Weather – Heavy rainfalls and strong winds are announced, starting this weekend, in all regions of Romania. Starting this evening, the north and west of the country will be affected, while, from Sunday, the rainfalls will cover all of Romania. The most severe phenomena are forecast for the south and east of the country and the mountains, where a code orange alert will be in place. For the rest of the territory, meteorologists have issued a code yellow alert. The focus is on the amounts of water that will accumulate. Hydrologists have issued flood alerts for 18 river basins throughout the country. At the same time, sleet and snow are expected in the highest mountain areas on Sunday night to Monday, once the temperatures drop below 0 degrees Celsius. While the specialists carefully monitor the situation, teams from the Romanian Waters National Administration have prepared thousands of sandbags and intervention equipment in the areas where river flow increases are expected. Mountain rescuers in several regions have warned tourists to avoid outdoor activities this weekend. Another recommendation is that people should not spend a lot of time in the valleys, considering that the rains can form torrents. The forecast for severe weather is also valid for Bucharest, where two outdoor events have been cancelled.
Candidacy – Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, announced on Friday that he would end his mandate on time, would not resign from office and would not run for parliamentary elections in December. He also said that he did not support and is not supporting the amendment of the electoral legislation in favor of a single person. The announcement came shortly before the Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) clarified the situation of his candidacy for the future Parliament. According to BEC, there is no need to amend the law so that the president can run on a party’s list, even if he is not a member, but he will not be considered an independent candidate. Previously, the president of the National Liberal Party had submitted a legislative initiative according to which the Romanian president could run as an independent on the lists of a party or alliance in the parliamentary elections, in the last 3 months of his mandate. We remind you that, in Romania, at the end of this year, both parliamentary and presidential elections will take place, and Klaus Iohannis ends his second and last term as head of state.
Israel – The Israeli army announced on Saturday that it killed the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in an attack, south of Beirut, on the headquarters of the Lebanese Islamist armed group. Shortly after the announcement of the death of the Hezbollah leader, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, General Herzi Halevi, promised to strike anyone who threatens Israel. The Lebanese Shiite group has not confirmed the death of its leader. At the same time, the group denied that there were weapons in several civilian buildings bombed by Israel at dawn on Saturday. The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health has so far confirmed around 100 dead and injured, but warned that the toll would rise as rescue operations continue, amid extensive destruction caused by the bombings.
Photovoltaic power – The more than 274 million lei (almost 55 million Euros) allocated to the northwestern region of Romania were used up, on Friday, in just 2 minutes after the start of a new financing session for individuals within the Photovoltaic Green House Program. On Monday, the people from central Romania will have the possibility to enroll in the Program, and those from the other regions of the country can do that in the next 6 working days. This year, the Environmental Fund Administration allocated a record budget of 2 billion lei (about 400 million Euros), which will help 67,000 households to have reduced bills for ecologically produced electricity.
Wind energy – Romania has an onshore wind capacity of 3 Giga Watts and an offshore wind resource large enough to produce more energy than it would ever need, say the World Bank representatives. According to them, Romania has the potential for a capacity of offshore wind platforms of up to 7 Giga Watts, located at least 50 km from the coast and, for the most part, in relatively shallow waters. They could be built starting in 2030, using Romania’s port facilities and a supply chain based on local products, the World Bank representatives also say.
Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian on Saturday qualified for the third round of the WTA 1,000 tournament in Beijing, which has total prizes up for grabs worth almost 9 million dollars, after defeating the Czech Barbora Krejcikova, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5. Jaqueline Cristian needed almost three hours of play to pass the 7th seeded player. In the next round, the Romanian will face another representative of the Czech Republic – Karolina Muchova. Also on Saturday, in Beijing, Irina Begu plays in the second round against the Russian Mirra Andreeva.
Car industry – The French car parts manufacturer FORVIA has revised for the second time in three months its annual sales and profit estimates amid challenges on the European and North American markets. In Europe, the company, the world’s seventh largest producer of car components, with activities in Romania as well, stated that it would accelerate plans to reduce the workforce. Thus, 2,800 posts will be eliminated by the end of this year, and 5,800 will be eliminated by the end of next year. In Romania, the company has, among others, five factories and five design and development centers. (LS)
