August 21, 2018 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 21.08.2018, 19:08
HEARING – On Tuesday, the Romanian Interior Minister Carmen Dan was heard by the Defense Committee of the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest in relation to the violent events that occurred during the anti-Government protest of August 10th. The Police and the Gendarmerie are carrying on their duties and as soon as we get more information about the number of criminal cases, the measures taken and any other aspect relating to the events of August 10th we will immediately inform you, Carmen Dan stated before the committee. On Sunday, the Interior Minister apologized to all those who suffered as a result of gendarmes intervention. Army prosecutors have initiated criminal proceedings for abusive behavior, abuse of office and professional misconduct.
SWINE FEVER – The Romanian sanitary-veterinarian authorities have confirmed new outbreaks of African swine fever. The situation is worrying especially in the farms where bio-security measures have already been taken. In all private households where people breed domestic pigs the experts are trying to limit the spreading of the virus by setting up disinfection filters. Despite the proliferation of the disease among pigs, food safety for the population is not endangered.
TRANSGAZ – Transgaz will invest 360 million Euros in the construction of a pipeline that will take over gas extracted from the Black Sea and carry it into the export pipelines, reads the six-month report published by the Romanian companys management. The major target of this investment is to build a 308 km long pipeline, which will connect the natural gas resources to the corridor linking Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria. According to Transgaz officials natural gas will thus be conveyed to Bulgaria and Hungary through the existing interconnecting pipelines between Giurgiu and Ruse and between Nadlac and Szeged.
PRAGUE SPRING – Czechs and Slovaks are commemorating 50 years since the reprisal of the Prague Spring movement. On August 21st, 1968, the former Czechoslovakia was invaded by tanks and troops of the countries members of the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance formed against NATO by the countries in the eastern block. The aim of the invasion was to stop the reforms initiated in the spring of 1968 by the then new leader of the Communist Party, Alexander Dubcek. Dubcek launched a program of liberalization and reform, aiming, among other things, at ensuring more freedom for the press, laying the grounds for a multi-party type of governing, the formation of trade unions and the possibility to travel to the Western countries. Fearing the effect such reforms would have on the Communist block, the Soviet Union decided to take military action and put an end to the experiment, and the invasion ended in the death of dozens of people. Romania refused to send troops to Prague.
MOLDOVA – A code orange alert for measles has been issued in Romanias neighboring country, Moldova, after several children have lately come down with measles. The authorities speak of a rapid spread, so the pupils who have not been vaccinated yet should be immunized against childhood diseases by September 1 when a new school year begins. So far, almost 100 cases of measles have been confirmed mainly in the south of Moldova, but the number is likely to increase. Measles cases have reached a record level in Europe. In the first half of the year, 41,000 cases were registered in both children and adults, almost double the number reported last year, the World Health Organization announced. In Romania, in almost two years since the outbreak of the measles epidemic, the total number of measles cases has reached 15,000. 59 people have died of measles.
TENNIS -Worlds no. 1 tennis player Simona Halep will not participate in the WTA tournament of New Haven, Connecticut, the US, because of an Achilles tendon injury, the organizers of the competition have announced. The Romanian tennis player was the top seed of the tournament and was to play directly in the eighths finals of the tournament that precedes the last Grand Slam of the year, the US Open, due to start on Monday in New York. Simona Halep had two intense weeks in North America, where she won the tournament in Montreal and played in the Cincinnati final on Sunday, which she lost to Dutch Kiki Bertens.
