COVID-19 – 156 new cases of
\nCOVID infection were reported on Saturday, in addition to 3 related fatalities.
\n56 people are now in intensive care. We recall that, starting August 1,
\nteenagers aged 12-17 can receive the anti-COVID vaccine produced by Moderna, in
\naddition to the Pfizer vaccine. Romania is closing in on the 5 million
\nvaccinated people mark, of whom most have completed the full vaccination
\nscheme. The number, however, is below the authorities expectations. <\/p>\n
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CYBER ATTACKS – Romanian
\nhospitals are vulnerable to cyber-attacks, while their level of digital
\nsecurity is low, the Romanian Intelligence Service has warned, after last week
\na hospital in Bucharest was the target of a ransomware attack. According to the
\nService, such attacks are used by hackers to demand ransom for crypted data.
\nAlthough of medium or low complexity, the attacks may severely disrupt the
\nactivity of healthcare institutions. The Service recommends the adoption of
\ncentralized measures to impose the implementation of minimum cyber security at
\nthe level of these institutions. <\/p>\n
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ATTACK – The Foreign
\nMinistry in Bucharest announced it would provide all the necessary assistance
\nand will actively monitor the investigation into the circumstances of the
\nviolent attack that killed a Romanian national on Thursday in the Arabian Sea.
\nThe Ministry recalls that so far Romania’s missions have received no requests
\nfor consular assistance. One Romanian citizen and a British one were killed
\nduring an attack on Thursday onboard the Mercer Street oil tanker off the Oman
\ncoast in the Arabian Sea. According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade
\nOperations, an anti-piracy organization, the attack took place some 280
\nkilometers southeast of Oman’s capital city. Zodiac Maritime issued a statement
\nsaying the ship was Japanese-owned.<\/p>\n
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AMBASSDOR – Romania’s new
\nambassador to the United States, Andrei Muraru, was on Friday received at the
\nUS State Department where he presented copies of his letters of accreditation.
\nIn a post on Facebook, the Romanian diplomat said the reception is a rare
\nexception made by the US State Department, which is a clear indication of the
\nspecial importance of US-Romanian relations. Andrei Muraru said that, during
\nhis meetings with US officials, he expressed Romania’s firm commitment to
\nconsolidating the strategic partnership at military, political, economic,
\ncultural and educational levels. <\/p>\n
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DEFICIT – Romania’s
\nbudget deficit stood below 3% of the GDP after the first six months of the
\nyear, which signals a drop according to centralized data published by the
\nFinance Ministry. Budget revenues are 20% higher compared to the similar period
\nof last year. Spending also went up by 10%, compared to 2020. The largest share
\nrepresented investment, followed by COVID-related spending. Personnel spending
\nalso went up 4.5%, while social welfare expenses also increased by some 9%. <\/p>\n
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\n
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VISIT – Principal
\nDeputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, Kathryn Huff and David Muniz,
\nCharge d’affaires of the US Embassy in Bucharest on Friday visited the Nuclear
\nPower Plant at Cernavod\u0103. According to a US Embassy release, the visit was
\naimed at starting bilateral talks over the recent ratification by president
\nKlaus Iohannis of the US-Romanian inter-government agreement, also marking the
\n10th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership between the two
\nstates. The US Embassy also says the agreement allows for cooperation in key
\nsectors for Romania as well as in the field of civilian nuclear energy,
\nparticularly as regards projects to build Units 3 and 4 and modernizing Unit 1
\nat the Cernavod\u0103 Nuclear Power Plant. The USA and Romania in October 2020
\nsigned an extended inter-government cooperation agreement regarding the
\ndevelopment of nuclear energy projects at Cernavod\u0103 and in the field of
\ncivilian nuclear energy in Romania. In November 2020, the European Commission
\nratified the US-Romanian agreement that provides for the building of reactors 3
\nand 4 at Cernavod\u0103. The project will be using the CANDU 6 technology, which is
\nsimilar to the current one being used in units 1 and 2. <\/p>\n
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FESTIVAL – Cancelled last
\nyear due to the COVID pandemic, the Medieval Sighi\u015foara Festival, the
\nlongest-lasting festival of its kind in Romania, will this year bring together
\nartists, craftsmen and a large number of guests. The only medieval citadel
\nstill inhabited in southeastern Europe, Sighi\u015foara will this weekend see
\nwarriors, knights, ladies of the court and master craftsmen pouring in from all
\ncorners of the country and from abroad. On Friday, the medieval play The Farce
\nof Master Pathelin, stage directed by our colleague from the Aromanian
\nService, Toma Enache, who is also the festival’s stage director, was premiered.
\nA concert by the band Phoenix is scheduled for Sunday. Entry is free of charge,
\nface masks are mandatory and only vaccinated people or those presenting a negative
\nPCR test for COVID-19 can attend the performances. <\/p>\n
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WEATHER – A heat wave
\ncontinues to grip Romania, with code orange and yellow alerts having been
\nissued in most regions. Meteorologists expect extremely high temperatures,
\nthunderstorms, but also strong wind and hail during the interval. Highs may
\nexceed 38 degrees locally. (VP)<\/p>\n
\n
\n
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\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[35374,29789,34930,36337,36336,31482,32305],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-covid-19","tag-cyber-attacks","tag-festival-in-sighisoara","tag-heat-wve","tag-mercer-street-attack","tag-us-romania-relations","tag-vaccination-campaign"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n