WEATHER Romanian authorities have issued an amber heat alert valid today
\nin 12 counties in the west of the country, and amber and orange alerts covering
\nmore than three-quarters of the country for the period July 22 – 24. As of
\nThursday, the extreme heat wave will cover most of the country, with the
\ntemperature-humidity index (THI) exceeding 80. Highs will generally range from
\n35 to 37 degrees Celsius, with temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius
\nexpected on Friday and Saturday in the west, north-west and south-west. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
NATO The Senate, as the decision-making chamber in the
\nParliament of Romania, convenes today in a special meeting to ratify the NATO
\nAccession Protocols of Finland and Sweden. Previously,
\nthe Chamber of Deputies had endorsed the
\nbill ratifying the protocols. The documents were signed on July 5 in Brussels. Finland’s and Sweden’s decision to
\njoin the North-Atlantic Alliance comes amid security concerns related to
\nRussia’s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
HOLIDAY Every year on July 20 Romania
\ncelebrates Aviation and Air Forces Day, which overlaps the religious holiday of St.
\nElijah, regarded as the patron saint of pilots. In Bucharest, a military ceremony is held
\ntoday, which brings together over 20 military aircraft of the Romanian, British
\nand Italian Air Forces, Interior Ministry and Intelligence Service helicopters,
\na Tarom plane and 4 planes from the Romanian Air Club. Military aircraft will
\nbe flying over other cities across the country. The Romanian military aviation
\nwas established in 1910,
\nwhen Aurel Vlaicu designed the first military aircraft. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
COVID In Romania, the National Public
\nHealth Institute announced that in the previous week 171 Omicron infections
\nwere confirmed in the country. All of these are SARS-CoV-2
\nvariants that cause concern. According to the institution, by July 17, as many
\nas 6,611 Omicron infections had been reported. The number of COVID-19 cases
\ncontinues to rise, and experts say the current wave is caused by an Omicron
\nsub-variant of the coronavirus, which spreads a lot more quickly and is able to
\ninfiltrate the protection given by
\nthe current vaccines and previous infections. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
GOVERNMENT The government of Romania is
\nscheduled to pass a bill today concerning the procurement of some of the
\nmost advanced electric trains, powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Only 3 countries
\nin the EU are currently using or testing such trains. The Transport Ministry
\nplans to purchase a total of 12 hydrogen electric trains. Also in the transport
\nsector, the government intends to start expropriation procedures in order to
\nwiden the Bucharest South ring road. The Cabinet will also discuss the
\n2022-2027 National Strategy on Research, Innovation and Smart Specialisation,
\nwhich will create the framework for an efficient and effective spending of national
\nfunds. Two other documents are due to be reviewed today, a memorandum concerning
\ntalks with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development on non-reimbursable
\nEU funding, and another memorandum endorsing the 2022-2024 strategy for
\ngovernmental debt management.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
ANTI-SEMITISM The
\npandemic context, vaccination campaigns, public campaigns raising awareness on
\nthe rise in cases of anti-Semitism and the information on the history of the Holocaust
\nare the main factors contributing to a strengthening of online and offline hate
\nspeech, reads the latest monitoring report issued by the ‘Elie Wiesel’ National
\nInstitute for Holocaust Research in Romania. According to the institution, vandalism
\ncases, the praising of inter-war far-right figures and people convicted for war
\ncrimes or known for their extremist attitude, anti-Semitic messages in
\nParliament and minimising the memory of Holocaust victims remain common
\noccurrences in Romania. Central authorities have reconfirmed their commitment
\nto fight extremist actions by endorsing a National Strategy for preventing and
\nfighting anti-Semitism, xenophobia, radicalisation and hate speech and by
\nintroducing Jewish and Holocaust history as a school subject, the report also
\nsays. However, the lack of awareness and responsibility among local authorities
\nhinders the implementation of the principles upheld by the central authorities. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Click here for a roundup of local and world 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":[32986,35655,30716,34641,34904,35374,32381,35656,29286,32378,13794,36442,36904,35822],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-106043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-accession","tag-air","tag-alert","tag-anti-semitism","tag-aviation","tag-covid-19","tag-extreme","tag-forces","tag-government","tag-heat","tag-nato","tag-omicron","tag-ratify","tag-wave"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n