Extreme weather conditions splash over Romania: from unbearable heat to heavy storms. Romanian counties were severely affected after storms destroyed house roofs, electricity panels or blocked main access points, as papers inform today.

Newspapers also report that Romanian President Traian Basescu had a firm stand at a summit in Zagreb.

And one newspaper talks about the life of Afghan civilians, surrounded by guns, bomb attacks and violence as international aid in the region did not manage to increase the safety and sketch a safe, well off, future for the locals.

Cotidianul describes the ups and downs of weather forecasts. While temperatures remain as high and unbearable as 35 to 38 degrees Celsius, violent storms have hit important counties blocking roads, injuring people and leaving communities without electricity.

Evenimentul Zilei announces, however, that temperatures will decrease by the end of the week, as meteorologists forecast.

Elsewhere in the papers today, Gandul reports that Romanian President Basescu attended a summit in Zagreb, Croatia on Sunday where Vladimir Putin was also present. Citing Mediafax, the paper quotes Basescu in arguing that energy is not a tool for political pressure, but should only be used as merchandise.

Moreover, Basescu pleaded for an increased liberalization of the energy market, as opposed to the intentions of his Russian counterpart. Romania will rely heavily on European projects, since Russia strategically avoids involving Romanian in future projects, the newspaper adds.

Also in the news today, Cotidianul publishes a feature depicting the life of Afghan civilians - especially children growing among the Coalition army. The paper insists upon the lack of development in the region, despite the amount of money received from international organizations.

What affects the development of the region mostly is, it seems, the opium plantations out of which Afghans survive. The paper reports that more than 70% of Afghan opium goes on the world market and the Coalition army chose to leave the Afghan authorities deal with this issue.

Thus, the issue of an environment leading towards growth and stability is out of the question as long as interest groups and corruption are the main features of the region, as the paper puts it.

More in the newspapers today:

• Evenimentul Zilei describes North Korea through the eyes of two Romanian journalists visiting the country which the former Romanian Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu had regarded as a model for its own dictatorship.

• Cotidianul informs about the problems Rroma immigrants from Romania are seeding in a British town 35 km away from London. Local authorities are organizing a meeting with the Rroma representatives to reach a compromise.

• Evenimentul Zilei talks about the collapse of the Eastern European medical system: medical personnel either deepen the crisis by organizing protests or worsen hospital care since many of them choose to look for work in the West.