August 26, 2021
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 26.08.2021, 13:55
WARNING — The United States, Britain and Australia have urged their citizens to avoid Kabul airport due to the high risk of terror attacks, after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. There is credible intelligence of a very imminent lethal attack, U.K. Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said on Thursday. On Wednesday, the British Foreign Office warned people not to travel to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, where thousands of people are waiting for planes to take them out of the country before the August 31st deadline, when the US and its allies will withdraw their last troops from Afghanistan. On Wednesday, in Bucharest, the Higher Defense Council decided that 200 Romanian military will take part in the NATO mission of evacuation and relocation of the Afghan citizens who worked for the Alliance’s mission in Afghanistan. The Romanian military will take part in this mission for 6 months at the most. The operation will mainly consist in picking up Afghan citizens from temporary military bases in Kuwait and Qatar and relocating them to stationary bases on the territory of allied states, with the provision of key services.
CORONAVIRUS — Romanian authorities are preparing for anew wave of the coronavirus pandemic, which children are believed to be the most vulnerable to. The head of the National Department for Emergencies, Raed Arafat, has said that the number of infections is expected to rise in the upcoming period but that, unlike previous pandemic waves, there are now several million people vaccinated. He has also said that hospitals, especially children’s hospitals, are closely monitored. It is up to us to limit the virus’s impact and vaccination is the solution, Arafat said. 849 new infections were reported in Romania on Wednesday in addition to 14 fatalities. 212 people are in intensive care.
REPORT – The interest in electric vehicles is on the increase in Europe, with 55% of consumers and 100% of fleet managers stating their intention to buy such vehicles in the next two years, according to a e-Readiness Report survey conducted this year by the PcW’s global strategy department. In Romania, authorities want to support the purchase of non-pollutant cars through the Rabla Plus car scrapping programme, offering an eco-voucher of 45,000 lei for the purchase of a new electric vehicle and of 20,000 lei for the purchase of a hybrid vehicle. The main factors mentioned by the respondents for choosing an electric car are the fuel economy, the impact on the environment and the ability to charge the car at home. The arguments against such purchases include charging times and the lack of a public charging infrastructure.
PARALYMPIC GAMES — Romanian cyclist Eduard Novak came out 11th in the 1,000-m race at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Novak is the first minister in office to attend the Olympic or Paralympic Games. He won Romania’s three out of the four medals in previous editions. Romania competes with 7 athletes at the current edition of the Paralympic Games, in tennis table, judo, athletics, cycling and archery.
THEATRE — The Sibiu International theatre festival continues in Romania. The show Shakespeare-Bach/ Le Main du temps”, featuring Charlotte Rampling and Sonia Wieder-Atherton has its world premiere today, being one of the most expected events of the festival. On this occasion, the two stars will meet with the public in the big hall of the Radu Stanca National Theatre in Sibiu. A French-British production, the play brings to the stage sonnets by William Shakespeare and suites by JS Bach. (EE)
