Like many European countries, Romania had its share of high temperatures last week, and several parts of the country were under an orange code over the weekend. Events such as the ArtMania festival and Sibiu International Street Art Festival held new editions, and Romanian athletes returned from the 2022 Cairo Fencing World Championships with bronze medals. More of the July 18 – July 24 week's highlights in pictures below.

Sweltering temperatures hit much of the country last week, and meteorologists expect them to persist over the coming days as well. Several localities introduced a schedule for supplying running water to the population, and farmers saw their crops impacted.

On the Danube, the river's flow rate at its point of entry into the country is expected to decrease to roughly one-third of the multi-annual average for the month of July this week, according to the forecast made by the National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management.

President Klaus Iohannis received the president of the State of Palestine and Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, at Cotroceni Palace for a meeting where the two discussed the collaboration opportunities between Romania and Palestine and the war in Ukraine. The Romanian president also awarded his Palestinian counterpart the National Order Star of Romania as a sign of "high appreciation for the exceptional contribution to the promotion of dialogue and regional development, to support friendly and collaborative relations between our country and Palestine."

Romania signed a EUR 600 mln inclusive and green growth development policy loan with the World Bank. The money will be used for reforming the pension system and the pay system in the public sector but also for encouraging private investments in renewable energy and forestation. This loan is the first in a series of two financing operations and is complemented by a USD 24.2 mln grant, also signed on July 19.

Seventeen-year-old swimmer David Popovici, a world champion in the 100m and 200m freestyle races at this year's FINA World Championship, received the Order of the Star of Romania, alongside his coach Adrian Rădulescu. Popovici received the distinction for "his talent and devotion, as proven by his performance at the 19th FINA World Championship."

The 2022 Cairo Fencing World Championships were another opportunity for Romanian athletes to show their skills. Iulian Teodosiu won on July 18 the bronze medal in the individual men's sabre, while Maria Boldor won the bronze in the women's individual foil event on July 19. Romania's team last won a medal in the women's individual foil in 2003, when Roxana Scarlat won the bronze.

Some 20 types of aircraft took part in a ceremony in Bucharest on July 20 to mark the Day of Romanian Aviation and Air Forces. The event, organized at the monument of the Air Heroes in the City's Aviatorilor Square saw military aircraft such as F-16 Fighting Falcon, C-130 Hercules, C-27J Spartan, Antonov AN-30, IAR-330, IAR-99 of the Romanian Air Forces, and Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Italian Air Force, among others, the Defense Ministry said.

The eighth edition of the Sibiu International Street Art Festival (SISAF) added new works to the city's Street Art Gallery, which until this year's event covered 50 venues and 106 mural paintings. Artists coming from Argentina. Austria, France, Malta, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Romania took part in the festival, aimed at bringing this art form closer to the city's residents and in new areas of Sibiu.

Rock music festival ARTmania returned to Sibiu's Grand Square after a pandemic-induced break for an edition that marked 15 years since the start of the event. The lineup included names such as Mercyful Fate, Meshuggah, Transatlantic, Testament, and Cult of Luna, alongside artists and groups such as Leprous, The Pineapple Thief, Stoned Jesus, The Vintage Caravan and the Romanian groups Bucovina, Taine and Dordeduh.

Special Olympics Romania Foundation celebrated 54 years since Eunice Kennedy Shriver established the Special Olympics through a series of events covering the lighting of several buildings in Bucharest, a bocce competition, and a forum for families, where parents could ask doctors and health specialists various questions. Among the Bucharest buildings and landmarks illuminated to support the social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities were the Arch of Triumph, Globalworth Tower, the fountains in Unirii Square, and the headquarters of Special Olympics Romania.

(Opening photo: Nicusor Dan Facebook Page)

simona@romania-insider.com