August 12, 2018 UPDATE

For a roundup of domestic and international news, click here

Newsroom, 12.08.2018, 23:40

PROTESTS – Military prosecutors have called on people who got
injured in Friday night’s anti-Government protest in Victory Square as part of
clashes between the riot police and protesters, and who can provide valuable
information to appear before the Military Prosecutor’s Office on Monday and Tuesday.
So far 19 complaints have been filed. Military prosecutors have launched a
criminal investigation into the Friday night’s incidents and the way the riot
police intervened. The police have arrested 2 people in connection with Friday
night’s acts of violence and have opened 8 criminal cases. On the other hand,
the Prosecutor’s Office with the Bucharest Court of Law and the Homicide
Department with the Bucharest Police have called on the population to help
apprehend a man involved in the assault of two gendarmes, a man and a woman,
who were attacked by a group of hooligans. The woman’s gun was stolen. A court
of law in Bucharest issued arrest warrants for two men, accused of assault and
aggravated public order disturbance. We recall that some 100,000 people
gathered on Friday in front of the Government headquarters in Bucharest,
demanding the resignation of the cabinet and early elections. There were
violent clashes between the protesters and the gendarmes, and riot police used
tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds. The gendarmes moved in after
some of their colleagues were attacked. Over 450 people, including 35
gendarmes, received medical treatment further to the clashes. President Klaus
Iohannis accused the Government of being irrational and acting against the
interests of their own citizens. Social-Democrat Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă
requested an immediate and comprehensive report from the Romanian Intelligence
Service regarding the entities that planned and instigated the violence on
Friday night, as well as concerning the response of state institutions. Thousands
of people protested peacefully on Sunday for the third night in a row in
Bucharest and other cities across Romania.

MEASLES – 70 new cases of measles were reported over August 2-9 in
Bucharest and 15 counties across the country. According to the National Center
for Monitoring and Control of Transmissible Disease, 2 years since the epidemic
broke out in Romania, the number of people who got sick now stands at 15,000,
of whom 59 died. Measles can be prevented via vaccination. A quarter of the
people suffering from measles need hospital care, and 1 in 1000 people dies in
Romania to measles, doctors have warned.

ANONIMUL – The Iceland-Denmark coproduction Under the Tree,
directed by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, won the 2018 Anonimul Trophy at the 15th
edition of the Anonimul International Independent Film Festival, held in
Sfantul Gheorghe, the Danube Delta. The public also picked the other winners.
Kaveh Mazaheri’s Retouch won the award for best foreign short, while Emanuel
Parvu’s Everything is far away got the award for best Romanian short. The
Ovidiu Bose Pastina award bestowed by the Anonimul Foundation went to Mother,
directed by Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen.

NASA – On Sunday NASA successfully launched the Parker solar probe
into space, which will try to ascertain whether the sun’s corona is hotter than
its surface. The Parker probe will travel into the sun’s atmosphere, closer to
any aircraft before. The spacecraft is fitted to withstand extreme temperatures
and radiation. This will be the first aircraft to fly into the sun’s atmosphere
and will transmit important data back to earth on the origin and evolution of
solar wind. The probe will complete 24 orbits of the sun, travelling at
approximately 700,000 km/h.

GYMNASTICS – Andrei Muntean was ranked 8th in the still
rings final at the European Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow. He was the
only Romanian who qualified to an individual event final. Aged 25, Muntean won
the Olympic youth title for this event in 2010 in Singapore.

TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep on Sunday defeated Sloane
Stephens of the US, WTA no. 3, in the finals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, 7-6,
3-6, 6-4. Sunday’s game was actually a rematch of the Roland Garros final
earlier this year, won by Halep. This was Simona’s third final at Montreal. She
also won the 2016 edition.

(Translated by V. Palcu)