August 6, 2017 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 06.08.2017, 19:14

EXTREME HEAT – Meteorologists
have extended the code red alert for extreme heat for two counties in the
south-west, where the highs on Sunday reached 40-41 degrees Celsius. Three
quarters of the country remain under code orange alert. The extreme heat wave
hit Romania on Friday and has created many problems, with a temperature – humidity
ratio exceeding the critical 80 unit threshold. Four people have died and
hundreds have needed medical attention because of the extreme heat. First-aid
tents have been set up in all major cities to provide fresh cold water to
people. Mobile ambulance and medical services have been placed on high alert
and speed restrictions are in place on the national railway network as well as
on the country’s main roads with a view to avoiding accidents.

MARASESTI – Military and
religious event continued on Sunday in Romania, to honor the WWI heroes.
President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Mihai Tudose and the Speaker of the
Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea attended
the ceremony marking 100 years since the battle of Marasesti, in Vrancea
County, considered the Romanian Army’s most important military operation in
WWI. One of the most imposing monuments in the country, the Marasesti Mausoleum
was built on the field where, in the summer of 1917, the Romanian Army stood
against the much better equipped German army. 480 officers and 21,000 soldiers
died back then.

ANONIMUL – The 14th
International Independent Film Festival ‘Anonimul’ starts in Sfantu Gheorghe,
in the Danube Delta, on Monday. At the opening gala, the Mexican director
Michel Franco, the festival’s special guest this year, will be awarded the
Anonimul trophy for his contribution to
universal cinematography. The gala will be followed by the first screening in
Romania of the film April’s Daughter, for which Michel Franco won the ‘Un
Certain Regard’ prize at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. For a week, the
festival will host many film screenings and music shows.

UNTOLD – Sunday was the last day of the third edition
of the electronic music festival ‘Untold’, the largest of its kind in Romania
and one of the largest in Europe. Some 200 Romanian and foreign artists
performed on ten stages hosted by the
city of Cluj-Napoca in north-western Romania. The main stage was dubbed
‘Dragon’s Nest’ and was the largest ever devoted to a Romanian production: 100 m wide and 35 m tall. In a very short
period of time, ‘Untold’ has become an international phenomenon. At the first
edition, in 2015, it was designated the best festival in Europe, and in 2016 it
was a genuine hit, with more than 300,000 spectators from Romania and abroad.

DRILL – The Greek training
ship ‘Rodos’ is having a three-day stopover in the Romanian Black Sea Port of
Constanta. The 230 crew members will visit the Fleet Commander’s Office, the
Naval Forces’ Warrant Officers School, the ‘Mircea cel Batran’ Naval Academy
and the Romanian Navy Museum. Civilians will be allowed on board the ship on
Tuesday. On Wednesday, the ship is due to leave Constanta and take part in a
bilateral drill in the Black Sea together with the Romanian ‘Dimitrie
Nicolescu’ Minesweeper and ‘Horia Macelariu’ Corvette.

UN SANCTIONS – China and
South Korea have hailed the new sanctions imposed by the UN on North Korea on
Saturday. The UN Security Council endorsed unanimously a resolution that bans
exports and limits foreign direct investments in North Korea, in response to
last week’s testing of two intercontinental ballistic missiles. The US
President Donald Trump has hailed China’s and Russia’s support for the
resolution. The tests conducted by Pyongyang have been harshly criticized at
international level. Experts in the field, however, doubt the north-Korean
missiles’ capacity to hit the set targets.

ACCIDENT – One Romanian died
and another two are reported missing following the sinking of a boat in the
English Channel, near Shoreham, Great Britain. According to British
authorities, on Sunday, a boat carrying 4 Romanians collided with another
vessel. Following the impact, one of them died, one was hospitalized in
Worthing and is now out of danger, and the other two are missing. The coast
guard is making efforts to find them. The boat had left the Brighton Marina
after mid-night and, according to a witness, the weather was bad. The Romanian
Embassy is ready to provide support whenever necessary.

TENNIS – The Romanian
tennis player Simona Halep, the second best player in the world according to
the WTA classification, is second seed at the Toronto tournament, with 2.5
million dollars in prize money, which is due to start on Monday. Halep, who won
the Rogers Cup title, goes straight to the second round, where she will play
against the winner of the game between the American Madison Keys (no. 21 WTA)
and the Croat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (no.30 WTA). On Saturday, another three
Romanians reached the final tour of qualifications for the tournament. Irina
Begu defeated the Japanese Miyu Kato, Patricia Tig eliminated the Russian
Natalia Vihlianteva, and Sorana Cirstea won the game against Aleksandra Wozniak
of Canada.