April 17, 2022 UPDATE

april 17, 2022 update Click here for a roundup of local and world news

EASTER Catholic and Protestant Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. At the Vatican, Pope Francis once again called for peace, describing Easter as the gift of hope during the Mass held in a basilica with thousands of believers. On Sunday, the service took place in San Pietro Square after 2 years of Covid-related restrictions. For Orthodox and Greek-Catholic believers, who celebrate Easter next weekend, it was Palm Sunday, commemorating the moment when Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem. In Romania, a mostly Orthodox country, nearly one and a half million people celebrated their name day on Sunday. President Klaus Iohannis wished happy and peaceful holidays to all those who celebrate Easter or Palm Sunday.


UKRAINE As of midnight Russian vessels are no longer allowed to enter EU ports, Romanian ports included. The ban also covers ships that replaced the Russian flag with the colours of another state after February 24 when the war in Ukraine started, but not those which need assistance or shelter for safety reasons or those which have saved lives at the sea. In an interview to Sunday's issue of the German magazine Bild am Sonntag, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the next stage of EU sanctions will target Russia's oil and banking sectors, particularly the country's largest bank, Sberbank. She added that Brussels was working on smart mechanisms to include Russian oil in the new list of sanctions, so as to reduce the financing for Vladimir Putin's invasion army. EU member states are currently paying for Russian gas and oil via Sberbank and Gazprombank, which have so far been exempt from Europe's sanctions, Reuters explains. The EU announced on Sunday that EUR 50 million would be earmarked for humanitarian aid to be sent to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Some EUR 45 million will go into humanitarian programmes in Ukraine, while the Republic of Moldova, where hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have taken refuge since the start of the war, is set to receive EUR 5 million.


REFUGEES The number of Ukrainian nationals who reached Romania on Saturday was 12.4% higher than on the previous days, the Romanian border police announced. Since the start of the crisis, over 730,000 Ukrainian citizens have entered the country, most of them leaving Romania for other destinations.


POLL The Church ranks first in a public confidence poll in Romania. The survey conducted by CURS at the end of March indicates that 67% of the respondents trust the Church, up 4% since January. The Army, on the other hand, has lost 8% in the same survey. The most significant increase in public confidence was reported for the National Bank of Romania, with 42% of the respondents saying they trust the central bank, as opposed to half this figure in January. The poll was commissioned by the National Liberal Party and has a +/- 1.9% margin of error.


DIPLOMACY The Romanian Foreign Ministry celebrates 25 years since the Joint Statement on the Romania-Italy Strategic Partnership was signed. The genuine friendship between the 2 countries is facilitated by the presence of over 1 million Romanians in Italy, making up the largest foreign community in that country and also the largest Romanian community abroad, reads a news release issued by the institution.


NORTH KOREA North Korea announced the successful test firing of a new type of tactical guided weapon aimed at boosting the country's nuclear capabilities, which may indicate that Pyongyang is ready to resume nuclear testing. North Korea suspended nuclear testing in 2017, and the following year it blew up the tunnels in its underground nuclear test site, but recent satellite imagery indicates digging and construction activities have been resumed.


INVICTUS A group of 20 Romanian military wounded in battle fields are taking part in the one-week long Invictus Games, hosted his year by The Hague in the Netherlands. They will compete in 7 sports, 6 of them individual competitions (hand archery, athletics, rowing, powerlifting, cycling and swimming) and a team sport (sitting volleyball). The Invictus Games promote respect and empathy for the sacrifice and traumas of wounded military, whose involvement in these activities is an opportunity for social reintegration and for regaining self-confidence, the Romanian Defence Ministry says. For Romanian troops, this year's Invictus participation is the third, after the ones in Toronto, in 2017, and Sydney, one year later. (AMP)


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Publicat: 2022-04-17 19:15:00
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