August 17, 2014
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România Internațional, 17.08.2014, 13:49
Over 63 thousand high school graduates start tomorrow the autumn session of this year’s Baccalaureate in Romania. The exam will begin with an oral test in Romanian or national minorities’ mother tongue, followed by the testing of foreign language and computer skills. The written sections of the Baccalaureate exam will test the graduates’ literature knowledge and two other subjects, depending on the high school profile. In the first session, held in late June and early July, over 59% of Romania’s high school graduates passed the exam, which is 3% more than last year. Although irregularities have been reported, the exam was not affected by major incidents.
Romania is taking part in the second Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing (China) with 41 athletes enrolled in half of the competition events, namely athletics, basketball, boxing, weight lifting, canoe kayak, rowing, judo, swimming, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, fencing, taekwondo, table tennis and tennis. The Youth Olympic Games, for athletes 14 to 18 years of age, opened last night on the Nanjing stadium with a grand ceremony watched by a crowd of nearly 60 thousand people. More than 3,500 athletes from 204 countries take part in the event, which is scheduled to close on August the 28th.
More religious and cultural events are being held in Romania today as well, to commemorate 300 years since the death of Wallachian ruler Constantin Brâncoveanu and of his sons. On Saturday a religious service was held at St. George the New Church in Bucharest, the last church commissioned by Brâncoveanu. He was secretly buried here after his death as a martyr in 1714, in Constantinople. President Traian Basescu described Constantin Brâncoveanu in a message as one of the most brilliant political and cultural figures in Romanian medieval history. In turn, PM Victor Ponta said Romanians must look towards the future and learn from the character, wisdom and sacrifice of this great leader.
The Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Pavlo Klimkin, are meeting in Berlin today, in the presence of their German and French counterparts, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Laurent Fabius, respectively, for new talks on the crisis in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, Kiev and Moscow agreed on procedures to inspect the Russian humanitarian convoy before it can enter Ukraine. Nearly 300 Russian trucks, carrying, according to Moscow, 1,800 tons of aid, have been waiting since Thursday on the Ukrainian border. Kiev and the West, which accuse Russia of arming the pro-Russian secessionists in east Ukraine, fear the convoy is a pretext for either a destabilising operation, or for support for the pro-Russian rebels.
Egyptian brokered negotiations continue in Cairo today, between Israelis and Palestinians, to reach a lasting truce in Gaza. The Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would not accept a ceasefire unless the Palestinians offer a concrete answer to his country’s security needs. Israel wants disarming in Gaza, while the Palestinians demand an end to the several year long siege on the enclave. A ceasefire took effect in Gaza on Monday and was extended on Thursday for five days. The conflict in the region, which started on July the 8th, has so far killed nearly 2 thousand Palestinians and close to 70 Israelis.
The US carried out air strikes near the largest dam in Iraq, in Mosul (north), to help Kurdish fighters regain control on it from the Islamic State. According to the US Military command for the Middle East and Central Asia, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft successfully conducted nine air strikes that destroyed or damaged several Jihadist vehicles. As Iraq struggles with a Jihadist offensive launched in early June, the international community has recently stepped up efforts to undercut the funding of the insurgents, to arm the Kurds and assist the tens of thousand Iraqis that seek refuge from the violence.
