Radio România Internațional

Tag: deadline

  • October 14, 2023 UPDATE

    October 14, 2023 UPDATE

    Tel-Aviv – At 16:00 hours local time (13:00 GMT), the deadline given by the Israeli Defense Forces to Palestinian civilians in the north of the Gaza Strip to leave the area safely has expired. Israel has repeatedly accused the terrorist group Hamas of using civilians as human shields. The Israeli militarys order for more than a million Palestinians to leave the northern enclave is seen as a sign that it is planning a ground offensive. The Israeli army announced on Saturday that its bombing of the Gaza Strip resulted, among other things, in the death of another Hamas leader. The bloody attack launched on October 7 by the terrorist movement resulted in the death of over 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians, and 3,200 wounded. Over 100 people, Israelis and foreigners, were taken hostage and taken to the Gaza Strip. For their part, the Palestinians announced that more than 2,200 people were killed and 10,000 wounded in the Israeli bombings of Gaza.



    Repatriation — The Romanian Foreign Ministry – MAE confirmed, on Saturday, the death, in the context of the security situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip, of two more people with dual Israeli-Romanian citizenship, residing in Israel. Also, the Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv is in dialogue with the Israeli authorities to verify the information regarding the disappearance of a person with dual Israeli-Romanian citizenship. All in all, four Romanians have died in this country since the outbreak of the armed conflict. On the other hand, another 58 Romanian citizens returned to Romania from Israel on Saturday, with a flight operated by a private company, the Foreign Ministry informs. Over 2,200 Romanians returned home after the Hamas attacks on Israel.



    Football – On Sunday, Romania’s national football team meets Andorra, in Group I of the EURO 2024 preliminaries. The match is hosted by Bucharest, and access is only allowed to children under 14, according to a UEFA decision. In the same group, the match Switzerland versus Belarus is played. On Thursday, Romania drew 0-0 in Budapest with Belarus and remains on second place in the group, after Switzerland. Israel, whose games were postponed, and Kosovo are also part of Euro 2024 Qualifying Group I.



    Paris – The Louvre Museum in Paris, the largest museum in the world, closed exceptionally on Saturday at noon for security reasons, in the context in which France raised the threat alert level following the Islamist attack committed on Friday in Arras (northern France), France Press reports. The Louvre Museum received a written message evoking a risk for the museum and for visitors, a spokeswoman for the institution said. France has once again raised the threat alert level which allows the exceptional mobilization of means, after the assassination of a teacher, who was stabbed by a young man in front of a high school from the city of Arras. This act was labeled as “Islamist terrorism” by the French President Emmanuel Macron. The Elysée Palace announced on Saturday the deployment of 7,000 soldiers on the French territory.



    Tourism — Romania will be promoted as a tourist destination for one month, between October 15 and November 15, on the British BBC television station. TV producer Charlie Ottley, known for his documentaries about Romania, such as “Wild Carpathia” and “Flavors of Romania” also collaborated in designing the campaign. The Ministry of Economy and Tourism points out that the purpose of the action is to increase the visibility of Romania as a tourist destination in Europe, with special focus on Great Britain. The ministry also mentions that the BBC is available in almost all countries of the world, the content being accessible in millions of hotel rooms, on planes, cruise ships and mobile devices. (LS)

  • October 22, 2020

    October 22, 2020

    COVID-19 Romania reported on Thursday new record-high figures in terms of COVID-19 infections: 4,902 cases out of over 34,000 tests conducted, and 98 deaths. More than 10,354 people are hospitalised, 778 of them in intensive care. Since the start of the epidemic in Romania, the total number of cases has reached 196,004and the death toll stands at 6,163. The Government will amend the Quarantine Act today, in an emergency order, in view of preventing hospital overcrowding. Patients with mild forms of the disease and those without symptoms are to be treated at home, unless they suffer from previous conditions, the health minister Nelu Tătaru explained. The bill has been criticised by family physicians, who say examining patients at home is out of the question because physicians would be at risk.



    ELECTIONS Today is the deadline for entering candidacies for the parliamentary elections in Romania, due on December 6. The highest-ranking parties in polls have already submitted their lists of Bucharest candidates to the Municipal Election Bureau. Also today is the last day when Romanian citizens living abroad can register for postal voting. The head of the Permanent Electoral Authority, Constantin-Florin Mituleţu-Buică, says that in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, postal voting is a safe and comfortable option, which does not require traveling, costs and risks. President Klaus Iohannis said the parliamentary election is crucial, in that it represents the only democratic option that would enable a representative parliament to manage the current healthcare crisis.



    GOVERNMENT The Government is analysing in todays Cabinet meeting a draft order allowing parents to take days off from work if they need to stay at home with their children when schools are closed. The bill also stipulates support measures for employers and employees in the context of the ongoing pandemic. PM Ludovic Orban announced that also today the Bucharest Prefect Gheorghe Cojanu would be replaced. Cojanu has been criticised, including by president Klaus Iohannis, for his response when the COVID-19 infection rate in Bucharest moved over the 3 per thousand threshold. His replacement may be Traian Berbeceanu, a former police with the Organised Crime Division and currently the chief of staff of the interior minister Marcel Vela.



    MILITARY Two Romanian troops were wounded on Wednesday night in Afghanistan, during a patrol mission. According to the Defence Ministry, they are stable, under medical supervision at the hospital within the Kandahar Air Base. The 2 are members of 191st Golden Lions Force Protection Battalion, and were deployed to Afghanistan in August, for a 6-month mission. Romanian troops have been present in Afghanistan since 2003, one year before Romania was admitted into NATO. Nearly 30 Romanian servicemen have been killed in that country.



    AFGHANISTAN The situation in Afghanistan is discussed today by the NATO defence ministers as well, alongside the threat posed by Chinas and Russias space programmes, which may jeopardise NATO satellite communications. The Alliances secretary general Jens Stoltenberg explained that NATOs baseline requirements for national resilience have already been updated, including 5G and telecommunications, cyber threats, the security of supply chains, and the consequences of foreign ownership and control. Stoltenberg also voiced concern with Turkeys decision to purchase Russian S-400 defence systems, which cannot be integrated in the NATO system.



    FOOTBALL Romanias football champions CFR Cluj are playing tonight away from home against the Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia, in their first match in the Europa League Group A. Also today, in the same group, the Swiss side Young Boys Berna takes on AS Rome. Kicked out of the Champions League qualifiers into the Europa League, CFR Cluj is the last Romanian club to be playing in this years edition of the European football cups. (translated by: A.M. Popescu)

  • September 10, 2020 UPDATE

    September 10, 2020 UPDATE

    Brexit — The European Commission has given a deadline to the UK, namely the end of the month, to withdraw the draft law bringing back into discussion the commitments made as part of the Brexit agreement. The information was made public after an emergency meeting called on Thursday in London between the British secretary Michael Gove in charge of applying the Brexit agreement and the EC vice president for inter-institutional relations Maros Sefcovic. The latter says the British government has seriously affected trust among the two sides. Under the agreement regarding Northern Ireland, this British province should observe some of the EU rules after the post-Brexit transition period, which comes to an end on December 31, 2020, so as to guarantee the absence of a physical border with the Republic of Ireland which is a member of the EU and to avoid the resurgence of tensions in this region. The UK officially left the EU on January 31, several days after the signing of a Brexit agreement which included the conditions for exiting the EU. The UK then entered a period of transition when it continued to apply the European rules. Brussels and London use the period of transition to negotiate an agreement on their future relation, especially the commercial relation, hoping that it could be enforced as of January 1, 2021. In another development, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi says there will be no trade agreement between the UK and the US if London does not observe provisions from the Brexit agreement agreed upon with Brussels, which could endanger the Northern Ireland peace agreement.



    Senate — The Romanian Senate marked on Thursday, in a solemn session, 30 years of existence after the anti-Communist revolution of December 1989. The Senate interim speaker Robert Cazanciuc says the Senate has been and continues to be a pillar of stability, a body ensuring the country’s balance and a guarantor of the Constitution. Nicolae Văcăroiu, who had the longest mandate at the helm of the Senate, has underlined that the Parliament’ upper chamber has adopted at least 20 thousand laws in 30 years. Mircea Geoană, a former Senate speaker and currently NATO Deputy Secretary General, has conveyed a message reading that the MPs pay a key role in setting the strategic line of any country. The MEP Vasile Blaga, also a former Senate speaker, has underlined that the institution is meant to serve the Romanian people and its fundamental interests.



    Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Patricia Ţig on Thursday defeated Japan’s Misaki Doi, seeded 8th, in the eighth-finals of the WTA tournament in Istanbul, which has total prizes up for grabs worth some 225,500 dollars. In the doubles, Romanian Andreea Mitu and Belarusian Lidia Morozova, winners of the Prague tournament this weekend, were defeated by top seeds Alexa Guarachi (Chile) / Desirae Krawczyk (USA). (tr. L. Simion)