Morning headlines – July 22nd 2021

Coronavirus and vaccines

• Vaccination in Romania: In the last 24 hours, more than 15.000 people got vaccinated. Totally, more than 4.5 million people got the vaccine, with more than 4,7 getting both doses.
• Coronavirus in Romania: In the last 24 hours, there were recorded 102 new SARS CoV-2 cases, 2 deaths and in ICU there are now 38 people hospitalized.

 Global political and military events

• A solution for the controversial Nord-Stream 2 project. The Joseph Biden Administration and the Angela Merkel Government got to an agreement on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which will connect Russia and Germany through the Baltic Sea, said Victoria Nuland, US under-secretary of state for political affairs. The agreement will include guarantees on protecting Ukraine. Ukraine is, however, unhappy with the situation and sent a complaint. (Mediafax)
• The EU is rejecting Great Britain’s renegotiation claims of the Brexit Deal. The European Unio agrees with finding a solution to improve the Northern Ireland situation, but it will not accept to renegotiate the Northern-Irish Protocol of the Brexit Deal, said, Wednesday in the afternoon, Maroš Šefčovič, vice-president of the European Commission. (Mediafax)
• Morocco refuses the allegations on the espionage of French officials. The Moroccan Government rejected the allegations on the espionage activities on French officials, including president Emmanuel Macron. `We definitely reject all these false and baseless allegations, said, on Wednesday, the Rabat Government. (Mediafax)
• Israel attacked Hezbollah targets in Syria. Israel has launched many missiles against Hezbollah deposits in the Syrian province Homs. Today’s attack is the second one this week. (AP)
• Pentagon: the Taliban controls 213 of the 419 districts of Afghanistan. The statement was made by general Mark Milley, the president of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces. He stated that the US troops’ withdrawal is 95% done and will be complete by the end of August. General Milley added that the Afghan Armed Forces’ leadership and will of fight will be tested soon. (Pentagon)

Romania’s defence and security

• State of alert in the 1^st district. The local committee for emergency situations of the first district is asking the Bucharest’s Prefecture to declare a state of alert for 30 days due to the sanitary situation provoked by the trash left on the streets, said, on Wednesday, the city hall of the first district. (Mediafax)
• The number of swine fever cases is increasing. The National Sanitary Veterinary Authority and Food Safety has announced that in the last week, once the weather got warmer, the number of swine fever cases has increase, being recorded 50 breeding grounds in 15 counties. Currently, in Romania there are 170 breeding grounds.
• Bucharest will lose a quarter of its inhabitants. The capital will only have 1.4 million inhabitants by 2050 comparing to 1.8 millions, as showed by the 2020 statistics, says Eurostat. `We will witness a natural decrease, because birthrate is extremely low and we will also have a external migration, but also a decrease through internal migration. Many people leave Bucharest to stay near the capital, that is why Ilfov will benefit from the situation, as the population here will increase’, said professor Vasile Ghetau, the director of the Demographic Research Centre `Vladimir Trebici’ from the Romanian Academy. (Aleph News)