January 2, 2023

Click here for a roundup of local and world news

Newsroom, 02.01.2023, 13:55

SWIMMING The Romanian athlete David Popovici was awarded the best
swimmer of the year 2022 title by the well-known website Swimswam.com. The
peak of Popovici’s year came at the 2022 European Championships. There, he
first took down Cesar Cielo’s super-suited world record time of 46.91 in the
100 free, going 46.86. Then, he swam a 1:42.97 in the 200 free, becoming the
third male to break 1:43 behind Paul Biedermann and Michael Phelps and the first
to do so in a textile suit, the website says. David Popovici won the 100 and
200 free at every major long course international meet that he competed at: the
World Championships, the European Championships, the World Junior Championships,
and the European Championships.

RECYCLING
All traders in Romania that sell bottled water, soft drinks or alcoholic drinks
in plastic, glass or metal containers between 100 ml and 3 l are bound to
register within 2 months on the platform of a guarantee-return system (SGR). Otherwise,
they risk fines between EUR 4,000 and EUR 8,000. The authorities want the
system to become operational at the end of November 2023. Shops will also have
to arrange packaging return centres. The prices of drinks will include the
roughly EUR 0.10 packaging guarantee, which consumers will collect when
returning the bottles. Romania will thus have the second-largest return system in
Europe, after Germany, the environment minister Tanczos Barna said recently.

NATO
Western countries must be prepared to provide long-term support to Ukraine as
Russia shows no signs of relenting, NATO’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said.
In an interview to the BBC, Stoltenberg saidmilitary
support would ensure the survival of Ukraine as a sovereign country and force
Russia to sit down and negotiate an end to the war. According to Jens Stoltenberg,
Russia’s partial mobilisation programme, ordered in September, indicated that
Moscow had no desire to end the war, and NATO must make sure that Ukraine stays
in a strong position in the event of negotiation talks between the two sides.

UKRAINE
Russia last night carried on attacks on Ukraine using Iranian-made drones, and
targeting the capital city in particular. Air raid alerts sounded for several
hours, and local authorities say a young man was injured and several buildings
damaged. This is the second consecutive night of heavy Russian missile attacks
on Kyiv, after the massive one on New Year’s night. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian
forces, which destroyed some of the drones, announced having caused substantial
casualties among the Russian troops in Bakhmut, a small town in the east of the
country which has been seeing heavy fighting for several months now. Apparently
170 Russian troops were killed and at least 200 wounded. Moscow has not yet
confirmed the losses, but said its recent attacks targeted buildings where the
Ukrainians were reportedly producing drones.

POPE
Thousands of believers have gathered in Vatican to pay
their respects to the former Pope Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday aged 95
and whose body is lying in state at St Peter’s Basilica ahead of the funeral scheduled
for Thursday. On Sunday Pope Francis paid tribute to his dearest predecessor,
emphasising his sacrifices offered for the good of the Church. Benedict
XVI, who announced his resignation from the papacy in 2013 on account of his
ill health and age, was a highly praised theologian. The funeral will be
presided over by Pope Francis, and it will be the first time in the 2,000-year
long history of the Catholic Church that a Pope will be buried by his successor.

BRAZIL
Brazil’s new president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was sworn in and vowed to rebuild
the country together with the Brazilian people. For his 3rd term in
office as president, Lula da Silva (77) announced plans to strengthen
environment protection and curb famine. He criticised his far-right
predecessor Jair Bolsonaro’s government, arguing
that They emptied the resources for health, dismantled education, culture,
science, and destroyed the environmental protections. Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva governed the country in 2003-2010, when he fought poverty through major
social programmes. However, corruption had deepened during his previous terms
in office, and da Silva himself served time for corruption and money
laundering, although later on the Supreme Court ruled it a mistrial. (AMP)