Morning headlines – September 20th 2021

Coronavirus and vaccines

• Vaccination in Romania: In the last 24 hours, more than 7.000 people got vaccinated. Totally, more than 5.3 million people got the vaccine, with more than 5.2 getting both doses.
• Coronavirus in Romania: In the last 24 hours, there were recorded 3.817 new SARS CoV-2 cases, 58 deaths, and in ICU there are now 849 people hospitalized.
• The Green Pass becomes mandatory if the rate surpasses 3 to 1.000 inhabitants. The Green Pass becomes mandatory to get access to restaurants, shows, private events, starting Monday, in the villages and cities where the rate of coronavirus cases is between 3 to 6 to 1.000 inhabitants. (Mediafax)

Global political and military events

• Elections in Russia for the State Duma. The United Russia party (that got 47%),  which supports Vladimir Putin, and the Communist Party (that got 21%) occupy the first positions following the parliamentary elections from Russia, after counting almost 62% of the votes. (MediafaX)
• A military plane crashed in the US. A US Navy training aircraft, T-45C Goshawk, crashed, on Sunday, in Lake Worth, in Texas, destroying the some houses. The two pilots catapulted, one getting seriously wounded, but there were no victims on the ground. (AP)
• Submarines’ scandal. The French minister of defence, Florence Parly, has cancelled, on Sunday, a meeting with her British counterpart, Ben Wallace, after Australia gave up the contract for 12 French submarines and joined the AUKUS partnership (Australia, UK, US). (AFP)
• The Taliban asked the women to stop going to work. The Kabul mayor asked the women in the budgetary domain to stop going to work. The interdiction can only be broken if there are no enough men to replace women’s work. (Reuters)
• World leaders gather in the US. Many world leaders will participate, in September 21 and 22^nd at the 76^th session of the UN General Assembly, which will take place in New York. (Reuters)
• France does not want Russian mercenaries in Mali. The French minister of defence, Florence Parly, discussed, on Sunday, with the military junta which took over the control in the country to convince the military leaders to give up receiving Russian mercenaries in the country. France leads an international terrorism combat mission in Mali. (Reuters)
• Dead immigrants at Poland’s border with Belarus. The dead bodies of three immigrants were found, on Sunday, at the border between the two states, according to the statement of Poland’s prime-minister, Mateusz Morawiecki. He stated that the Home Affairs Minister will analyze to see if there is any connection between these events and Belarus’s provocations. (AP)

Romania’s defence and security

• Romania does not recognize the elections in Crimea and regrets the organization of elections in Transnistria. The Romanian MFA announced that it does not recognize the elections organized by Russia in Crimea because Romania did not accept the illegal annexation of Crimea. The MFA does not agree with the organization of elections from Transnistria for the State Duma of the Russian Federation. (MediafaX)
• The emergency system gets European money. The Department for Emergency Situations received almost 700 million euro in the last year, used to acquire aircrafts, helicopters, ambulances but also vehicles used to turn down fires. (Digi24)