December 28, 2013 UPDATE
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Leyla Cheamil, 28.12.2013, 12:00
An operation of repatriating 15 Romanian citizens who were in a critical situation for a couple of days in southern Sudan has been completed, the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest has announced. The Romanians were part of a group of 100 people, consisting mainly of Moldovan citizens who worked on a building site in southern Sudan. The Romanian Foreign Ministry has thus responded to a request for assistance from the authorities in Chisinau, the Republic of Moldova.
The health ministry in Bucharest on Friday put up for public debates the National Strategy aimed at bringing significant changes to the country’s healthcare system by 2020 in order to make it function properly. The main objectives of the authorities are to improve the population’s health and raise its life expectancy. A major pillar of this strategy will be measures aimed at preventing heart diseases and various types of cancer, which could be prevented. Public debates on the National Health Strategy are to last 30 days.
The Palace of Parliament in Bucharest has been included in a list of 21 of the Strangest and Most Unique Buildings from Around the World, made by the American site Buzfeed. According to the site, the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest is the second largest administrative building in the world and can be seen from space. The list includes strange and unique buildings in Abu Dhabi, Sweden and France.
On Saturday, China officially approved a more permissive legislation in its one-child policy. The National People’s Congress has endorsed a resolution, which allows a couple to have two children, if one of the parents was an only child. The biggest change in the legislation however, is the abolishment of the so-called ‘re-education through labour’, a system, under which tens of thousands are imprisoned in China without a trial.
At least 23 people died on Saturday in a blaze on board of a train in the state of Andhra Pradesh, southern India. 54 people were traveling in a carriage, which was completely destroyed by the fire, Indian television has announced. Over 10 passengers have been injured, while others jumped off the roof of the train, in an attempt to save their lives.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has urged Ankara to shed a light on the suspicions of corruption currently facing the Turkish government. Steinmeier has told Bild in an interview, that Ankara’s capability to solve the issue will be a test for Turkish democracy. Germany boasts the largest Turkish community outside Turkey, of about 3 million people. According to France Press, the political crisis in Turkey worsened on Saturday, after numerous ministers from the government led by Erdogan had been accused of corruption, but the government refuses to cave in to the pressure exerted by street protesters and by the magistrates. Violent clashes have been reported in several Turkish cities, especially in Istanbul and Ankara.
Austrian Hannes Swoboda, president of the Socialists and Democrats Group of MEPs in the European Parliament has described as exaggerated the fears concerning a massive inflow of Romanians and Bulgarians in other EU member countries after the employment restrictions have been lifted. Under the EU accession treaties the two countries have signed, these restrictions are to be lifted on December 31st. They are still in force in 9 countries, such as Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Malta, France, Great Britain, Ireland and Spain. Representatives of European institutions have repeatedly called into attention that the free movement of workers is a fundamental right in response to some media campaigns, suggesting that Britain, for instance, will be facing a massive inflow of Romanians and Bulgarians looking for jobs and social benefits.
