COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – Another 2.880 new cases of COVID-19
\nand 53 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, the Group for Strategic
\nCommunication announced on Sunday. 628
\npatients are still in intensive care. The infection rate per thousand
\ninhabitants in the last 14 days stands at 2.52 in Bucharest, with high rates
\nalso reported in Alba and Valcea counties. The rate is over 1.5 in another nine
\ncounties. If the rate exceeds 3, authorities want to reintroduce certain
\nrestrictions. On Saturday, hundreds of people protested in Bucharest against
\nrestrictions imposed by the authorities to prevent the coronavirus from
\nspreading. A similar protest was staged in Iasi, the second-most affected city
\nin the country, where people are disgruntled with the ban on the pilgrimage to
\nSaint Paraskeva. Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said the protests are unfounded,
\nand anyone who doesn’t observe the regulations in force will be fined.<\/p>\n
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COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – Health authorities in numerous
\nstates across the world have raised alarm signals regarding the mounting
\npressure on national healthcare systems, in the context of a resurge of the
\ncoroanvirus pandemic. There are nearly 37 million confirmed cases of COVID-19
\nglobally, while over a 1million people have died worldwide, 5,500 in the last
\n24 hours alone, the World Health Organization reports. The figures also very
\nclose to their corresponding marks in spring, when experts said the pandemic
\npeaked. The European Commission has signed an agreement with Gilead
\nbiopharmaceutical company to receive 500 thousand shots of Remdesivir, an
\nantiviral drug that has been successfully used so far to treat COVID
\ninfections. All EU member states and some of its neighbors are due to receive dozes.
\nChina has announced its willingness to join the agreement to grant vaccines to
\npoor countries, an initiative launched by the WHO. <\/p>\n
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INVESTIGATION – The former head of the National Agency for
\nPreventing and Combating Money Laundering, Lauren\u0163iu
\nBaranga, has been placed under home arrest for 24 hours and is accused of
\nhaving used forged diplomas, which tribunals have disqualified. According to
\ninvestigators, Baranga’s use of fake education certificates allegedly caused a
\nprejudice worth over a hundred thousand Euro. Baranga resigned after having
\ntaken office just last month, after allegations arose regarding his forged
\nBaccalaureate diploma, which he obtained aged 32. Liberal Prime Minister
\nLudovic Orban denied having any prior knowledge in this respect, saying all
\nvetting procedures were applied when Baranga’s candidacy was analyzed. Interim
\nSenate Speaker, Social-Democrat Robert Cazanciuc, said Orban has to step down
\nfor appointing a forgerer in a public office with a direct control of Romania’s
\nfinancial dealings. <\/p>\n
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MEETING – Romania’s Foreign
\nMinister Bogdan Aurescu on Monday is attending a meeting of EU Foreign
\nMinisters in Luxembourg. High on the agenda for talks are hot topics such as
\nthe conflict in Nagorno-Karabah, the 2020-2024 EU Action Plan on Human Rights
\nand Democracy, relations with Russia, the developments in Belarus and
\npreparations ahead of the EU-Ukraine Summit. Prior to the meeting EU Foreign
\nMinisters will speak to their Saudi counterpart, Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud <\/p>\n
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MARATHON – The International Bucharest
\nMarathon, due to take place on Sunday, was cancelled upon the authorities’
\nrequest, due to the negative evolution of the coronavirus pandemic. The
\ninfection rate in Bucharest now stands at 2.52 per thousand inhabitants. 250
\nprofessional runners had enrolled in the Bucharest marathon, in an attempt to
\nqualify to the Olympic Games due to take place in Tokyo next year. We hope the
\nspecific qualities describing a professional marathon runners, such as
\ndetermination, endurance and planning, will help them overcome this difficult
\nmoment, all the more so as some of them had already traveled to Bucharest,
\ncoming from other continents, the president of the Bucharest Running Club,
\nValeria van Groningen, has said. The decision to cancel the Bucharest
\nInternational Marathon will not be affecting runners enrolled in virtual races,
\nwho will be taking part individually in the said events, over October 11-18.
\nVirtual racers get to pick their own track and start time. <\/p>\n
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ROWING – Romania has won silver in the
\nmen’s eight+1 event at the European Rowing Championships hosted by Poznan,
\nPoland. The Romanian women’s eight+1 crew has won gold in a similar event.
\nRomania has thus won a total of six medals, four gold, one silver and 1 bronze.
\nThe women’s double-scull, the men’s double scull and the women’s pair crews
\nalso won gold. The women’s lightweight double-scull won the bronze medal.
\nTherefore Romania ranks 3rd in the medals table, outranked by the
\nNetherlands in top position with eight gold medals, one silver and two bronze,
\nand Italy, with four gold medals, five silver and two bronze. <\/p>\n
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HANDBALL – Romanian handball club CSM
\nBucharest lost 25-30 away from home on Saturday to Vipers Kristiansand of
\nNorway, in a match counting towards Champions League Group A. CSM could not
\nfield its top player, Cristina Neagu, the world’s handballer in 2010, 2015,
\n2016 and 2018, who tested positive for COVID-19. Previously, with Neagu in the
\nlineup, CSM had won both group fixtures. Scheduled for Sunday in Group B, the
\nmatch pitting SCM Ramnicu Valcea against Podravka Koprivnica of Croatia was
\npostponed, also due to COVID infections reported at the Romanian club. SCM has lost
\nthe first three group matches. In the men’s Champions League, Romanian
\nchampions Dinamo Bucharest will play straight into the Europa League group
\nphase, due to kick off this month. <\/p>\n
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(translated by V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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