July 27, 2014
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Roxana Vasile, 27.07.2014, 13:53
The Israeli army has today announced the end of a humanitarian ceasefire and the resumption of its operations by sea, land and air over the Gaza Strip in response to the rocket attacks by Hamas. Responding favorably to a UN request, the Israeli security cabinet has initially accepted a 12-hour extension of the humanitarian ceasefire, which offered some respite to Gaza residents yesterday. But Hamas rejected the extension of the ceasefire and resumed their rocket attacks against Israel. The Israeli operations in Gaza, aimed at breaking the military strength of Hamas commenced on July the 8th, since when at least 1000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and over 40 Israeli soldiers have been killed.
A MIG 29 fighter has crashed during a training flight today in southern Russia killing the pilot, the head of the Russian air forces Viktor Bondarev has told the journalists. According to the Russian official, the crash was caused by technical faults. Similar accidents involving MIG 29s occurred between 2011 and 2012. The plane, which entered service in early 1980s, is still in use in the Russian air forces and has been exported to numerous countries, such as India, Iran, Syria and Ukraine.
People in the Ukrainian region of Cernauti, close to Ukraine’s border with Romania are protesting a decision by the authorities in Kiev for staging a new partial mobilization in a bid to handle the bloody conflict in eastern Ukraine. The protesters, mainly Romanian ethnics, have set up barricades on several main roads disrupting traffic in the area. They are afraid of being dispatched to the conflict area, where many Cernauti residents have lost their lives. Parliament in Ukraine has this week approved a partial mobilization in order to cope with the pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country. The army continued their advance towards Donetsk, a stronghold of the pro-Russia separatists. In another development, the Netherlands and Australia have been considering a police mission to secure the crash site of the Malaysia plane, allegedly downed by the pro-Russian separatists, when 298 people on board were killed. An inquiry has been launched into the disaster.
The Romanian city of Sighisoara, Europe’s only medieval city still inhabited, is today seeing the end of the 22nd edition of a famous Medieval Art Festival, which takes place here every year. This edition’s main theme was ‘knighthood’, inspired by the personality of the last grand master of the Temple Knights Jacques de Molay, who lived more than 700 years ago. The event included shows of dance, costumes and parades as well as medieval art exhibitions. Temple Knights of Romania, France and Serbia staged a parade last night.
