bern of Switzerland, its second match in Group A of
    Europa League. Also today, in the same group, the Italians from AS Rome meet
    the Bulgarians from TSKA Sofia. In the first matches, last week, CFR won 2-0 in
    Sofia, and Rome 2-1 in Bern. The Cluj team is the last representative of
    Romania in this year’s edition of the European football cups. (M. Ignatescu)



  • October 25, 2020

    October 25, 2020

    ARMY DAY Romania has today a modern and well trained army, able to ensure compliance with the commitments taken within NATO and in terms of implementing the EU common security and defence policy, the president of Romania Klaus Iohannis said on the celebration of the Romanian Army Day on October 25. Its significant contribution to strengthening regional stability in South Eastern Europe makes the Romanian Army a security provider at the Black Sea, a region facing multiple and dynamic challenges, the president added. The new generations of troops are paying tribute to all the heroes that have sacrificed their lives in theatres of operations, the defence minister Nicolae Ciucă said in his turn, mentioning that in World War II Romanian troops fought heroically to free the country, turning October 25, 1944 into a symbol of national emancipation from foreign occupation. In building our defence, we rely on our NATO and EU membership, as well as on the Strategic Partnership with the US, which is now stronger than ever, the Romanian defence minister also said. In keeping with its NATO commitments, Romania is already hosting a number of Allied command and control structures, and in the near future the South-East Multinational Command will also be opened in Sibiu. At present, 1,150 Romanian military are deployed in foreign theatres of operation.



    COVID-19 Bucharest is considering the reintroduction of night curfews in several parts of the country, the PM Ludovic Orban said after 3 counties in central Romania (Alba, Cluj and Harghita) as well as the capital Bucharest have passed 3 infections per thousand inhabitants this week. According to the most recent national update, 3,855 new cases and 73 deaths were reported in 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 6,391. Over 800 COVID-19 patients are in intensive care. Romania is one of the 23 European countries where the pandemic causes serious concern at EU level, both in terms of the daily infection numbers among the elderly, and in terms of the death rate, which is the second-largest in Europe.



    PANDEMIC A growing number of countries have introduced further restrictions as the number of COVID-19 cases is rising at a fast pace. Spain and France are seeing the largest numbers of infections, over 1 million cases each, out of the total 8.5 million reported in Europe as a whole. Most of Poland is rated as COVID red zone, with restaurants and schools partly closed down, weddings banned, shops and churches closed and people over 70 requested to stay at home. Slovakia has a curfew in place until November 1, while in the Czech Republic travel restrictions are valid until November 3. Slovenia also ordered a partial lockdown, while Greece imposed a night curfew in Athens and Thessaloniki, and face covering is compulsory outdoors. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has once again called on German citizens to reduce social interaction. Belgium shut down all sports and cultural activities as of Monday, and several regions in the French Wallonia are under lockdown. In the UK, Wales is in lockdown until November 9, with Ireland also introducing a 6-week lockdown. Denmark has also introduced tougher restrictions, and in Bulgaria Sofia and other major cities are closing down today all night restaurants and pubs. Across Europe, the number of COVID-19 related deaths has passed 260,000.



    AL-QAEDA Afghan forces have killed Abu Muhsin al-Masri, a top Al-Qaeda leader wanted by the United States, the National Directorate of Security in Afghanistan announced. Abu Muhsin al-Masri had been accused of providing materials and resources to a foreign terror group and of plotting to kill American citizens. Abu Muhsin al-Masri, believed to be Al-Qaedas number-two, was targeted in Ghazni province. Also in Afghanistan, funerals were held for the victims of Saturdays suicide bomb attack in the capital city Kabul, claimed by the ISIS group. Scores of people were killed or wounded in the blast that took place in the mostly Shiite area of the city, with many students of a private education centre among the victims.



    WINTER TIME On Saturday night, Romania switched to winter time, with the local 4 am becoming 3 am. 2020 may be the last time the seasonal change of clocks occurs, as the European Commission has proposed scrapping this practice in Europe. Member states will be able to choose whether to remain on permanent winter time or summer time. Countries choosing to stay on summer time will make the last change next March, while those that wish to remain on winter time will perform the last switch in October next year. (translated by: A.M. Popescu)

  • Romania and the situation in Afghanistan

    Romania and the situation in Afghanistan

    The military of the Brave Hearts Force Protection Infantry Battalion based in Focsani have taken over the Romanian missions in the theatre of operations in Afghanistan. They replaced the Black Wolves 151st Battalion from Iasi and will take part in the NATO Resolute Support mission for the next 6 months. The responsibility of the more than 600 Romanian troops will focus on ensuring the security of the base in Kandahar, carrying out patrols jointly with the coalition troops and the Afghan army and police forces.



    The Romanian military will also ensure the security of the biggest airport in southern Afghanistan. The region is still problematic as far as security is concerned. The most recent incident in which a Romanian military was also wounded took place two weeks ago. According to the defence ministry in Bucharest, 25 Romanian soldiers have been killed in operations in Afghanistan, in which Romania has been taking part since 2001.



    Another 100 Romanian military have been wounded in this theatre of operations. The takeover of new troops comes after US president Donald Trump announced early this week that he would boost the military campaign against Taliban insurgents. He ruled out a possible US withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying a quick pullout would create a void that may be taken advantage of by the “terrorists”, both from Al-Qaida and the Islamic State.



    The Pentagon is still to decide the number of additional troops to be deployed to Afghanistan, while also working on a plan, the US defence secretary James Mattis has announced. According to a number of US officials, Trump authorised Mattis to deploy around 4,000 troops to join the roughly 8,400 stationed at the moment in Afghanistan. Along with other NATO allies, Romania has welcomed Donald Trump’s announcement. Its defence minister Adrian Tutuianu said Bucharest, which is the fourth biggest contributor of troops to NATO, may increase the number of troops taking part in the Resolute Support mission.



    The conflict in Afghanistan is the longest in the modern history of the United States. It began after the Al-Qaida attacks of September 2001, when the leader of this terrorist network, Osama Bin Laden, was harboured by Afghanistan’s Taliban regime at the time. The Taliban were quickly defeated by the US forces, but an insurrection began and they are gaining more and more ground recently. The NATO mission to Afghanistan officially came to an end in 2014, while the around 13,500 military there, mostly American, are responsible for the training and counselling of the Afghan security forces.

  • February 25, 2017

    February 25, 2017

    VISIT Romania’s Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu, on Monday will be paying a formal visit to Budapest for talks with his Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto and Prime Minister Viktor Orban. For the first time, the Romanian official will deliver a speech at the annual meeting of the Hungarian diplomacy. During the talks, the head of the Romanian diplomacy will be pleading for stepping up political-diplomatic dialogue and boosting economic cooperation particularly in fields as energy or infrastructure. The two sides are expected to also tackle the issue of national minorities’ rights. Melescanu is also to meet representatives of the Romanian community in Hungary with whom he will discuss their preoccupation for maintaining their ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity as well as ways through which the Romanian state can support them.



    RALLY Several thousands took to the streets of Targoviste in southern Romania to participate in a support rally for the PSD-ALDE cabinet, staged by the Social Democrats. We recall that for almost 4 weeks, Romania saw large-scale anti-government protests sparked off by attempts by Sorin Grindeanu’s government to amend the penal legislation through an ordinance. Bucharest and other several cities have also seen support rallies. The ordinance had no effects because it was repealed by the government and later by Parliament.



    DRILL Romanian and US troops will be attending a joint drill at the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in southeastern Romania, part of the Atlantic Resolve operation aimed at strengthening NATO’s eastern flank. According to the Defence Ministry in Bucharest, Tuesday will see operations of loading and gunships attacks involving Black Hawk helicopters belonging to the 10th US brigade, the first big army unit deployed to Eastern Europe as part of the Atlantic Resolve operation. In another move, a 20 strong Romanian infantry unit will join the international drill Dynamic Front ll due in Germany between February 26th and March 10th. The drill involves the participation of nearly 1400 military from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Great Britain, Romania, the USA and Turkey.



    HANDBALL Romania’s and Europe’s champions in women’s handball, CSM Bucharest will today be playing Norwegian side Larvik in the Champions League’s group two. The first match ended in a 26-all draw and CSM is currently ranking fourth in a group dominated by Hungarian side Gyor. Danish side Midtjylland is coming second followed by Larvik. The fifth and sixth positions in the group are occupied by Krim Ljubljana of Slovenia and Team Esbjerg of Denmark respectively.



    ATTACKS Over 40 people were killed on Saturday in a series of attacks targeting bases of the security forces in Homs, Syria’s third largest city, mainly controlled by troops loyal to the regime in Damascus. The attacks carried out by suicide bombers have been claimed by a former Al Qaeda cell based in Syria. An army intelligence chief is reported to have been killed in the blasts.



  • Nachrichten 04.04.2015

    Nachrichten 04.04.2015

    Bukarest: Die Arbeiten des ersten Kongresses der Unionisten aus der Diaspora werden am Wochenende in Bukarest fortgesetzt. Über 100 Vertreter rumänischer Verbände in Europa und den USA beteiligen sich an der Veranstaltung, die am Sonntag zu Ende geht. Daran nehmen zudem rumänische und moldauische Politiker teil. Auf dem Programm stehen Workshops und Debatten zum Thema Vereinigung Rumäniens mit der benachbarten rumänischsprachigen Republik Moldau. Die daraus erfolgenden Ideen sollen anschlie‎ßend die Grundlage einer Resolution bilden, die im Hörsaal “Nicolae Iorga” der Fakultät für Geschichte der Bukarester Universität vorgelesen und verabschiedet werden soll.



    Bukarest: Einer der beliebtesten und berühmtesten Radiomenschen Rumäniens Paul Grigoriu ist am Freitag in seiner Wohnung im südrumänischen Buciumeni gestorben. Nach der Wende war er Stellvertretender Intendand des öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunks und eine emblematische Stimme des Morgenmagazins sowie der Sendung K-drane beim Sender Radio România Actualităţi. Vor der Wende gestaltete er die Sendungen des Ferienfunks Radio Vacanţa und war Koordinator des franzöischen Dienstes bei Radio Rumänien International. Zwei rumänische Staatschefs haben ihn im Laufe der Zeit mit dem Kultur-Verdienst-Orden und später mit dem Orden für treue Dienste ausgezeichnet. Paul Grigoriu hat die Geschichte der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalt stark geprägt. Er ist ebenfalls der Autor von zahlreichen Prosabänden und Literaturreportagen.



    Bukarest: In allen Eparchien der Rumänischen Orthodoxen Kirche im In-und Ausland finden am Wochenende Palmsonntagsprozessionen statt. In Bukarest zieht die Prozession vom Kloster Radu Vodă bis zum Patriarchat-Sitz. Der Palmsonntag erinnert die Christen an den Einzug von Jesus nach Jerusalem. Dort begrü‎ßten ihn die Menschen wie einen König und empfingen ihn mit Palmblättern. Am Palmsonntag, eine Woche vor dem Ostersonntag feiern rund 1,4 Millionen Rumänen, die Blumennamen und davon abgeleitete Namen tragen, ihren Namenstag. An demselben Tag feiern in Rumänen rund eine Millione Katholiken das Osterfest.



    Bukarest: Sieben ausländische Staatsangehörige sind als Anhänger der radikalen Ideen von Organisationen wie ISIS und Al-Qaeda aus Rumänien ausgewiesen worden. Diese befanden sich in Rumänien als Vertreter von Privatunternehmen und werden vom rumänischen Nachrichtendienst seit 2003 monitorisiert. Die Entscheidung wurde vom Oberlandesgericht Bukarest auf Antrag des Rumänischen Nachrichtendienstes SRI getroffen. Die Behörde hatte sich auf die Gefahr für die Landessicherheit berufen.


  • Der 11. September 2001 – 12 Jahre danach

    Der 11. September 2001 – 12 Jahre danach

    Die Anschläge vom 11. September waren eine Reihe von Selbstmordattacken, die von der Terrororganisation Al-Qaeda gegen die USA koordiniert wurden. 19 Terroristen haben vier Passagierflugzeuge entführt. Zwei der Flugzeuge wurden von den Tätern in die zwei Türme des World Trade Center in New York, ein drittes in das Pentagon, in der Nähe von Washington, gelenkt. Das vierte entführte Flugzeug wurde nach Kämpfen zwischen Passagieren und Entführern vom Piloten der Entführer in Pennsylvania zum Absturz gebracht.



    2993 Menschen verloren ihr Leben in den Attacken. Die USA reagierten auf die Anschläge mit einem Krieg gegen den Terrorismus. Der Krieg in Afghanistan fing an mit dem Ziel, die Taliban zu beseitigen. Das Regime der Taliban bot Unterschlupf für Al-Qaeda-Terroristen an. Zudem wurde in den USA das USA Patriot“-Gesetz verabschiedet. Dieses gibt der Regierung die Möglichkeit, jedwelche Person zu überwachen, die verdächtigt wird, einen Terrorangriff gegen die USA zu planen.



    Auch andere Staaten haben ihre Anti-Terror-Gesetze verschärft und die Macht der Sicherheitskräfte erweitert. Viele sagen, dass nach dem 11. September 2001 die Welt nicht mehr dieselbe war. Die Folgen der amerikanischen Tragödie hatten Einfluss auf Milliarden von Menschen. Viele Wirtschaften hatten darunter zu leiden, der grö‎ßte Wandel erfolgte jedoch in der Politik. Die meisten Staats- und Regierungschefs haben die Anschläge verurteilt. Der irakische Staatschef Saddam Hussein hat das damals nicht getan. 2003 begann der Irak-Krieg. Es gab mehrere Spekulationen betreffend die Verwicklung von Irakern in den Anschlägen vom 11. September.



    Mehrere Länder haben die Bankkonten von Terrorverdächtigen eingefroren und die USA haben ein sehr umstrittenes Gefängnis in Guantanamo auf Kuba gegründet. Nach dem 11. September 2001 haben sich die Allianzen weltweit verändert.



    Die meisten Länder haben jedoch verstanden, dass der Terrorismus ein weltweites Risiko darstellt. Und das ist sehr wichtig. Für Rumänien stellte der 11. September 2001 ebenfalls einen gro‎ßen Wandel dar. Die NATO und die USA haben erkannt, dass das Land ein verlässlicher strategischer Partner im Schwarzmeerraum darstellen kann. 2004 ist Rumänien der NATO beigetreten, 2007 der EU. Im Rahmen ihrer Partnerschaft bauen jetzt die Rumänen und die Amerikaner im südrumänischen Deveselu einen europäischen Raketenschutzschild.