The Lights switched off on Old Bridge in Mostar

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mostar day of mourning

Yesterday night, the lights on Mostar Bridge were switched off and the bridge was decorated with five stars in honor of the tragic death of five persons that died in a small plane crash that happened on Saturday in Mostar.

In this way, the Mostar have sent messages of solidarity to the families of the deceased ones.

The City of Mostar proclaimed May 16, the Day of Mourning. On this day at 12:30 o’clock in the Croatian House of Duke of Stjepana Kosaca, the commemoration for the victims of plane crash was held.

The day of mourning will be marked by lowering the flag on a half-mast on the Governments’ buildings, buildings of local self-government units and institutions founded by the Government or local self-government units as well as on the premises of local communities and other institutions in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.

To recall, five people were killed in an airplane accident which happened on Saturday in place Jasenice near city of Mostar, some 100 kilometers from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) capital Sarajevo. The plane crashed at 15:50 and 5 people were killed, out of which three children, one younger male and a flight instructor.

 

Source : Sarajevo Times

House for the Socially vulnerable to be built in Busovaca

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busovaca city

The ceremonial laying of the foundation stone for the construction of the House for the Poor “St. Michael” will be held on May 17th at 11:00 o’clock in Busovaca.

The project is worth more than 600,000 BAM and represents the largest project of the “Gift from the heart” Association from Busovaca which exists for 15 years and has been recognized by Busovaca as well as throughout Central Bosnia by its active humanitarian work.

At the solemn laying of the foundation stone, the representatives of local, cantonal and state authorities, numerous donors, friends of associations and citizens are expected.

 

Source : Sarajevo Times

Romanian team rolls out crowdfunding campaign for kids’ learning assistant

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Bucharest startup Aliens by Daria, the developers of the voice-activated personal assistant for children Woogie, has started a crowdfunding campaign for the product to enter the production phase. The campaign has been started at www.indiegogo.com, with the aim of raising a total of USD 75,000.

Woogie is a voice-activated, English-speaking AI personal assistant for children aged 6 and older that engages kids in conversations, interactive games and studying according to their passions, interests, and hobbies. It is meant to provide “a safer way for parents to introduce technology into their children’s lives without the need for screens,” according to a product description at crunchbase.com.

Parents are always in control through a mobile app and decide what content to make available to their child or what updates need to be added, depending on the child’s interests.

Woogie learns things related to the kid’s interests based on everyday conversations, and the more conversations take place, the more relevant it becomes. It doesn’t browse the web for information but has the educational content already stored in its memory.

Aliens by Daria was established by Bogdan Coman and Victor Drâmbă and works with a team of 8 people in London and Bucharest, according to crunchbase.com.

In January 2017, the developers of Woogie have been accepted as full members in the IoT Security Foundation and are implementing strict development procedures that make the product safe. They are also working with KidsSafe for getting COPPA certification in October of this year.

Coman told Qz.com last year that the US is the target market for Woogie “because of the greater user potential.” Nevertheless, the product will be selling in Romania as well. “The addressable market is 6-to-12-year-old kids with both parents in the labor force and a household income of more than $50,000 a year—in the US there are 30 million potential customers,” Coman told Qz.com.

Throughout the Indiegogo campaign, Woogie costs USD 99, while afterwards its price will be USD 109. Woogie’s retail price is USD 139.

editor@romania-insider.com

 

Source : Romania – Insider

Bucharest mayor vs. current President: who would win the presidential elections in Romania?

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Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea would defeat current Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in a direct presidential race if elections were held this Sunday, according to an Avangarde survey cited by local Hotnews.ro.

Firea would get 44% of votes while Iohannis would be voted by 40% of the survey respondents. However, 16% of respondents said they were not decided.

The study was conducted between May 3 and May 12, on a sample of 800 people over 18.

When asked what’s their opinion about several people, 59% said that they have a good opinion about Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea, and only 29% said that they have a bad opinion about her. Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu came next among Romanians’ favorites, with 48% of respondents saying that they have a good opinion about him, followed closely by President Klaus Iohannis – with 47% of respondents having a good opinion.

The ranking continued with Senate president Calin Popescu Tariceanu – with 44% favorable opinions, former Prime Ministers Victor Ponta – 39% and Dacian Ciolos – 35%, and former President Traian Basescu – 22%.

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) would win the parliamentary elections if they were organized tomorrow, with 44% of votes. PSD won the parliamentary elections organized in December last year by a wide margin. The National Liberal Party (PNL) would get only 24% of the votes while the new party Save Romania Union would get a score of 12%.

 

Source : Romania-Insider

Probe launched into robbery at Aghios Savvas Hospital

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Police in Athens launched an investigation Monday into the theft of medical equipment worth half a million euros from the Aghios Savvas Hospital.

According to hospital officials, the robbery occurred between 2.30 and 6 a.m. on Monday at the hospitals’ gastroenterology department, and included, among others, the theft of seven endoscopes – instruments used to examine internal organs.

There was wide speculation that the equipment could be destined for illegal distribution to gastroenterology clinics in Greece and abroad.

The hospital’s sole security camera, which could have provided valuable leads, has reportedly been out of operation since April 30.

One of the scenarios police are examining is that it was an inside job.

“The burglars knew the area well and knew exactly what to take,” the hospital’s director, Georgios Dendramis, told Kathimerini.

 

Source : ekathimerini.com

Greek government seeks to put positive spin on bill

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Government officials on Monday sought to put a positive spin on a new barrage of tough economic measures pledged to the country’s creditors in a debate in Parliament that is expected to become increasingly tense ahead of a vote expected on Thursday night.

Addressing the House’s economic affairs committee, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos admitted that the multi-bill, which foresees nearly 5 billion euros in new austerity measures, was far from ideal but indicated that it was a step in the right direction.

“We are not in the world we want right now,” he said. “Our basic struggle is to reduce oversight, our key aim to emerge from tough stewardship,” he said.

Tsakalotos added that a slew of so-called countermeasures, foreseeing social benefits for lower-income Greeks, would basically offset the new austerity, and spent much of his speech focusing on the issue of child poverty in Greece and noting that the leftist-led government planned to increase free school meals and subsidize the rents of poor families.

Finance Ministry sources indicated meanwhile that the countermeasures are worth some 7.5 billion euros, outweighing the 4.9 billion euros in austerity measures.
Labor and Social Security Minister Effie Achtsioglou remarked that the government’s deal with creditors had “zero fiscal impact.”

The rhetoric failed to move representatives of opposition parties across the political spectrum, who hurled scathing criticism at the government for bringing more painful measures after years of austerity including further cuts to pensions and tax increases.

Prominent conservative New Democracy MP Christos Staikouras accused the government of “destroying the middle class, shifting the burden onto the weak and razing society.”

He added that while the austerity measures set out in the bill were certain to be enforced, the countermeasures will only apply if Greece hits budget targets in 2019.

According to sources close to Alexis Tsipras, however, the prime minister indicated on Sunday, following talks with International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde in China, that the measures that are to be voted on in the Greek Parliament on Thursday will not be implemented if the IMF does not end up supporting Greece’s third bailout.

The IMF is awaiting a decision on debt relief for Greece before it commits to backing the third program.

 

Source : ekathimerini.com