October 20, 2020

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 20.10.2020, 13:55

PANDEMIC According to worldometers.info, the total
number of infections with the novel coronavirus has exceeded 40,600,000
worldwide. The United States is the most affected country with over 8,400,000 cases
followed by India with roughly 7,600,000. The situation is bad in Europe as
well. Authorities in Ireland want to impose a period of six-month restrictions
for the entire population starting on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Micheal
Martin has announced. The Irish official has said that schools are going to remain
open but all the other less important activities are to be suspended. Bars and
restaurants will make only deliveries. The epidemiological situation in Belgium
is more difficult than in spring while in Brussels and Wallonia, authorities are
fearing what they described ‘a tsunami of infections’ with the new virus. The
number of infections has doubled in the past month and new restrictions have
been imposed to contain the spreading and maintain the hospitals’ capabilities to
cope with the new situation.

COVID-19 Authorities in Romania on Monday announced
2,466 new infections with the novel coronavirus in 24 hours. Since the onset of
the pandemic, 182 thousand people have been infected and 5,931 people have
died. 757 patients are currently being treated in intensive care units.
Bucharest has been placed in the red zone, due to the large number of
infections, which has exceeded three per one thousand. For two weeks starting
today, schools, high-schools and kindergartens are providing online course
while universities are yet to decide how to carry on their activities. Face
coverings are now compulsory both in outdoor and indoor spaces in Bucharest.
All indoor activities in restaurants, bars, cinemas, theatres and casinos have
been suspended. The infection rate has also been exceeded in Cluj Napoca, in the
country’s west, Miercurea Ciuc in the center and Caracal in the south.

VOTING According to the election bureau for the
Romanians abroad, the candidacies announced by 8 political groups and two
independents for a Parliament seat are definitive. Romanians living abroad are
invited to the polls on December 5th and 6th. The Permanent
Election Authority has recalled that the deadline for the Romanian residents
abroad to register for postal voting is October 22nd.

GROUP Romania and the United States will have a
joint working group for including Romanians in the Visa Waiver programme,
Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu has announced after his meeting in Washington
with secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The two officials have also tackled the USA’s
involvement, including financially, in projects like those connecting the
region’s north with its south, which also includes Romania, such as Via
Carpatica and the railway linking Constanta to the city of Gdansk, in northern
Poland with economic benefits and a strategic impact over military mobility.
The USA also plans to increase its military presence in Romania.

RAIDS Police in France have raided houses of
Islamist radicals after the beheading of a history teacher by an 18-year-old
Islamist in Paris. 15 people have been taken into custody, including four
pupils believed to have helped identify the victim to his killer. One of them
confessed to have received money from the assassin. According to Interior
Minister Gerald Darmanin, police will continue investigation into the case in
the following days while authorities have decided to temporarily close down a
mosque in northern Paris known to be frequented by religious extremists.

HANDBALL Romania’s handball champions Dinamo Bucharest
tonight play on their own turf Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon in their debut
match in Group B of the EHF European League, Europe’s second major competition.
In the past edition of the Champions League, Dinamo edged Sporting out after a
26-25 away win and a 26-24 win in Bucharest and qualified for the first time in
the round of 16 but the rest of the season was postponed due to the Covid-19
pandemic.

(bill)