July 22, 2026
A roundup of local and world news
Newsroom, 22.07.2026, 13:55
WEATHER A number of code yellow and code orange warnings for atmospheric instability, substantial rainfall, wind and thunderstorms are valid until Thursday morning in several parts of the country. A code orange alert for heavy rainfall covers six counties in the southeast today, and a code yellow warning is in place elsewhere in the south, east, center and north of the country. Rainfall is expected to reach 25 – 50 l/sq m and even over 70 l/sq m in certain areas. In the other regions, atmospheric instability is reported in limited areas. The highs range between 19 and 30 degrees Celsius. The weather has cooled in the capital city Bucharest, where the highs will reach 23 degrees Celsius.
PARLIAMENT The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies will convene in an extraordinary session from July 27 to 31. The Chamber of Deputies speaker and president of the Social Democratic Party, Sorin Grindeanu, had requested the extraordinary session starting July 27 for the outstanding legislation required under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and proposed a special parliamentary committee should be set up to solve the current political deadlock. This working group would operate until a government with full powers is sworn in. In turn, the Senate speaker Mircea Abrudean (National Liberal Party) called for responsibility so that the outstanding reforms may be completed, and said a new salary law is needed to address inequities. The legislation was halted on Tuesday by the Bucharest Court of Appeals, which suspended the procedure for endorsing the law at the request of trade unions in healthcare. The labour ministry has already announced it will appeal the ruling. Six reforms totaling over EUR 4.5 billion should be approved in the coming weeks, otherwise Romania risks losing money under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
FIRE The fire on the Liberian vessel carrying liquefied petroleum gas that was hit on Tuesday morning off the Romanian Black Sea coast has not been put out yet. The Romanian Naval Authority explained that there is no risk to tourists, the public or the activities carried out on the coast, although a strong explosion is possible given the current position and condition of the ship as well as its cargo. The oil tanker had left Egypt heading for the Ukrainian port of Reni, carrying over 3,790 tons of propane on board and a crew of 17. While transiting Romania’s exclusive economic zone, the ship was hit by 3 drones, according to the crew. The vessel suffered major damage and the crew were evacuated.
SOCIAL MEDIA The French parliament has endorsed a bill that bans the use of social media by children under the age of 15, a first in Europe, to protect the health of children and teenagers. The law will take effect on September 1 for new accounts and on January 1 for existing accounts. The legislation does not provide for penalties for children or parents. Instead, social media platforms will have to implement one or several age verification systems to give users a choice, a measure that has sparked controversy. In April, the European Commission also presented a pan-European age verification app, and private solutions are under development. The same law also bans mobile phones in high schools, a ban already in force in France in elementary schools, although exceptions could be included in the internal regulations of educational institutions. France has decided to pass this law after mounting concern over the harmful effects of social media on children and teenagers. Other European countries are also considering similar legislation.
FOOTBALL Universitatea Craiova take on Levski Sofia in the Bulgarian capital city today, in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. If they win and move up into the 3rd round, the Romanian champions will face the winner of the matches between Omonia Nicosia (Cyprus) and Kairat Almaty (Kazakhstan). Three other Romanian teams are competing in the third-tier European competition. In the second qualifying round of the Conference League, FCSB face FK Auda (Latvia), CFR Cluj take on Alashkert (Armenia), and U Cluj will play against SK Brann (Norway). (AMP)
