August 18, 2021 UPDATE

A news update

Newsroom, 18.08.2021, 20:02

Finance – Dan Vîlceanu is the new finance minister of Romania, after he was sworn in on Wednesday. He had been nominated by the National Political Bureau of the National Liberal Party – PNL, the main party in the ruling center-right coalition in Romania. The Prime Minister Florin Cîţu last month dismissed the former finance minister, Alexandru Nazare, and has acted as interim finance minister so far.

Covid – 541 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Wednesday in Romania, following about 35,000 tests. The authorities also reported 6 deaths in 24 hours in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. The number of patients who need hospitalization continues to grow. Currently, there are over 1,000 people in hospital of whom 146 are in intensive care units. Against the backdrop of the rapid growth of COVID cases, hospitals have begun preparations for the 4th wave, which is expected in September, according to some experts.

Summit – US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have agreed, on the phone, to attend a G7 virtual summit on Afghanistan next week, the White House and Downing Street have announced. It is President Joe Bidens first conversation with a head of state or government since the Taliban entered the Afghan capital, Kabul, after 20 years of military intervention by US-led international coalition in which the United Kingdom played an important role. In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, admitted that the West had made mistakes in Afghanistan, especially because it did not anticipate the Talibans rapid takeover. He explained that the EU’s priority was to evacuate the European citizens as well as the Afghans who worked for the EU bloc. On the other hand, official sources from Abu Dhabi announced that the Afghan president Ashraf Ghani and his family are on the territory of the United Arab Emirates, where they were received for humanitarian reasons after leaving the country on Sunday.

Olympics — The nine Romanian athletes who received medals at the Olympic Games in Tokyo were decorated, on Wednesday, in Bucharest, by President Klaus Iohannis. These are: Nicoleta Ancuţa Bodnar and Simona Geanina Radiş — winners of the gold medal in the womens double sculls, Ana-Maria Popescu — winner of the silver medal in womens epee, Marius Vasile Cozmiuc and Ciprian Tudosă – silver in the mens double sculls, and Mihăiţă Vasile Ţigănescu, Mugurel Vasile Semciuc, Ştefan Constantin Berariu and Cosmin Pascari — winners of the silver medal in the quadruple sculls. The Romanian athletes’ victories in Tokyo are all the more remarkable as they were obtained in pandemic conditions, President Iohannis underlined. He also stated that Romanian sport should become a priority again, as it represents an important pillar for a healthy society. We remind you that Romania ranked 46th in the medals ranking obtained at the recent Olympic Games.

Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep (13 WTA) on Tuesday obtained her first victory after a break of three and a half months, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, against the Polish Magda Linette, in the first round of the tournament WTA 1,000 in Cincinnati (USA), which has total prizes up for grabs of over 2 million dollars. In the second round, Simona Halep will be up against Jessica Pegula. Also on Tuesday, the Romanian-German pair Horia Tecău / Kevin Krawietz qualified to the eighth finals of the doubles event of the ATP Masters 1,000 tournament in Cincinnati. The two defeated the Argentinean pair Federico Delbonis/Diego Schwartzman 7-5, 6-3. In the eighth final, the Romanian-German couple will face the pair Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador) and Fabio Fognini (Italy). Tecău already won a title in Cincinnati, in 2012, together with the Swede Robert Lindstedt.

Agriculture – The wheat, barley and rapeseed crops obtained by Romania this year are the highest since the countrys accession to the European Union in 2007, the Agriculture Ministry officials announced. For wheat, the crop exceeds 11 million tons, an amount twice as big as that reported last year, when it was affected by drought. The total barley output stands at 1.88 million tons this year, which is a record level while the rapeseed output exceeded 3 tons per hectare. (LS)