Radio România Internațional

Tag: nerve agent

  • March 19, 2018 UPDATE

    March 19, 2018 UPDATE

    WEATHER – Weather remains extremely cold in Romania, as meteorologists have issued a code yellow warning for sleet, snow falls, black ice and gusts of wind, valid until Tuesday afternoon. The warning concerns 19 counties in the west, south-west, south and south-east, as well as the capital city Bucharest. Over the past days snow falls have disrupted railway, road and air traffic, and several towns and villages in the south of the country experienced blackouts.




    JUSTICE LAWS – The special parliamentary committee on the justice laws Monday endorsed some of the changes requested by the Constitutional Court. These include by-passing the president of the country in the procedure for appointing and dismissing the chiefs of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, and transferring this role to the Higher Council of Magistracy. Also, the head of state is no longer entitled to reject nominations for trainee judges and prosecutors. According to Radio Romanias correspondent, the committee will carry on debates on the 3 justice laws on Tuesday. After all drafts have been brought in line with the Constitutional Court decisions, Parliament will cast a final vote.





    WORLD BANK – The partnership between the Government of Romania and the World Bank may be strengthened in the coming years, through joint infrastructure development projects, deputy prime minister Viorel Ştefan said. According to a news release issued by the Government, on Monday he had a meeting with a World Bank delegation headed by Tatiana Proskuryakova, country manager for Romania and Hungary, in the context of consultations for the forthcoming Partnership Framework, 2018 – 2023. On June 14, the document will be submitted for approval by the WB Board.




    FLU – In Romania, the number of deaths caused by the flu has reached 104, the National Centre for Infectious Disease Monitoring and Control announced on Monday. According to the Healthcare Ministry, since the start of the season more than 1,400 cases have been confirmed. Over 1,000,000 people have received flu vaccine shots. Experts do not rate this as an epidemic.





    RUSSIA ELECTION – Vladimir Putin Sunday won his 4th term as president of Russia, with about 77% of the votes. The turnout was over 67%. Observers with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Monday stated that the election had been well administered, in spite of a lack of genuine competition and of pressure aimed at increasing turnout. Radio Romanias correspondent in the Russian Federation mentions that it was for the first time that Moscow organised elections in Crimea, where Vladimir Putin, who has been running the country for 18 years as either president or prime minister, got over 90% of the votes. Western capitals and Kiev announced they would not recognise the elections in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. Vladimir Putin will head Russia for another 6 years, against the background of a highly strained relationship with the West. After the conflict in Syria, the Ukrainian crisis and allegations of Russian interference with Donald Trumps election in the USA, Londons accusations that Moscow poisoned a former Russian agent on British territory put further pressure on these relations.





    UK-RUSSIA – The EU firmly condemns the poisoning in the UK of the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, and takes extremely seriously Londons assessment that it is highly likely that Russia was behind the attack, reads a joint statement by the EU foreign ministers. The Union is shocked with “the first offensive use on European territory in 70 years of a Soviet-designed military-grade nerve agent, the statement also says, expressing unqualified solidarity with and support for the UK. In turn, on Monday Kremlin urged Britain to either present evidence of its involvement, or apologise. After the UK expelled 23 Russian diplomats and froze bilateral contacts, Russia responded with a similar measure and also shut down the British Council centres on its territory. Last week, the Romanian Foreign Ministry expressed solidarity with Britain.





    THREAT – There are nearly 30,000 radicalised people who represent a potential terrorism threat in Europe at present, the Europol director Rob Wainwright warned on Monday, adding that at any time these might rent a truck and kill innocent people. Wainwright also mentioned the return to Europe of people who have fought in Syria and Iraq as part of jihadist groups like the Islamic State.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • March 14, 2018 UPDATE

    March 14, 2018 UPDATE

    THE USE OF NERVE AGENT IN SALISBURY– The Romanian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday expressed Romanias solidarity with Great Britain, after the poisoning of the former Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal, and of his daughter, in Salisbury. British PM Theresa May on Wednesday announced that London severs its bilateral ties with Moscow and will expel 23 Russian diplomats. May also said Moscow is responsible for the incident. Great Britain had given an ultimatum to Russia, until Tuesday midnight, to provide explanations regarding the case. In turn, Russian Foreign Minister, Serghei Lavrov, said Moscow is “not guilty and “ready to cooperate during the investigation, on condition it has access to the incriminated chemical substance, a nerve agent. NATO has deemed the incident as a clear breach of international norms and agreements on chemical weapons and called on Russia to address the UKs questions. In another move, the EU leaders will hold talks next week on Skripals poisoning, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk announced on Wednesday.



    CONFLICT OF INTEREST – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, on Wednesday called on the Romanian Parliament to re-examine a bill which brings modifications, among others, to the juridical regime of the conflict of interest, applicable to MPs in the 2007-2013 time-span. The president claimed the overall public interest does not justify such as regulation, given that integrity standards are affected and doubts are cast on Romanias compliance with the commitments it has made as a EU member state. In December 2017, the Romanian Senate, as a decision making body, adopted a draft to amend the Law on the National Integrity Agency. In the adopted form, interdictions imposed on MPs for not observing legal provisions relative to the conflict of interest, in the 2007-2013 period, cease to exist.



    CVM – European Commission representatives on Wednesday started their evaluation mission as part of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, scheduling meetings with members of the judiciary, Parliament and the Government. Their mission ends on March 16. The Ministry of Justice says that talks will focus on proposed changes to the Romanian judicial system, including the Criminal Codes and the Civil Code, along with analysing the strategy to develop the judicial system. The Cooperation and Verification Mechanism was introduced in January 2007, when Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU, in order to help the two countries overcome their drawbacks in the justice system and in terms of corruption. The authorities in Bucharest would like the Mechanism to be lifted in 2019.



    JUSTICE – The special commission for the justice laws with the Romanian Parliament resumed its activity on Wednesday, starting debates on proposed changes to legislation on the status of prosecutors and judges, the laws regulating judicial organization, and the law regulating the Higher Council of Magistracy, following a negative ruling on the changes issued by the Constitutional Court. The commission is slated to bring a number of changes to the Criminal Codes. The situation of the Romanian justice system was the main topic for discussion in talks held in Bucharest early in March with the authorities by European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans. The controversy regarding proposed justice reform in Romania brought to the streets thousands of protesters in Romania and abroad, who demanded the judicial system preserve its independence.



    FLU SEASON – In Romania, the number of flu-related deaths reached 100, according to the National Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control. Since the start of the flu season, some 1,200 flu-related cases have been confirmed. The total number of acute respiratory infections registered last week exceeded 140,000, that is 67% more than in the same week of 2017.



    MOURNING – People across the world and the scientific and academic community mourn British visionary scientist Stephen Hawking, who passed away at the age of 76. Born on January 8, 1942, Stephen William Hawking has been compared to Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton. His research attempted to align relativity theory with quantum theory, in an attempt to explain the creation of the universe and its inner workings. Hawking was diagnosed with a degenerative disease at the age of 21.



    TENNIS – Romanian tennis star Simona Halep, leading the standings worldwide, qualified on Tuesday to the quarter finals of the Indian Wells, with 8 million USD in prize money up fro grabs, after she defeated Qiang Wang of China 7-5, 6-1. She will be facing against Croatian player Petra Martic, no.51 WTA. Halep won the Indian Wells tournament in 2015.(Translated by C. Cotoiu and D. Vijeu)