Radio România Internațional

Tag: heat wave

  • 1 July, 2017

    1 July, 2017

    Heat wave. Temperatures will
    soar today in Bucharest, which has been affected by a heat wave, to reach 42-44
    degrees Celsius. Temperatures will be even higher in other areas. A red code
    alert for extreme heat was issued on Saturday morning in 19 counties in the
    south and east of the country and in the capital Bucharest. The alert is in
    place until Saturday evening. The level of thermal discomfort is very high,
    while the temperature/humidity ratio is much above normal levels. The
    authorities have taken measures to alleviate the effects of the heat, such as
    providing first-aid services and water. Heavy-duty vehicles are banned from
    public roads affected by the heat wave and trains are running at low speed. The
    weather will become unstable in the evening, especially in the north, centre,
    north-east and in the mountains and storms, torrential rain, hail and
    thunderstorms are expected.




    Public sector salaries. The public sector pay
    law came into force on the 1st of July, after being signed by
    president Klaus Iohannis this week. The law will, however, be applied starting
    next year. It provides for a gradual increase in public sector salaries within
    the next five years, by more than 50% on average. The pension index also went
    up by 9% on 1st of July. At the same time, however, the price of
    electricity for domestic users went up by 8%, according to the liberalisation
    timetable. A full liberalisation is expected on 1st of January 2018,
    when the electricity price will be established by the stock market.




    Government. Mihai
    Tudose’s cabinet formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of
    Liberals and Democrats on Friday discussed a first reading of a bill on the
    creation of the Sovereign Development and Investment Fund. The purpose of the
    new body, whose sole stake-holder will be the Romanian state, is to finance
    profit-making investments in various economic sectors. According to prime
    minister Tudose, the creation of the Fund is in agreement with the European
    institutions, while the bill may reach Parliament in September. The approximate
    value of the Fund is 10 billion euros. Similar sovereign funds already exist in
    Norway, France, Italy and Poland.




    Defence. The
    Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has called a meeting of the Country’s Supreme
    Defence Council on Tuesday to discuss the army’s equipping plan for the
    2016-2026 period. This year, Romania has allocated 2% of its GDP to defence
    spending. The meeting on Tuesday will also look at the activity of the Romanian
    Intelligence Service in 2016. According to the president’s office, the
    Country’s Supreme Defence Council will also discuss about the number of troops
    that may be made available by Romania for international missions and operations
    in 2018.




    Festival. In July, Bucharest is playing host to the
    International Street Theatre Festival, which brings together hundreds of
    participants from Romania, France, Columbia, Italy, Germany, Holland, Austria
    and Spain. Every week-end from Friday to Sunday, the streets of Bucharest will
    host performances on stilts, magic shows, street dance performances and living
    statues. Acrobatics, light shows, juggling with torches and tango and cabaret
    performances will be held in the evening.




    Olympiad. Romania won two
    gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze at the third edition of the Balkan Geography
    Olympiad held between the 25th and the 30th of June in
    Ruse, Slovenia. According to the education ministry in Bucharest, these results
    put Romania in the first place in the nations’ standings. School children from
    five different countries took part in this year’s Olympiad.




    Wimbledon tennis. World
    no. 2 Simona Halep of Romania will play Marina Erakovic of New Zealand on
    Monday in the first round at Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam tournament of the
    year. Last year, Halep reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and was a
    semifinalist in 2014. Also in the first round of the women’s draw, Romania’s
    Monica Niculescu, world no. 51, will face Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova;
    Sorana Cirstea, world no. 62, plays Dutch player Kiki Bartens; while Irina
    Begu, world no. 69, faces the British player Naomi Broady. Ana Bogdan, world
    no. 114, who makes her Grand Slam debut, will face the Chinese player Ying-Ying
    Duan. In the men’s draw, Romania’s Marius Copil, world no. 85, will face the
    German player Peter Gojowczyk in the first round.

  • 14 July, 2016 UPDATE

    14 July, 2016 UPDATE

    Romanian prime
    minister Dacian Ciolos met the members of the Vietnam-Romania Friendship
    Association in Hanoi, calling on them to support efforts by the authorities in
    Bucharest to boost economic and cultural cooperation between the two countries.
    He said the two countries meet the conditions for enhanced cooperation,
    recalling that thousands of Vietnamese nationals have studied in Romania and
    have formed a connection with this country. Earlier, the prime minister met
    Vietnam’s president Tran Dai Quang and prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to
    discuss cooperation in areas such as energy, industry, agriculture, banking,
    infrastructure, IT, science and technology, sustainable development and
    tourism. From Hanoi, Dacian Ciolos has left for the Mongolian capital Ulan
    Bator to attend the Europe-Asia summit.




    Romania stands by France in its efforts to manage complex
    challenges such as terrorism and climate change, given that Paris is an essential
    ally of Bucharest in the European Union and NATO, Romania’s president Klaus
    Iohannis said on Thursday at the reception given by the French embassy to
    celebrate the French National Day. Iohannis also said that the two countries
    wish to overcome together the current challenges and rebuild a European project
    for the future. The French ambassador in Bucharest Francois Saint Paul said
    Romania would continue to enjoy France’s support and expressed his attachment
    for Romania. He spoke about solidarity within the European Union and the good
    relationship between Paris and Bucharest, which will be reconfirmed in
    September, when president Francois Hollande travels for the first time to
    Romania.






    Romania’s newly appointed minister in charge of relations with the
    Romanians abroad, Maria Ligor, on Thursday started a two-day visit to the UK
    for talks with British officials and members of the Romanian community. Ligor,
    who took office last week, will discuss the impact of Britain’s leaving the
    European Union on Romanians working in the UK and the involvement of the
    Romanian authorities to protect their interests. On Wednesday, before
    officially tendering his resignation to Queen Elisabeth II, David Cameron said
    Britain would continue to observe the rights of EU citizens living in Britain.
    He is replaced by his Conservative party colleague Theresa May, who has
    appointed former London mayor Boris Johnson, a staunch pro-Brexit advocate, to
    head the Foreign Office.




    Protests continue in 12 of Romania’s 45
    prisons. Inmates are angry at overcrowding and poor healthcare services. They
    also want the opportunity for vocational training, shorter jail terms and the
    possibility of parole. Justice minister Raluca Pruna said the escalation of
    conflict in state prisons was of use to no one and promised the government
    would look into the prisoners’ demands. Deputy prime minister Vasile Dancu said
    the tense situation in Romanian prisons can be solved through dialogue and
    negotiation, but that a public debate should be held to convince society of the
    need for more investment in the system.






    The Romanian tennis player Marius Copil, no.
    163 in the world, on Friday plays the Spanish player Feliciano Lopez, no. 20 in
    the world, in the first Davis Cup match between Romania and Spain as part of
    the Europe/Africa Group I, held between the 15th and the 17th
    of July in Cluj Napoca. Also on Friday, Adrian Ungur, world no. 185, faces
    world no. 15 Roberto Bautista. On Saturday, the pair Horia Tecau and Florin
    Mergea face the pair Marc Lopez and Pablo Carreno, while on Sunday, Marius
    Copil plays Roberto Bautista and Adrian Ungur plays Feliciano Lopez. The winner
    advances to the World Group play-offs, while the runner-up continues in Group
    I. In the BRD Bucharest Open, Romania’s Patricia Tig lost on Thursday to
    Latvia’s Anastasia Sevastova in two
    sets. The only Romanian player still in competition is first seed Simona Halep
    who plays Bulgarian player Isabella Shinikova for a place in the quarterfinals.
    The BRD Bucharest Open is worth 250,000 euros in prize money.




    A heatwave will envelop the south and south-east of
    Romania in the next 24 hours, with the temperature and humidity index poised to
    exceed 80. A new yellow code alert for heat is in place for Friday and Saturday
    in 13 counties in south-eastern Romania, including the capital Bucharest. In
    the rest of the country, the weather will be unstable, with torrential rain,
    hail storms and strong winds being expected. The highs will reach 37 degrees
    Celsius. (Translated by: C. Cotoiu and C. Mateescu)



  • Disastrous Floods in Romania

    Disastrous Floods in Romania

    For more than two weeks now, Romania has been facing extreme weather phenomena: heavy rainfalls, floods, thunderstorms, flash floods, hailstorms and extreme heat. The bad weather caused substantial material damages and even left behind casualties.



    The loss of human lives in the wake of these extreme weather conditions is regrettable, PM Dacian Ciolos said on Tuesday during a conference call with the prefects around the country. He asked the local authorities to come up with an assessment of the damages, so as to be able to assist the victims, as well as with forecasts for the coming period, in order for adequate measures to be taken and future damages to be avoided. As the head of government put it, “such extreme weather phenomena, with a major impact on some towns and villages, have occurred for several weeks now in various parts of the country, and we requested an analysis of the current situation where damages have been reported and the forecasts for the ensuing period.



    The most recent episode was reported late last week, when 12 counties in the north, north-west, centre and south-west of the country were subject to a code-yellow alert for heavy rainfalls and thunderstorms. Also, in 11 counties in the east, west and south-west a code-orange flood warning was in place.



    According to a report issued by the Interior Ministry, around 2,000 police, gendarme and fire-fighters worked over the past few days to assist the people in the regions affected by these problems. The strong wind destroyed the roofs of hundreds of houses and left tens of villages without electricity. In other areas, hundreds of households, streets and roads were flooded. In the north-eastern county of Suceava tens of tourists found themselves stranded in guesthouses after a flash flood. The intervention of military fire-fighters was necessary in order to rescue them and the locals. In yet other parts of the country, hailstorms destroyed the roofs of hundreds of homes and thousands of hectares of farm land. In the Jiu Valley area in the south-west, hailstones the size of chicken eggs caused substantial damage.



    Meanwhile, whereas the northern and western part of the country struggles with thunderstorms, downpours and floods, the centre, south and east of Romania is facing extreme heat and severe thermal discomfort.