Morning headlines – January 11th

Coronavirus and vaccines

•  the total global number of COVID-19 cases has exceeded 90 millions, meanwhile the number of deaths is close to two millions.
•  the entire world entered a vaccination race, the US being the first to have more than 6,6 million people already vaccinated. On Monday, the president-elect Joe Biden will get a second vaccine dose, after the first one was done live on TV.
• Great Britain starts the COVID-19 mass vaccination today, says BBC.
• 108.000 people were vaccinated in Romania so far.
•  the Romanian Orthodox Church is getting involved in the vaccination campaign, by issuing flyers in churches, said the Health Ministry.
•  the prime-minister asked for the 932 vaccination centers to be ready this week, when they enter the second phase of the vaccination, as the authorities are trying to reach 100.000 vaccinations a day.

Global political and military events

•  Donald Trump is close to impeachment again, with only 9 more days until his mandate ends, says CNN. This will be initiated by the democrats, due to the Capitol Hill events that took place last week, if Vice-president Mike Pence will not use the 25^th Amendment, which says that the effective president is suspended because he can no longer do his job.
•  The US Armed Forces are investigating the participation of Captain Emily Rainey, special officer in physiological operations, who led a group of protesters at the Capitol Hill events that took place last week, said the US Army.
• North Korea. The Nord-Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, was elected general secretary of the Workers Party, the only party in the country, which he led until now as president, said on Monday the official agency KCNA, said AFP.
• France has tested a new missile that can carry nuclear warheads, announced the Air Forces in this country.
• Russia will equip the MiG-31 aircrafts from the Naval Forces with Kh-47M hypersonic missiles, known also as Kinzal, which have a 2.000 km range of action and can reach 10 Mach speed, says the local media.

Romania’s defence and security

• The air traffic to Spain is affected by the extreme weather conditions. An airplane which was flying to Madrid had to get back to the airport only five minutes after taking off from the International Airport “Avram Iancu”, in Cluj Napoca.
• In Bucharest, more than 400 snow plows are being used in Bucharest to clean the streets, said the Bucharest City Hall.
• Finances. Starting today, the NAFA (National Agency for Finances Administration) has access to people and companies’ bank accounts to identify the money transfers and the real beneficiaries of the amounts. Crypto currencies are also targeted, said Mediafax.