February 21, 2015
A roundup of domestic and international news
Corina Cristea, 21.02.2015, 14:01
The Eurozone finance ministers have reached an agreement on the extension by four months of the financial rescue plan for Greece, after which a fresh agreement will be negotiated. In exchange for that, the Greek authorities have pledged to keep the economy stable and to come up with their own reform program by Monday. In this way, Greece no longer risks to default on payments and to even leave the Eurozone. International financial markets have had positive reactions to the extension agreement. Wall Street stock quotes went up when it became clear that Greece would stay in the Eurozone at least for a while. A new agreement will be discussed in July.
In London, the US Secretary of State John Kerry is holding talks with his British counterpart Philip Hammond. Reuters reports that the main topic on the agenda of talks are potential fresh sanctions against Russia if violence continues in eastern Ukraine. On Friday, Kiev accused Moscow of sending new tanks and troops to eastern Ukraine, despite the truce signed in Minsk, which came into force last Sunday. Moscow did not reply right away to the accusation, but it has always denied its involvement in the fighting in Ukraine. Washington has warned Russia that the latter’s constant support to the separatists is a direct threat to modern world order. The two officials will also discuss the situation in Syria and Iraq, the up-coming elections in Nigeria, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian situation.
The new US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter has today arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan, for talks with Afghan officials regarding the future US military presence in that country after 13 years of conflict and also to assess whether the US’s withdrawal plans are too risky for Afghan security. Speaking about current developments and future prospects for Afghanistan, Carter, an experience strategist in the field of defence, has stated that he’s made the trip to gather information that will allow him to give recommendations to the US President Barack Obama.
The French-Mauritian film Timbuktu” by Abderrahmane Sissako has won 7 Cesar awards in Paris, among which the trophies for best film and best director. A celebration of tolerance against obscurantism, the film, which is also running for an Oscar for best foreign film, was inspired by real events. In 2012, the north of Mali was taken over by Jihadist groups affiliated to Al Qaeda. The film has also won the best screenplay, editing, sound, cinematography and music awards.
Romanian Simona Halep, the fourth best tennis player in the world, is today playing the final of the Dubai tournament, with 2.5 million dollars in prize money, against the Czech Karolina Pliskova. Halep is now very close to repeating the best performance of her career, namely winning a Premier 5 tournament, which she achieved last year in Doha. Also, if she wins the title in Dubai, she will get back on third seat in the WTA classification. At the Rio de Janeiro tournament’s doubles, the pair made up of Romanian Irina Begu and Argentinean Maria Irigoyen has qualified for the final and will play against Ysaline Bonaventure and Rebecca Peterson, of Belgium and Sweden respectively. Irina Begu has also qualified for the semifinals of the Rio de Janeiro tournament and she will next play against the Slovak player Anna Schmiedlova.
