9\/11 In Bucharest, PM
\nNicolae Ciuc\u0103 Sunday addressed a message of solidarity with the people of the
\nUSA, 21 years since the terrorist attacks of 2001. The tragedy of the American
\nnation, shared by the entire planet, struck at the heart of freedom and democracy: the trust in and respect for the other. We honour the memory of
\nthose who passed away and we stand by the survivors and rescuers in the
\nterrorist attacks of 9\/11, the Romanian Prime Minister said. Mr. Ciuc\u0103 also
\nmentioned Romania’s continued solidarity with the US, as reflected in the
\nmilitary cooperation between the 2 countries. Our troops, in increasingly
\ncomplex missions, have proved professionalism and dedication, contributing to
\nthe safeguarding of peace and democratic values. In the most important
\nmissions, in Iraq and Afghanistan, Romanian troops showed solidarity with their
\nAmerican partners, fighting together with the world’s democracies against terrorism
\nand defending fundamental rights and liberties, reads the message. Nearly 3,000 people were killed 21 years ago
\nby 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacking 4 aircraft.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
QUEENThe state funerals for Queen Elizabeth II,
\nwho passed away on Thursday, aged 96, will take place on the 19 September. Meanwhile,
\nBritons will have several days to pay their respects to their former sovereign,
\nfirst in Edinburgh and then in London, where the Queen’s coffin is scheduled to
\narrive on Tuesday. On Saturday, King Charles III was proclaimed monarch, and
\ntoday he was officially proclaimed head of state of Australia and New Zealand. The
\nBritish monarch is the sovereign of 14 other countries apart from the UK, although
\nwith a largely ceremonial role. The King is also the head of the Commonwealth, an
\nassociation of 56 countries, most of them former British colonies. For over 4
\ndecades, King Charles has been involved in charities lobbying for environment
\nand heritage conservation, but as head of state he will take on exclusively
\nconstitutional responsibilities. As a Prince of Wales, the new King visited
\nRomania almost every year for 2 decades, supporting a number of organisations
\nand projects, especially in Transylvania, where he owns several estates. The UK
\nEmbassy in Bucharest opened an online condolence book for members of the
\npublic, but hundreds of Romanians went to the embassy offices to bring flowers
\nand light candles for the Queen. The flag at the embassy office was flown at
\nhalf-mast. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
FLIGHTS The national airline
\nTAROM continues to repatriate the Romanians stranded in international airports
\nafter the private operator Blue Air suspended flights. Today around 200 people
\nwill be brought from Greece’s Zakynthos and Rhodes islands, with another 200 to
\nbe repatriated on Monday, after 350 Romanian nationals were repatriated from
\nGreece on Saturday. Four other special flights had previously been organised to
\nIsrael, Greece, Cyprus
\nand Spain. Several thousand Romanians have been stranded in international airports
\nsince Tuesday night, when Blue Air announced it was suspending flights. Although
\nthe authorities have unfrozen the accounts of the airline, which had excessive
\ndebts to the Romanian state, Blue Air said it would only resume flights on 10 October.
\nBlue Air’s current estimated debts amount to EUR 230 mln. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
UKRAINE Since early September
\nthe Ukrainian army has freed some 2,000 sq.km of the country’s territory,
\npresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced. Ukrainian forces are currently engaged
\nin 2 counter-offensive campaigns, one in the south, targeting Herson, and the
\nsecond one in the Kharkiv area in the north-east, where they entered the key
\ncities of Kupyansk and Izyum. According to international media, these are the
\nmost important gains for Ukraine since early April, when the Russians were
\npushed out of Kyiv area. Reuters quotes a former chief of pro-Russian militias
\nin eastern Ukraine, Igor Girkin, as talking about a major defeat for Russia.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\nNUCLEAR Operations
\nat the Zaporozhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, controlled by Russian
\nforces, have been fully stopped as a safety measure, Ukraine’s nuclear operator
\nEnergoatom announced on Sunday. Another emergency shut-down had been ordered in
\nAugust. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of shelling the nuclear plant, while
\npresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the region around
\nit to be demilitarised. (AMP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Click here for a roundup of local and world news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[29254,31842,29330,31792,35579,32887,30746,30684,37020,28905,37022],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-106164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-9-11","tag-army","tag-attacks","tag-charles","tag-flights","tag-funerals","tag-nuclear","tag-queen","tag-stranded","tag-ukraine","tag-zaporozhzhia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n