August 10, 2024 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 10.08.2024, 19:31
Fugitives – The Romanian Justice Ministry announces that it has brought back to the country other Romanian citizens who had fled abroad to avoid serving prison sentences, namely human traffickers and pimps. Among them there is a woman convicted of pimping at 6 years and 9 months, brought from the Netherlands. Another fugitive, brought from Italy, has to serve a sentence of 6 years and 1 month for human trafficking. We remind you that, this year, the so-called Fugitives Law entered into force, by which persons convicted and repatriated to serve their criminal sentence are obliged to pay the costs of being brought back to Romania. Only in 2023, the costs for bringing back to Romania over 800 Romanian citizens in this situation exceeded 10 million lei (around 2 million Euros).
Untold – The biggest music festival in Romania, Untold, continues in Cluj-Napoca (north-west). Until Sunday, more than 250 top national and international artists perform for tens of thousands of fans from all over the world. Besides the concerts, the organizers have also prepared numerous thematic parties, and as a novelty, on the main stage, the performance of musical pieces is also done in sign language for people with hearing impairments. The authorities pay special attention to preventing the sale and consumption of drugs during the festival.
Enescu – The 19th edition of the George Enescu International Competition kicks off on August 31, in Bucharest. This year, there was a historic record of entries to the Enescu Competition – 555 young people from 27 countries applied for the three sections of the competition – violin, cello and piano. Out of these, only 149 were selected to participate in the first stage of the competition. Each section will have two elimination stages, the semi-final and the final. The George Enescu International Competition is an event held under the High Patronage of the President of Romania and financed by the Government of Romania through the Ministry of Culture.
Inflation – The National Bank of Romania significantly improved, on Friday, the estimates regarding the evolution of inflation, from 4.9% to 4% per year for the end of 2024. The downward trend should be maintained at the beginning of next year, followed by a temporary increase in the spring of 2025, then a return to the downward trend. The national bank calculates an annual inflation rate of 3.4% for the end of next year, slightly below the previously estimated level. The central bank governor, Mugur Isărescu, stated that the inflation forecast also took into account possible risks or uncertainties, including the conduct of fiscal and revenue policies, as well as the evolution of energy and food prices.
Moscow – The Russian aviation authority banned Russian airlines from flying into Israel’s airspace in the following nights, the dpa news agency reports. The ban entered into force on Saturday and is valid until August 16. Moscow did not provide a reason for the decision, but dpa believes it could be linked to a feared Iranian airstrike on Israel. Russia is a close ally of Tehran and has recently stepped up its deliveries of air defense weapons to the Iranians. Many international airlines have canceled their flights to Israel due to the threat of war in the region. Meanwhile, Israel has agreed to sending negotiators to the new talks on a cease-fire agreement and the release of hostages in Gaza, following an urgent appeal by the mediator countries – the United States, Egypt and Qatar. Hamas has not yet responded to the call, seen as an attempt to stop the escalation of the conflict, after the assassination of the political leader of the Palestinian group, Ismail Haniyeh. (LS)
