Morning headlines – March 24th 2021

Coronavirus and vaccines

• Vaccination in Romania: More than 1.8 million people got vaccinated (more than 826. 000 with both doses). In the last 24 hours, more than 58.000 people got vaccinated (more than 27.000 with both doses).
• Coronavirus in Romania: In the last 24 hours, there were recorded 6.147 new SARS CoV-2 cases, 174 deaths and in ICU there are now 1.367 people hospitalized.
• 775. 294 people are enlisted on the waiting lists; 447.420 of them are part of the general population, 146.218 are people with ages above 65 years (18.9%), 118.138 people with chronic diseases (15.23%), and 63.618 (8.1%) people from essential work fields.
• The European Medicines Agency is analyzing the Sputnik V manufactures. The European Medicines Agency will analyze the Sputnik V vaccine manufactures from Russia, before approving it, said the EMA chief in front of a European Parliament commission. France could start in June the vaccination of its citizens with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, said Clement Beaune, the French state secretary for European businesses, in an interview given to the radio channel France Info, says Digi24.

Global political and military events

• The US-EU cooperation. The US president Joe Biden will participate at the EU leaders’ summit on March 25^th, organized through a videoconference, said a spokesperson of the European Council.
• Seven years old girl, dead shot in Myanmar. A seven years old girl was shot dead on Tuesday, while she was in her house, while the forces have opened fire in Mandalay city, says AP. The death toll after the Myanmar protests got to 261.
• North Korea has launched two missiles, but the US is still open to dialogue. North Korea has launched on Sunday two cruise missiles, near the Onchon village, which is not under the UN’s embargo, said on Tuesday the Biden Administration’s officials, according to AP. It is the first test since Biden is president, but the US is still open to dialogue, also said the quoted source.
• US military base from Syria, under missiles attack. A military base from Syria, which hosts US soldiers, placed in the Deir Ezzor province, near the oil field from Koniko, was attacked with missiles, on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese media agency Al Mayadeen. The Pentagon did not issue any press release on the victims.

Romania’s defence and security

• We are afforesting the areas affected by desertification. President Klaus Iohannis, prime-minister Florin Citu and many other members of the Government will participate, on Wednesday, in the Dabuleni village from Dolj county, at the first action from the forestation campaign in the area affected by desertification from south of Romania.
• Meeting of the chiefs of the Armed Forces from Romania and Spain. The chief of the Major Stat of the Armed Forces, general-lieutenant Daniel Petrescu, is meeting, today, at the Defence Ministry’s headquarter, his Spanish counterpart, admiral Teodoro Esteban Lopez, who started on Tuesday an official four-day visit in Romania. The two will assess the bilateral military cooperation relations and its development potential, given the strategic partnership between Romania and Spain, and they will also discuss about military drills, the consolidation of the allied command-control multinational structures and the analysis of missions executed in theatres of operations in a NATO and EU context.
• It happened today:
• on March 24^th 1999, NATO started the bombing campaign of Yugoslavia.
• On March 24^th 2013, Mariana Dragescu died a Romanian pilot, member of the White Escadrille (born in 1912).