No-confidence
<\/p>\n
Elections. <\/strong>In view
<\/p>\n
Covid-19 RO<\/strong>. In
<\/p>\n
Pandemic.<\/strong> The total
<\/p>\n
Protests.<\/strong> Belarusian
<\/p>\n
Tennis.<\/strong> Romanian tennis
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":75903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[35687,35374,30247,35416,28900],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-alexander-lukashenko","tag-covid-19","tag-elections","tag-pandemic","tag-simona-halep"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nmotion.<\/strong> The Social Democratic Party, the
\nlargest opposition party in Romania, is negotiating with other parliamentary
\nparties support for the no-confidence motion it plans to file today against the
\nLiberal cabinet led by Ludovic Orban. According to the Social Democrats, Romania
\nis drifting, and the government has zero credibility, against the background of
\nthe current huge chaos, downgraded economy and rampant unemployment. They say
\nthe only concern of the current executive has been to siphon off public money
\nsince coming to power and in the midst of the health crisis generated by the
\nnew coronavirus. According to the interim leader of the Social Democratic
\nParty, Marcel Ciolacu, the motion is to be read, debated and voted on this
\nweek. 233 votes are required for the document to be adopted. If it passes, it
\nwould be the second time in a single year that a government led by Ludovic
\nOrban is sacked by means of a motion of no-confidence. The Social Democrats are
\nsupported by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and PRO Romania, also in
\nopposition, as well as by independent parliamentarians. The motion, on the
\nother hand, is criticized by the Save Romania Union and the People’s Movement
\nParty, who say now is not the time to replace the government given the
\nsituation in health, the opening of the school year and the local elections
\nscheduled for September 27. The National Liberal Party has stated that the
\nSocial Democratic Party, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and PRO Romania
\nhave deliberately sabotaged the Orban government, at parliamentary level,
\nduring the health crisis.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nof the local elections in Romania, due on September 27, parties are submiting
\ntheir lists of candidates for the seats of mayor, local and county councilors.
\nOn Sunday, the main candidates for the Bucharest City Hall made official their
\nintentions: the current mayor, the Social Democrat Gabriela Firea, the former
\npresident of Romania and mayor of the capital Traian B\u0103sescu, and the
\nindependent candidate supported by the National Liberal Party and USR PLUS,
\nNicu\u015for Dan. This year’s local elections will be held in special conditions, given
\nthe Covid-19 pandemic. Local elections
\nwill be followed by parliamentary elections, to be held by the end of the year.
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nRomania, 733 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported today by the Strategic
\nCommunication Group. Thus, over 71,000 cases of infection with the new
\ncoronavirus have been confirmed in the country, since the beginning of the
\nepidemic, at the end of February. More than 32,700 patients have been declared
\ncured. 38 deaths have also been reported, raising the death toll to 3,029. 497
\npatients are in intensive care. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nnumber of people infected with the new coronavirus in the world, so far, has
\nexceeded 21.6 million in 188 countries, according to data from Johns Hopkins
\nUniversity. Over the entire pandemic period, more than 774,000 people have died
\nand 13.6 million have recovered. The most affected country remains the United
\nStates, followed by Brazil, India and Russia. Mortality rate in some European countries
\nremains high, with the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain in the first
\nplaces. These states have reintroduced sanitary measures to manage the new
\nincrease in the number of infections that foreshadow a possible second epidemic
\nwave. Greece has also tightened rules after an increase in the number of cases.
\nOn the other hand, Russia has announced that the first vaccine against Covid-19
\nhas entered production, so that it can be delivered at the end of this month,
\nbut Western specialists believe that the vaccine has not been tested enough. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nopposition leaders have called for a strike after a weekend of massive protests
\nagainst President Alexander Lukashenko, accused of rigging recent elections
\nthat extended his term of office for another quarter of a century. According to
\nReuters, 200,000 opponents took part in a freedom march in Minsk, while
\nLukashenko’s supporters gathered in parallel to listen to his call to defend
\nthe country against alleged foreign interference. He said NATO planes and tanks
\nwere deployed 15 minutes from the country’s borders, an accusation immediately
\nrejected by the Alliance. Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26
\nyears, has been faced with protests before. This time, however, it is the
\nstrongest wave of protest against the authoritarian way in which he leads the
\ncountry. Last week, police brutally intervened to end the protests. At least
\ntwo people were killed and nearly 7,000 detained.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nplayer Simona Halep, world number two, jumped last night, dressed in sports
\nequipment, in the water of the Vltava River, after winning the tennis
\ntournament in Prague. The image quickly went viral. She thus kept the promise
\nshe made before the final with the Belgian Elise Mertens, whom she defeated
\n6-2, 7-5. The tournament in Prague was the first played by Simona since
\nFebruary, after the interruption of the women’s circuit due to the coronavirus
\npandemic. For Simona Halep, the Prague Open trophy is the 21st of her career
\nand the second this year. However, Simona was not 100% original. Similar
\ncelebrations of victory have happened before. Rafael Nadal, for example, throws
\nhimself into the pool with the ball persons after each title won in Barcelona,
\n\u200b\u200band so far he has won 11 such titles. (M. Ignatescu)<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"