Terrorist attack in Barcelona/Simona Halep qualifies for the quarter finals in Cincinnati
BARCELONA ATTACK - The Spanish police have announced multiple casualties in Thursday's terrorist attack in Barcelona. A van mounted a pavement on Las Ramblas and struck several people. The area is extremely popular with tourists. The Romanian Consulate in Barcelona is trying to find out whether there were Romanian citizens among the victims. Also, a crisis team has been set up at the Romanian Embassy in Madrid.
SUMMER UNIVERSITY- Attending on Thursday the Summer University in Izvorul Muresului, central Romania, Romanians living in historical communities around the country's borders drew attention to their extremely serious situation. According to their representatives at the meeting, people living in these communities are subject to a continuous and aggressive process of assimilation and without support from the Romanian state they will no longer be able to preserve their national identity. Also on Thursday, the participants decided to set up the Federation of Romanian Organisations in the Historical Communities in Central and South-Eastern Europe, headquartered in Bucharest and with external representation with the European institutions. The Secretary of the Federation and President of the 'Rasaritul Romanesc' Association in Chisinau Vlad Cubreacov has stated that this body will be a dialogue partner to both the Romanian authorities and authorities from other European countries where there are Romanian communities, on matters relating to their language, cultural and religious rights.
PROETNICA- The 15th'Proetnica' Intercultural Festival started on Thursday in the Romanian town of Sighisoara. For four days, the festival is playing host to 700 participants, representing 20 ethnic minorities. The festival's agenda includes conference on minority protection, the situation of the Rroma in Europe, interfaith dialogue and multiculturalism. The event is also hosting an arts and crafts fair, a fine arts exhibition, film screenings and workshops. The programme includes some 50 shows in which ethnic minorities in Romania are presenting their traditional costumes, music and dances.
LONDON- The number of EU citizens working in the UK is at a record level, partially because of a significant increase in the number of Romanians and Bulgarians finding jobs there, reads the Financial Times. According to official data, around 2.37 million EU workers were in the UK in April-June this year, 126,000 more compared to the same period of 2016. The number of Romanian and Bulgarian workers went up over 25% in the last 12 months, reaching 337,000. Around one third of citizens from the ten Central and East European countries working in Great Britain work in home care, construction and food sales.
START UP NATION- The Romanian Ministry for the Business Environment has announced the first 20 winners of the funds granted under the governmental programme Start Up Nation, aimed at creating new jobs in Romania. In all, they will get some 890,000 Euro and are supposed to create 155 new jobs. Also, small and medium-sized enterprises can register until 29 August to take part in the 'Trade and Services ' programme, under which they can get state funding up to 55.000 Euro to extend their activities. Another micro-industrialisation programme is to be launched next week, with an allocated budget of some 17 million Euros this year.
INFLATION- The annual rate of inflation in the EU was stable in July as compared to June, standing at 1.5%. According to data published by Eurostat, the lowest annual rates were recorded in Ireland (minus -0.2%), Cyprus (minus 0.1%), Bulgaria and Finland (0.6%), France (0.8%) and Romania (0.9%). As compared to June 2017, the annual inflation rate has dropped in four member states, has grown in 16 countries and has remained stable in eight countries. The Romanian National Bank issued a revision of its forecast for the end of this year, from 1.6 to 1.9%. The National Bank expects a rate of inflation of 3.2% for the end of 2018.
NATO- Some 135 soldiers and 4 fighters of the Royal Canadian Air Force will be deployed to Constanta, in south eastern Romania, to take part in NATO air police activities. According to a communiqué issued by the Canadian Embassy in Bucharest, the activities will be carried out over September - December. The mission is part of the NATO OperationReassuranceand represents Canada's contribution to the NATO assurance and deterrence measures. These measures aim to reinforce NATO's collective defence and its commitment to protecting the member countries' populations and territories.
TENNIS- The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, ranking 2nd in the WTA classification, on Thursday qualified for the quarter finals of the WTA tournament in Cincinnati, the US, with 2.5 million dollars in prize money. Halep defeated the Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, no. 16 WTA. In 2015, Halep lost the final in Cincinnati to Serena Williams, and last year she was defeated in the semi-finals by Angelique Kerber of Germany. Also in Cincinnati this year, in the doubles, the pair mad up of Monica Niculescu (Romania) and Su-Wei Hsieh (Taiwan), has qualified for the quarter finals, winning against the French-Russian team Kristina Mladenovic- Anastasia Pavliuchenkova.
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