UPDATE (14.12): NATO’s Resolute
Support Mission in Afghanistan on Sunday announced that three of its soldiers
were killed by
a suicide bomber in eastern Afghanistan. A US military and two Afghan soldiers
were also injured in the attack. Afghan officials announced the blast occurred
in the region of Parwan and said the suicide bomber targeted foreign forces on a
patrol mission. The attack has been claimed by the Taliban, who fight for the reintroduction
of the strict Islamic law in Afghanistan after they were removed from power in
2001.
NAVY DAY – Celebrations of the Romanian Navy Day have started in Galati, south-eastern Romania with an anniversary concert given by the band of the Romanian Naval Forces. This is the first in a series of events to be held this year, for the first time in seven cities across the country: Constanţa, Galaţi, Mangalia, Tulcea, Brăila, Bucharest and Cernavodă. Celebrations will be held in the coming days in all the countrys military ports and will culminate with a big naval show in Constanta, on August 15. All throughout this period, tens of ships and vessels, armament and military equipment will be put on show, for visitors. Navy Day is also an opportunity for the representatives of navy education institutions to make public their educational offer. The event will be held on Constantas seafront on Monday. The timetable of events marking Navy Day will be completed by military ceremonies, exhibitions, shows and scuba diving workshops.
SCORCHER– Over 1,000 fire-fighters are making sustained efforts to put out wildfires in Portugal and Spain, where temperatures exceed 46 degrees Celsius. The Iberian peninsula is under code red alert. The Portuguese region of Algarve, well known for its beautiful beaches, as of Friday has been affected by wildfires, the most powerful on the peninsula. The current wave of high temperatures favours the spreading of fire. In Spain, over 1,000 people had to flee their homes and travel destinations in Marbella, because of the high risk posed by wildfires. Other countries are also affected by scorcher. Traffic has been temporarily halted on the highway linking France and Spain, in the region of Jonquera, in the Pyrenees, after a fire which broke out on the French-Spanish border. In the Netherlands, several highway segments have been closed because of high temperatures and in France, four nuclear reactors have been halted for safety reasons. Red and orange code alerts are still valid today in several European countries, including the Swiss Alps. Three people died in Spain and another one in Italy because of heat.
SWINE FEVER – Two new African swine fever hotbeds have been confirmed in Galati county, south-eastern Romania. Meanwhile, two pig farms in Tulcea, the most affected county, have been taken out of quarantine, after the test results were negative, and the approximately 4,000 pigs there can be used for consumption. Some 60,000 animals have been slaughtered in Tulcea county alone, in an effort to contain the spread of the epidemic. Nationwide, some 550 African swine fever hotbeds have been confirmed so far, in some 100 small towns and villages in 8 counties. In south-eastern Romania, the swine fever is spreading at a very fast pace, experts from the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority have warned. African swine fever is not transmittable to humans, but it has a huge social and economic impact. The epidemic has had an explosive evolution since its outbreak, in early June.
BREXIT- British trade minister Liam Fox said intransigence from the European Union was pushing Britain towards a no-deal Brexit, in an interview published Saturday by the Sunday Times.
“With less than eight months until Britain quits the EU, the government has yet to agree a deal with Brussels and has stepped up planning for the possibility of leaving the bloc without any formal agreement, Reuters reports. “Fox, promising Brexit supporter in Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet, put the odds of Britain leaving the European Union without agreeing to deal over their future relationship at 60-40. If Britain fails to agree on the terms of its divorce with the EU, it will return to trade under the World Trade Organization rules in March 2019 without even a transitional arrangement. Most economists think this would cause serious harm to the world’s No.5 economy, as trade with the EU, Britain’s largest market, would become subject to
tariffs, Reuters also reports.
ELLIE WIESEL – The Romanian Foreign Ministry
expresses regret and firmly condemns any anti-Semitic gestures, after the Memorial
House of the late Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel,
was vandalised. Also, the Romanian Foreign Ministry condemns any behavioural
slippage and discourse which promotes intolerance and xenophobia. The Romanian
Police has started an investigation, after anti-Semitic comments in pink paint
were scrawled on the facade of the Elie Wiesel Memorial House in Sighetu
Marmaţiei, on Friday to Saturday night. In 2016, the Romanian born American writer
and philosopher Elie Wiesel received the distinction of Honorary Citizen (post
– mortem) of Maramureş County.
UNTOLD – The largest electronic music festival in Romania, “Untold, hosted by the western Romanian city of Cluj Napoca is coming to a close. Performing on the 10 stages of the festival have been over 250 musicians and performs. The main stage has been two times larger than last year, by over 80 m wider and 31 m higher. The guests of the Untold festival included The Chainsmokers, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Tujamo şi Afrojack. For the first time, concerts were broadcast live on YouTube. According to the organisers, hundreds of thousands of spectators from both the country and abroad have come to Cluj, for this years edition of the festival. Over 1,100 gendarmes, policemen, fire-fighters and medical staff have ensured order, public and health safety measures.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzărnescu (no.24 WTA) is today facing Greeces Maria Sakkari (no.49 WTA), in the finals of the San Jose tennis tournament in California, with some 800,000 USD in prize money up for grabs. On Saturday in the semi-finals, Sakkari defeated American Danielle Collins (no.42 WTA), whereas Mihaela outperformed Belgiums Elise Mertens (no.15 WTA). In the doubles, Buzărnescu and British Heather Watson were defeated in the semi-finals by the Ukrainian twins Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok.
