December 5, 2015 UPDATE
Draft 2016 state budget released; Colectiv fire victims may be transferred abroad; Romania-Puerto Rico 47-14
Newsroom, 05.12.2015, 12:05
The Romanian Ministry for Finances made public the draft budget for 2016. The ministries that will receive more money than in the previous financial year include the defence, interior, education, culture and healthcare. Fewer funds than in 2015 will be allocated for the transport, labour, justice and finance ministries. According to the bill, the budget revenues for next year will be nearly 0.8 billion euros higher than in 2015, while expenses will be 3.5 billion euro higher, and cover all the measures approved this year by the Government and Parliament. According to the Government, next year’s budget reflects a number of principles, including fiscal predictability, aimed at encouraging private investments and enhancing the confidence of the business community, efficient budget spending, improved transparency in spending public money and a transformation of the relationship between the state and taxpayers, in the sense of a more friendly attitude of public institutions towards citizens.
The Romanian Health Ministry announced that all the victims of the October 30th fire at Bucharest’s Colectiv nightclub who are still in hospitals in Romania would be transferred abroad if their doctors recommend it and their families agree. The decision comes after the management of the Hospital for Plastic, Reconstructive and Burns Surgery in Bucharest admitted that three of the patients injured in the tragedy died from infections acquired in the hospital. Sixty people died in that fire and many others were injured. At present there are 31 patients in hospitals in Bucharest and 30 in clinics abroad. The protests against corruption in central and local administration that followed the tragedy led to the resignation of the Social Democrat Victor Ponta’s Cabinet.
Orthodox, Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic Christians in Romania Sunday celebrate St. Nicholas, also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. Born in the 3rd Century in the Middle East, he has a reputation for gift-giving, and a lot of miracles are attributed to him. Nearly 800,000 Romanians bearing his name are also celebrating their name day on Sunday. According to Romanian tradition, the evening before St. Nicholas’ Feast Day shoes are taken out, and during the night the Saint will put gifts in them.
Romanian troops will be training for a week, as of Monday, together with military from the USA and the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, at a shooting range in south-eastern Romania, which is hosting the Platinum Lynx 16.2 module of the Black Sea Rotational Force multinational exercise. The exercise is aimed at carrying on the joint training of troops, at enhancing the interoperability of participating forces and strengthening their partnership.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigations officially rated as an act of terrorism the attack that killed 14 people and wounded 21 others on Wednesday in San Bernardino, California. The FBI chief, James Comey, said there are indications that the attackers were inspired by foreign terrorist organisations, but added that there is no evidence that they were members of a terrorist group.
Romania’s national women’s handball team Saturday won its first match at the World Championship in Denmark, outperforming Puerto Rico 47-14. The next game, against Kazakhstan, is scheduled for Monday. The same Group D also includes Spain, Norway and Russia. The top four ranking teams in each group qualify into the eighth-finals. The World Championship is also a qualification criterion for the Rio Olympics, with the winner of this competition qualified to the Olympic Games and the teams ranking 2nd to 7th getting access to the pre-Olympic tournaments of April 2016. Romania is the only country which has taken part in all the World Championships final tournaments since 1957. The Romanians won gold in 1962 and silver in 1973 and 2005.
