Radio România Internațional

Tag: hiroshima

August 6, 2020 UPDATE

Education. In Romania
the new pre-university school year will start as usual, on September 14. Three
different options are being considered for how to hold classes, depending on
the rate of infection in each area. According to prime minister Ludovic Orban,
the procedures for the reopening of schools will be finalised within the next
ten days. President Klaus Iohannis says the decision about the partial or total
closing of schools is to be taken by the local authorities, but that most
children will be physically present in classrooms. Education Minister Monica
Anisie says pupils will have to wear face masks in school.

Coronavirus. Almost
58,000 coronavirus infections have been confirmed in Romania since the start of
the outbreak five months ago. Almost 29,000 people have recovered and 2,566
have died. 458 are in intensive care. The authorities have again called on the
population to observe the prevention measures in place and only seek
information from official sources. Countries like Cyprus, Finland and Lithuania
have imposed new restrictions on arrivals from Romania over the surge in the
number of cases in this country. Italy, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Estonia and
Latvia have ordered travellers from Romania to self-isolate for 14 days.

Pandemic world. Global
coronavirus cases pass 19 million, including around 713,000 deaths. The World Health
Organisation officials on Wednesday urged young people to change their behaviour
and observe the precaution measures so as to prevent the further spread of the
virus, given the rising number of infections among young people. Amid a new
surge in the number of cases, countries are imposing more restrictions. On
Thursday, the German health minister Jens Spahn said travellers from high-risk
countries would be tested on arrival starting on Saturday. In Brussels, the
regional government said it may make face masks compulsory in both public
spaces and private spaces accessed by the public if cases continue to rise. The
British government said the UK would quarantine all arrivals from Belgium.

Explosion. Romania’s Embassy in Beirut has received no
information about there being any Romanian citizens among the victims of Tuesday’s
explosion in the Lebanese capital and the Romanian diplomatic mission has
received no request for assistance. The building housing Romania’s Embassy in
Beirut has suffered minor damages and its entire staff is out of danger. 137
people were killed in the explosion, over 5,000 were injured and dozens are
missing. 300,000 people lost their homes. The Lebanese authorities said the
blast was caused by the detonation of more than 2,700 tonnes of ammonium
nitrate, a substance used both in fertilisers for agriculture and in
explosives. At least 21 French citizens are among the dead. President Emmanuel
Macron, who arrived on Thursday in Beirut with a message of support for the
Lebanese people, was hailed as a saviour by the crowds. Macron urged the
Lebanese politicians to initiate the necessary reforms to take the country out
of the unprecedented economic crisis it is going through.

Hiroshima. Hiroshima
marked on Thursday the 75th commemoration of the world’s first
atomic bombing. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres paid tribute to the
victims in a video message and called on all nations to renew efforts to
abolish nuclear weapons. Seventy-five years ago, a single nuclear weapon
visited unspeakable death and destruction upon this city. The effects linger to
this day, he said in his message. On August 6, 1945, a US
bomber dropped the uranium bomb above the city, killing around 140,000 people.
Three days later on August 9, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki,
killing thousands more and forcing Japan to surrender during the Second World
War. It was the last nuclear bomb used in armed conflict.

6 August 2020
06.08.2020 (mise à jour)

Coronavirus — Près de 58.000 cas de contamination par le nouveau coronavirus ont jusqu’ici été recensés en Roumanie. Environ 29.000 personnes ont été déclarées guéries. Selon le Groupe de communication stratégique, le bilan des morts au bout de près de cinq mois de crise sanitaire s’élève à 2.566. 458 malades sont en soins intensifs. Les autorités exhortent la population à respecter les mesures de prévention et à s’informer uniquement auprès de sources officielles. Certains pays, tels Chypre, la Finlande et la Lituanie imposent aux Roumains des restrictions ou des conditions supplémentaires d’entrée sur leur territoire, en raison de la hausse du nombre de cas d’infection en Roumanie. D’autres Etats, comme l’Italie, le Royaume-Uni, l’Irlande, la Norvège, l’Estonie ou la Lettonie obligent les touristes roumains à une période d’isolement de 14 jours.

Education — La nouvelle année scolaire débutera le 14 septembre en Roumanie et l’organisation des cours se fera suivant trois scénarios différents. Chaque localité suivra un des scénarios — vert, jaune ou rouge — en fonction du nombre de contaminations au Sars-Cov-2 pour le millier d’habitants, nombre qui sera constamment mis à jour. Selon le premier ministre Ludovic Orban, les procédures liées à l’organisation de la nouvelle rentrée scolaire seront finalisées dans 10 jours tout au plus. Le président Klaus Iohannis a déclaré que la décision de fermer totalement ou partiellement un établissement scolaire serait prise au niveau local, mais avec une volonté affichée de compter sur la présence massive des enfants dans les salles de classe. La ministre de l’Education Monica Anisie a ajouté, à son tour, que le port du masque sera obligatoire pour les élèves.

Aéroport – La Commission européenne a constaté que le financement public de près de 4.800.000 lei, soit environ 1 million d’euros, accordé à l’aéroport de Timişoara (dans l’ouest de la Roumanie), est en accord avec la réglementation européenne sur les aides d’Etat. Selon un communiqué de l’Exécutif communautaire, cette mesure est censée combler les pertes subies par l’aéroport à cause de la pandémie de coronavirus et le financement prévu ne dépasse pas la somme nécessaire pour compenser le préjudice.

Liban — L’Ambassade de Roumanie au Liban n’a pas été informée par les autorités de Beyrouth de l’existence de ressortissants roumains affectés par l’énorme double explosion qui a eu lieu mardi dans le port de la capitale libanaise. La mission diplomatique roumaine n’a pas, non plus, reçu de demande d’assistance consulaire. Les locaux de lambassade roumaine ont subi des dégâts mineurs et le personnel est hors de danger. Selon le bilan le plus récent, on compte au moins 137 victimes, environ 5.000 personnes blessées et des dizaines de disparus. En plus, 300.000 habitants de la capitale sont en ce moment à la rue, les déflagrations ayant détruits leurs logements.

Hiroshima — Une cérémonie a eu lieu jeudi à Hiroshima, au Japon, pour marquer les 75 ans écoulés depuis les bombardements atomiques américains sur la ville. Au moins 140.000 personnes sont alors décédées, la plupart instantanément. « Ce mois-ci marque le 75e anniversaire des bombardements atomiques dHiroshima et de Nagasaki, des épisodes qui ont fait prendre conscience à lhumanité des effets dévastateurs que pouvait avoir une seule bombe nucléaire. Les longues souffrances endurées par les survivants (hibakusha) sont un rappel constant de la nécessité déliminer toutes les armes nucléaires », a déclaré le secrétaire général des Nations unies Antonio Guterres dans un message vidéo diffusé aujourd’hui. Le 6 août 1945 les Etats-Unis lançaient la première bombe atomique sur Hiroshima pour en larguer une autre, trois jours plus tard, sur la ville de Nagasaki, toujours dans l’archipel nippon, qui faisait à son tour quelque 74.000 victimes. C’est pour la première et seule fois dans l’histoire de l’humanité que la bombe atomique ait été utilisée dans un conflit armé.

Météo — Les météorologues ont émis un avis de canicule valable jusqu’à samedi et qui concerne le sud et l’est de la Roumanie, où les températures maximales seront comprises iront jusqu’à 34° – 37°. Vendredi et samedi, le taux d’humidité dans l’air dépassera le seuil critique des 80 unités. Vendredi après – midi, des pluies orageuses sont à attendre, notamment dans le sud-ouest et le sud du territoire et localement en haute montagne.

6 August 2020
Nachrichten 06.08.2020

Die Zahl der Coronavirus-Infektionen ist in Rumänien auf 57.895 gestiegen, wobei am Donnerstag 1.345 neue Fälle gemeldet wurden. Mehr als 28.900 Menschen haben sich von der Krankheit erholt und 2.566 sind daran gestorben. 458 Menschen befinden sich zurzeit auf der Intensivstation. Die Behörden haben die Bevölkerung erneut aufgefordert, die bestehenden Präventionsmaßnahmen zu respektieren. In der Zwischenzeit haben Länder wie Zypern, Finnland und Litauen wegen der ansteigenden Fallzahlen in Rumänien neue Beschränkungen für Einreisende aus Rumänien eingeführt. In Italien, dem Vereinigten Königreich, Irland, Norwegen, Estland und Lettland müssen Reisende aus Rumänien in eine 14-tägige Isolation gehen. Weltweit überstiegen die Infektionen 18,9 Millionen Menschen, etwa 12 Million Menschen haben sich von der Krankheit erholt, während die Zahl der Todesfälle bei mehr als 711.000 liegt.

Das neue voruniversitäre Schuljahr beginnt in Rumänien traditionsgemäß am 14. September, und der Unterricht wird auf der Grundlage von drei Szenarien organisiert, die ständig aktualisiert werden, abhängig von der Anzahl der Covid-19-Infektionen pro tausend Einwohner. Präsident Klaus Iohannis sagte, dass die Entscheidung über eine mögliche vollständige oder teilweise Schließung von Schulen von den lokalen Behörden getroffen wird, aber die meisten Kinder werden in den Klassenzimmern anwesend sein. Die Bildungsministerin Monica Anisie sagte ihrerseits, dass die Schüler während des Unterrichts Schutzmasken tragen müssen.

Die libanesischen Behörden haben die rumänische Botschaft in Beirut bisher nicht darüber informiert, ob sich unter den von der gewaltigen Explosion am Dienstag betroffenen Personen auch rumänische Staatsbürger befinden. Bei der rumänischen diplomatischen Vertretung sind keine konsularischen Hilfsersuchen eingegangen. Das Gebäude der rumänischen Botschaft wurde leicht beschädigt, und das gesamte Personal der diplomatischen Vertretung ist außer Gefahr. Der französische Architekt Jean-Marc Bonfils, der vor allem für die Restaurierung von kriegszerstörten Gebäuden bekannt ist, gehört zu den Opfern der Verwüstungen, die in der Hauptstadt des Libanon, der ehemaligen französischen Kolonie, angerichtet wurden. Nach der letzten offiziellen Bilanz sind mindestens 137 Menschen gestorben, mehr als 5.000 wurden verletzt und Dutzende als vermisst gemeldet. Durch die Explosionen wurden 300.000 Menschen obdachlos. Unter den Getöteten wurden nach Angaben der Pariser Staatsanwaltschaft, die eine Untersuchung eingeleitet hat, mindestens 21 französische Staatsbürger identifiziert. Die libanesischen Behörden gaben an, die Explosion sei durch die Explosion von 2.750 Tonnen Ammoniumnitrat verursacht worden, einer Substanz, die sowohl in Düngemitteln als auch in Sprengstoffen verwendet wird. Ihre Kraft war so groß, dass sie hunderte von Kilometern entfernt, bis nach Zypern, zu spüren war.

In der japanischen Stadt Hiroshima hat am Donnerstag eine – wegen des neuen Coronavirus begrenzte – Zeremonie anlässlich des 75. Jahrestages des ersten Atomangriffs der Welt stattgefunden. Bei der Explosion der Atombombe in Hiroshima am 6. August 1945 waren mindestens140.000 Menschen gestorben, die meisten davon auf der Stelle. Vor 75 Jahren hat eine einzige Atomwaffe in dieser Stadt beispiellose Zerstörung und Tod verursacht, und ihre Auswirkungen sind noch heute spürbar, sagte UN-Generalsekretär Antonio Guterres. Am 6. August 1945 warfen die Vereinigten Staaten eine Atombombe auf die Stadt Hiroshima und drei Tage später eine weitere auf Nagasaki ab. Es war das einzige Mal in der Geschichte, dass Atomwaffen in einem Konflikt eingesetzt wurden.

6 August 2020
06.08.2020

Education – La nouvelle année scolaire débutera le 14 septembre en Roumanie, en
suivant la tradition d’une rentrée à la mi-septembre, et l’organisation des
cours se fera suivant trois scénarios différents. Chaque commune suivra un des scénarios
– vert, jaune ou rouge – en fonction du nombre de contaminations au Sars-Cov-2
pour le millier d’habitants, nombre qui sera constamment mis à jour. Selon une
déclaration d’hier du président Klaus Iohannis, la décision de fermer totalement
ou partiellement un établissement scolaire sera prise au niveau local, mais avec
une volonté affichée de compter sur la présence massive des enfants dans les
salles de classe. La ministre de l’Education Monica Anisie a ajouté, à son
tour, que le port du masque sera obligatoire pour les élèves. Davantage de
détails après les infos.

Coronavirus – 1.345 nouveaux cas d’infection au Sars-Cov-2 enregistrés en
Roumanie ces dernières 24 heures, un taux de contamination qui reste parmi les
plus élevés d’Europe. De fait, les restrictions de circulation pour les
ressortissants roumains sont toujours en vigueur sur le continent. Chypre, la
Finlande et la Lituanie imposent aux Roumains des restrictions ou des
conditions supplémentaires d’entrée sur leur territoire. La Suisse a annoncé de
nouvelles conditions d’entrée pour les Roumains, valables à partir du 8 août.
Elles s’appliquent aussi dans le cas du Liechtenstein. Tous les voyageurs en
provenance de la Roumanie seront placés en quarantaine pendant 10 jours.
L’Italie, le Royaume-Uni, l’Irlande, la Norvège, l’Estonie ou la Lettonie
obligent les touristes roumains à une période d’isolement de 14 jours. Pour revenir aux chiffres, 57.895 personnes ont
été testées positives en Roumanie depuis le début de la pandémie et 28.900 ont guéri jusqu’à
présent. 458 patients sont en soins intensifs en ce moment et 2.566 personnes
sont décédées des suites de l’infection.

Liban – L’Ambassade de Roumanie au Liban n’a pas été informée par les
autorités de Beyrouth de l’existence de ressortissants roumains affectés par l’énorme
double explosion qui a eu lieu mardi dans le port de la capitale libanaise. La
mission diplomatique roumaine du pays n’a pas, non plus, reçu de demande d’assistance
consulaire. Les locaux de l’ambassade roumaine ont subi de dégâts mineurs et le
personnel est hors de danger. Selon le bilan le plus récent, on compte au moins
137 victimes, environ 5.000 personnes blessées et des dizaines de disparus. En
plus, 300.000 habitants de la capitale sont en ce moment à la rue, les déflagrations
ayant détruits leurs logements.

Hiroshima – Une cérémonie a eu lieu aujourd’hui à Hiroshima, au Japon, pour
marquer les 75 ans écoulés depuis les bombardements atomiques américains sur la
ville. Au moins 140.000 personnes sont alors décédées, la plupart instantanément.
« Ce mois-ci marque le 75e anniversaire des bombardements atomiques
d’Hiroshima et de Nagasaki, des épisodes qui ont fait prendre conscience à
l’humanité des effets dévastateurs que pouvait avoir une seule bombe nucléaire.
Les longues souffrances endurées par les survivants (hibakusha) sont un rappel
constant de la nécessité d’éliminer toutes les armes nucléaires », a déclaré
le secrétaire général des Nations unies Antonio Guterres dans un message vidéo
diffusé aujourd’hui. Le 6 août 1945, les Etats-Unis lançaient la bombe
atomique sur Hiroshima pour larguer une autre bombe nucléaire, trois jours plus
tard, sur la ville de Nagasaki, toujours dans l’archipel nippon, qui faisait à
son tour quelque 74.000 victimes. C’est pour la première et seule fois dans l’histoire
de l’humanité que la bombe atomique a été utilisée dans un conflit armée.

Tennis – La paire formée par la joueuse roumaine de tennis Laura Paar et l’Allemande
Julia Wachaczyk s’est inclinée devant le couple espagnol Georgina Garcia
Perez/Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-5, 6-2, mercredi, dans le premier round du double du
tournoi WTA de Palerme, en Italie. De même pour la Roumaine Raluca Olaru et l’Ukrainienne
Daiana Iastremska, vaincues par Arantxa Rus (Pays-Bas) et Tamara Zidansek (Slovénie),
7-5, 4-6, 10-8. A Palerme, toutes les joueuses roumaines ont quitté la
compétition principale, simple et double, dès le premier tour. Le Tournoi de
tennis de Palerme marque la reprise du circuit WTA, interrompu en mars en
raison de la pandémie de Covid-19.

Météo – Beau temps aujourd’hui en Roumanie, avec des températures élevées, voire
de la canicule dans le sud et le sud-est du pays. Une légère brise est
ressentie sur la moitié sud du territoire et en montagne. Les maximas de la
journée vont de 29 à 35 degrés, avec 31° à midi à Bucarest.

6 August 2020
April 11, 2016 UPDATE

NATIONAL SECURITY LAWS – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, will hold consultations, on Tuesday and Wednesday, with leaders of the parliamentary parties on the national security laws. The Romanian President has recently said the legislation in the field should be improved, and some provisions even replaced, because they are no longer suitable in the current security context, neither at national, nor at global level. Klaus Iohannis has said the citizens rights and freedoms should be taken into consideration when drafting the new legislation. In turn, justice minister Raluca Pruna has announced that on Tuesday the Government will start debating the national security laws.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM – Romanias technocratic prime minister, Dacian Ciolos, said the country cant be modernised and an efficient fight against corruption is impossible without a reform of the central and local public administration. He also said Romania needs an efficient administration, which should function in a transparent way. Ciolos made the statements during a debate, entitled “The Prime Ministers Hour. He has announced that, after the local elections due in June, the Cabinet will introduce a set of legislative changes aimed at reforming the public administration sector, clarifying, among other things, the role of civil servants at local and central levels and the civil service recruitment criteria. In turn, the deputy PM and Minister for Regional Development Vasile Dîncu has said the mayors who win the June local elections may attend training programmes to improve their performance.

LOCAL ELECTIONS – Romanian political parties, alliances, citizen organisations set up by ethnic minorities and independent runners may submit their candidacies for local and county councils and mayor seats, until April 26. As many as 126 parties, alliances and unions have registered their names and election symbols for the June 5 local election with the Central Election Bureau. The campaign for the local elections begins on May 6 and ends on June 4.

BRANCUSI – The Romanian Culture Minister, Vlad Alexandrescu, on Monday announced the official opening of a public subscription for the purchase of sculptor Constantin Brancusis work “Wisdom of the Earth. He mentioned he was the first to have donated money in this campaign. The owners have recently accepted the 11 million euro bid by the negotiating committee appointed by the Government of Romania. Of the total amount, the Government has announced it will contribute 5 million euro, and the balance is to be covered by public subscription. This is not common practice in Romania, and the decision has generated differences of opinions. Dating back to 1907, Wisdom of the Earth, just like works such as The Kiss and The Prayer, was created when Constantin Brancusi was at the height of his creative powers.

ECONOMY – The annual inflation rate in Romania stood at minus 3% in March, further down from the negative 2.7% in February, according to data made public by the National Statistics Institute (INS). The National Bank of Romania in February updated the inflation forecast for the year to 1.4%, up 0.3% since the previous forecast. The National Forecast Commission, in its winter forecast, maintained the expected year-end figure at 1.8% and the forecast for 2017 at 2.5%.

COAL-MINING SECTOR – Miners and power industry workers with the Oltenia Energy Complex in south-western Romania started a rally to protest the lay-off of hundreds of complex employees. They will travel over 300 km to Bucharest, to hand a list of demands to the Government members. Among other things, the unionists demand that a plan be urgently put in place to enhance the efficiency of production units and that salary schemes should be based on performance criteria. In mid-March, the management of the complex decided to reduce or suspend certain operations in all its subsidiaries, both in the power sector and in the coal-mining sector, which will entail massive redundancies. Last year the company reported losses of over 200 million euros, 30% more than in 2014.

HIROSHIMA – The foreign ministers of the G7 countries on Monday called in Hiroshima, Japan, for a world without nuclear weapons. At the end of last week the US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the memorial to the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. On August 6, 1945, the city was devastated by an American atomic bomb, which left 140,000 people dead. On the other hand, the G7 foreign ministers pleaded for strengthening the fight against the IS terror group. The meeting in Hiroshima of the G7 diplomacy chiefs comes in preparation for the meeting of the G7 heads of state, scheduled to take place at the end of May in Japan.

(Translated by Ana-Maria Popescu and Diana Vijeu)

11 April 2016
April 11, 2016

PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION – The Romanian Culture Minister, Vlad Alexandrescu, announced today the official opening of a public subscription for the purchase of sculptor Constantin Brancusis work “Wisdom of the Earth. He mentioned he was the first to have donated money in this campaign. The owners have recently accepted the 11 million euro bid by the negotiating committee appointed by the Government of Romania. Of the total amount, the Government has announced it will contribute 5 million euro, and the balance is to be covered by public subscription. This is not common practice in Romania, and the decision has generated differences of opinions. Dating back to 1907, Wisdom of the Earth, just like works such as The Kiss and The Prayer, was created when Constantin Brancusi was at the height of his creative powers.

INFLATION – The annual inflation rate in Romania stood at minus 3% in March, further down from the negative 2.7% in February, according to data made public today by the National Statistics Institute (INS). The National Bank of Romania in February updated the inflation forecast for the year to 1.4%, up 0.3% since the previous forecast. The National Forecast Commission, in its winter forecast, maintained the expected year-end figure at 1.8% and the forecast for 2017 at 2.5%.

LEGISLATION – PM Dacian Cioloş is presenting in Parliament today aspects related to the reform of public administration. He has announced that, after the local elections due in June, the Cabinet will introduce a set of legislative changes aimed at reforming the public administration sector, clarifying, among other things, the role of civil servants at local and central levels and the civil service recruitment criteria. Dacian Cioloş has also explained that the goal is to regain the confidence of the public that civil servants work for the best interests of citizens. In turn, the deputy PM and Minister for Regional Development Vasile Dîncu has said the mayors who win the June local elections may attend training programmes to improve their performance.

ELECTIONS – Romanian political parties, alliances, citizen organisations set up by ethnic minorities and independent runners may submit their candidacies for local and county councils and mayor seats, until April 26. As many as 126 parties, alliances and unions have registered their names and election symbols for the June 5 local election with the Central Election Bureau. The campaign for the local elections begins on May 6 and ends on June 4.

PROTEST – Miners and power industry workers with the Oltenia Energy Complex in south-western Romania have today started a rally to protest the layoff of hundreds of complex employees. They will travel over 300 km to Bucharest, to hand a list of demands to the Government members. Among other things, the unionists demand that a plan be urgently put in place to enhance the efficiency of production units and that salary schemes should be based on performance criteria. In mid-March, the management of the complex decided to reduce or suspend certain operations in all its subsidiaries, both in the power sector and in the coal mining sector, which will entail massive redundancies. Last year the company reported losses of over 200 million euros, 30% more than in 2014.

HIROSHIMA – The foreign ministers of the G7 countries today called in Hiroshima, Japan, for a world without nuclear weapons. At the end of last week the US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the memorial to the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. On August 6, 1945, the city was devastated by an American atomic bomb which left 140,000 people dead. On the other hand, the G7 foreign ministers pleaded for strengthening the fight against the IS terror group. The meeting in Hiroshima of the G7 diplomacy chiefs comes in preparation for the meeting of the G7 heads of state, scheduled to take place at the end of May in Japan.

11 April 2016
April 10, 2016

The chief prosecutor of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate in Romania, Laura Codruta Kovesi, says that from the perspective of the institution she runs, legislative amendments have to be made so as to prevent the people who received definitive sentences for corruption from remaining in office. In a talk show aired Sunday on a private television station, Kovesi underlined that one vulnerability of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate is the legislative framework that represents a real challenge. She explained that they are faced with the risk of certain legislative tools used by the DNA being amended overnight, of certain competences of the magistrates and prosecutors being changed. Another vulnerability mentioned by Ms Kovesi is the big number of files currently under investigation, a situation that could be partially improved by changing the legislation, in the sense of extending the applicability area of the guilty plea. Kovesi pointed out that, when there is solid evidence related to a certain crime, the anti-corruption prosecutors can decide on the confiscation of any assets or sums of money, even if these are located or placed outside Romania.

The Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will hold talks on Monday with the PM Dacian Ciolos on the issue of legislation on national security. The president will approach the same topic during the talks scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday with the parliamentary parties. Klaus Iohannis has recently said that the line legislation has to be modernized and improved and certain provisions should be replaced, as they no longer meet the current security context at global and national levels. Klaus Iohannis underlined that in drafting this legislation the authorities should take into account the citizens’ need for security and safety as well as their rights and freedoms.

The target of the Jihadist cell based in Brussels was to hit France once again, but they eventually took a last minute decision to launch attacks in the Belgian capital, the Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office reported on Sunday, thus confirming information in the mass media. Also on Sunday the Belgian authorities indicted Mohamed Abrini, a Belgian of Moroccan origin, for the March 22 terrorist attacks in Brussels. According to prosecutors he confessed he was the man with a hat searched after the March 22 explosions at the airport in Brussels. After almost 3 weeks of searches, the investigators arrested another man who allegedly participated in the attack on the Brussels subway. Abrini had already been indicted for perpetrating the terrorist attacks in Paris of November 2015.

John Kerry is the first acting American secretary of state to visit the Japanese city of Hiroshima, that was destroyed by an American atomic bomb during WWII in 1945. More than 130 thousand people died in Hiroshima after the launch of the bomb. John Kerry is also participating in the G7 summit hosted by Hiroshima. The foreign ministers of the G7 countries will talk, among other things, about measures to fight terrorism, maritime security issues and the situation in North Korea and the Middle East.

As many as 1,000 mayors from Romania and the Republic of Moldova participated on Sunday, for the first time, in a Joint Conference of the Local Communities Representatives hosted by Bucharest. The event saw the drafting of 450 twinning and partnership agreements between the Moldovan and Romanian local authorities. The agreements set the common actions for development in such fields as the economy, education, culture, sports and local public administration.

(news translated by Lacramioara Simion)

10 April 2016
Acum 70 de ani – primul război atomic

Al doilea război mondial se încheiase, practic, dar nimeni nu îşi închipuise că, rămaşi singuri, japonezii vor continua lupta. În Europa se discuta deja despre cum va arăta continentul după uriaşa nebunie a războiului. Americanii se implicau şi ei în viitorul păcii europene dar continuau lupta în Pacific. Acolo se derula o dramă aproape tăcută, se murea pentru o cauză pierdută. Pentru europeni era cel mult un fapt divers dar americanii şi sovieticii era foarte interesaţi de ecuaţia de securitate din această zonă unde hegemonia japoneză se prăbuşea. Cu toţii ştiau că se pun bazele unei formule ce va dăinui pentru multă vreme.

Războiul din Pacific era al americanilor, deşi implicarea în luptele din Europa şi chiar Africa de Nord a fost masivă. Pacificul era o problemă internă, acolo, la Pearl Harbour, începuse epopeea americană, insulele oceanului numit doar paşnic erau pline de faptele de eroism şi de amintirea soldaţilor americani. În Europa, războiul se terminase de trei luni iar în Pacific, fiecare insulă era cucerită cu un număr incredibil de victime, militari dar şi mulţi civili. În acest interval de timp, americanii au finalizat bombele atomice, una cu uraniu şi alta cu plutoniu. Era război, armele erau pregătite.

În ziua de 6 august 1945, fiind o vreme favorabilă, un avion militar american a decolat pentru a efectua primul bombardament atomic din istoria umanităţii. Bomba de 4 tone a fost lansată la ora 8 şi 15 minute. Explozia a fost teribilă, s-a ridicat celebra ciupercă de praf atomic iar la nivelul solului, acolo unde trăiesc oamenii, s-a declanşat iadul. Temperaturile uriaşe au calcinat instantaneu oameni şi pietre, au volatilizat metalele şi au ars totul. Suflul a fost şi el înspăimântător iar când toate au trecut au rămas radiaţiile să pătrundă peste tot, să distrugă viaţa, pentru mult timp de atunci înainte. Înainte chiar de a se lămuri asupra efectelor acestui tip de armă, oamenii au folosit-o din nou.

La 9 august 1945, tot pe fondul îndârjirii japonezilor de a nu renunţa la lupta sinucigaşă, a fost lansată o a doua bombă atomică, la Nagasaki. În cei 70 de ani care au trecut de la bombardamentele atomice din Japonia, omenirea a înţeles deplin ce poate face o astfel de armă. Mărturiile sunt cutremurătoare, suferinţele oamenilor sunt uriaşe. Nimic nu poate justifica aşa ceva. În 1945, decizia japonezilor de a nu capitula, deşi totul era pierdut, promitea pierderi mari şi inutile şi lăsa americanilor liberatea unor decizii de anvergură. În acest program a intrat şi testarea bombei atomice la care lucraseră cu toţii, şi germanii şi sovieticii dar America era câştigătoarea cursei. Era prima dată când sume şi eforturi uriaşe fuseseră dirijate spre realizarea unei arme, este drept una de o putere infernală. De asemenea, era cea mai mare implicare a cercetării ştiinţifice în crearea de arme.

Radioactivitatea fusese descoperită doar cu 11 ani înainte iar utilizarea militară a acestor fantastice descoperiri ştiiţifice apăruse destul de repede ca posibilitate concretă. Aspectele militare ale cercetărilor nucleare aveau să domine viaţa internaţională din acel moment astfel că, în loc de final al celui de al doilea război mondial, putem vedea în campania nucleară din Japonia, din august 1945, un adevărat război atomic derulat în premieră pe Pământ.

Într-adevăr, în ceea ce a urmat, în timpul războiului rece, puţin a lipsit ca exploziile de la Hiroshima şi de la Nagasaki să fie doar începutul unei autodistrugeri nucleare a omenirii. Putem spune că oamenii, indiferent de tabăra în care se află, au înţeles lecţia războiului atomic, a celui desfăşurat în câteva clipe, cu doar două bătălii, Hiroshima şi Nagasaki fiind numele dramei. Imaginile vin imediat în memorie, amintirile sunt puternice, mărturiile sunt mai mult decât grăitoare.

Cu ani în urmă, întâlnind o supravieţuitoare a bombardamentului atomic de la Hiroshima, o hibakusha, cum se numesc aceşti oameni, am întrebat-o cine este de vină pentru toate aceste grozăvii. Răspunsul a venit imediat: războiul.

9 August 2015