April 29, 2017
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 29.04.2017, 14:03
TEST – According to sources from South Korea and the US, the North Korean army last night held a ballistic test, which apparently failed. The missile didnt leave the North Korean territory and was not a threat to the USA, sources with the US army have been quoted by Reuters as saying. President Trump reacted saying that North Korea disrespected China with this test. The US administration has called for stepped up international pressure against the Stalinist regime in Pyongyang.
BREXIT – Romanias president Klaus Iohannis is today attending the special European Councils meeting on the Brexit issue underway in Brussels. Iohannis is expected to support the unity of the 27 member states in the process of negotiation and stand for reducing the negative effects Brexit entails. According to a spokesperson for the presidency, protecting the rights and interests of the Romanian citizens in the UK remains a priority for Romania. On the other hand firm guarantees are needed that the EU and the UK will be meeting their obligations assumed before withdrawal with a minimum impact upon the Unions budget and without affecting obligations concerning the cohesion funds and agriculture. Brexit talks are expected to last until the end of October 2018 so that the European Parliament may have time to approve the UKs withdrawal accord in due time. The UKs effective withdrawal is expected to take place in late March 2019, when Romania is holding the Council of Europes presidency.
HOLIDAY – The mini-holiday on Labour Day is officially opening the summer holiday season here in Romania, with the seaside resorts on the Black Sea coast seeing a massive inflow of tourists. Romanians by tens of thousands have flooded particularly the resorts of Mamaia and Vama Veche. Over 26 thousand employees of the Romanian Interior Ministry will be on duty these days protecting the tourists, Romanian Interior Minister Carmen Dan has announced. According to her, 10 thousand policemen, 5 thousand firefighters, over 43 hundred border policemen and roughly 7 thousand gendarmes have been deployed for the tourists protection.
TENNIS – WTA 5th player Simona Halep of Romania today takes on Laura Siegemund of Germany in the semifinals of the Stuttgart tournament with 760 thousand dollars in prize money. Halep has defeated WTA 26th Anastasija Sevastova and if she qualifies for the finals Halep will be meeting the winner of the game pitching Kristina Mladenovic of France against Maria Sarapova of Russia who is back in competitions after a long doping ban. In another development, the Romanian – Dutch pair Tecau – Rojer has qualified for the semis of the ATP tournament in Barcelona, which has 2.3 million euros in prize money. They will be playing Florin Mergea of Romania and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan.
POPE – Pope Francis has today celebrated a mass at a church in Cairo, the venue of a bloody ISIS attack in December when 30 Christians were killed. The Pontiff earlier urged the leaders of all religious denominations to distance themselves from violence in the name of God and made an appeal for unity against religious violence. During a peace conference he attended the Pontiff has said that religious leaders must affirm that violence and hatred arent compatible with faith and that any human life is sacred. The Pope spoke at the Al Azhar University, the cradle of Sunni culture, where Grand Imam, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb said the militants interpreted religious texts in an ignorant manner. Islam is the state religion in Egypt but the Coptic Christians account for 10% out of the countrys 90 million inhabitants. The conference has also been attended by Constantinoples Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
