19 August, 2017 UPDATE
US State Department approves sale to Romania of high mobility rocket artillery rocket systems worth 1.25 billion dollars.
Newsroom, 19.08.2017, 18:31
Arms
sale. The US State
Department has approved the sale to Romania of high mobility artillery rocket
systems worth 1.25 billion dollars, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency at
the Pentagon announced on Friday. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for
this weapons system. Romania said it was interested in buying up to 54 such
systems and related services and equipment, said the Agency, quoted by Reuters.
In a meeting chaired by president Klaus Iohannis on the 1st of
August, Romania’s Supreme Defence Council approved the army’s equipping plan
for the 2017-2026 period. The plan contains a commitment taken in 2015 by all
political parties to allocate 2% of the country’s GDP to defence starting this
year, as well as eight different equipping programmes, including the purchase
of Patriot missile defence systems from the US and 36 F16 multirole fighter
planes.
Spain attack. The Spanish
government said it would boost police presence at the main tourist sites and in
other busy public areas in the wake of the two jihadist attacks that took place
on Thursday in Catalonia. The Spanish interior minister Juan Ignacio Zoido told
a press conference that the terror alert level would not be raised. 14 people
were killed and more than 100 wounded in the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils.
The victims came from 35 different countries. Three Romanian nationals were
also wounded in the attacks. A moment of silence was held throughout Spain on
Friday and people gathered in front of improvised altars on Las Ramblas to pay
their respects and bring flowers.
World Humanitarian Day. The Romanian foreign ministry has
hailed the celebration of World Humanitarian Day on the 19th of
August, paying tribute to all those willing to take risks and make personal
sacrifices to reduce suffering and help the victims of conflicts, violence and
natural disasters. World Humanitarian Day has been celebrated on the 19th
of August following a 2008 United Nations resolution to commemorate the 2003
terrorist attack on the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad that killed 22
people, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN Secretary
General’s special envoy for Iraq. Between 2014 and 2017, Romania granted
humanitarian assistance worth more than 11 million euros to 12 states facing
crisis situations such as the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, the conflict in
eastern Ukraine, the Matthew hurricane in Haiti, the earthquake in Nepal and the
floodings in Serbia and Bosnia Hertegovina.
Finland knife attack. The Finnish police said on Saturday
that the knife attack that took place on Friday in the south-western city of
Turku is considered a terrorist attack, naming the attacker as an 18-year-old
man of Moroccan origin. Two people were killed and six wounded in the
stabbings. No Romanian nationals are among the victims.
Weather. Meteorologists have issued a new alert for hot
weather and thermal discomfort for Romania. On Sunday, the highs of the day are
again expected to reach 36 degrees Celsius in the south and some areas in the
centre and east. The weather will change on Sunday night, starting in the west
and north-west, while torrential rain and storms are expected on Monday across
the country.
