November 4, 2020 UPDATE

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 04.11.2020, 20:07

VISIT Romania’s Prime Minister Ludovic
Orban on Wednesday met in Ramallah Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammer
Shtayyeh. According to the Romanian official the visit marks a major stage in
the development of the bilateral relations and can be an opportunity for
strengthening cooperation between Romania and Palestine in fields such as
education, domestic affairs and agriculture. During the talks, the Romanian
official underlined the importance of the Romanian community in the Middle East
and thanked his counterpart for the support offered by the Palestinian
authorities. The two officials also tackled the future of the Middle East peace
process. In this context, Orban said that Romania offers its support for any
action, which might lead to a sustainable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. Also on Wednesday, the Romanian Prime Minister met Palestinian
president Mahmoud Abbas. Earlier the Romanian official met Benjamin Gantz, Alternate Prime Minister and Defense
Minister of the State of Israel and on Tuesday he held talks with high Israeli
officials. Orban and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu reconfirmed the
privileged relations between the two states and hailed the recent launch of the
Romania-Israel working group in the economic field.

COVID-19 On Wednesday, Romania reported a new all-time
high in terms of Covid-19 infections, 8,651. Since the onset of the pandemic
267 thousand people have been infected in Romania and authorities have
announced 146 new fatalities. 1001 patients are being treated in IC units, the
highest number so far. Romania has a death toll of 7419 and authorities are
permanently assessing the measures aimed at containing the Covid pandemic.
According to the country’s president, Klaus Iohannis, the first batch of
vaccine could arrive in Romania in the first quarter of the next year and the first
to benefit from it are the employees of Romania’s medical system and those in
the high risk categories. The Romanian president says that there is no need to
impose the state of emergency in Romania, but restrictions are still needed to
contain the pandemic.

MOURNING The
Austrian government has declared three days of national mourning for the
victims of Monday’s terrorist attack in Vienna, which left four dead and 22
wounded. The country’s Foreign Minister Karl Nehammer admitted during a news
conference on Wednesday, that the Austrian Department for Combating Terrorism
(BVT) was briefed by the Slovak police on the assailant, an Austrian of
north-Macedonian extraction who was trying to buy ammunition in Slovakia. Authorities
are continuing the investigation. 14 arrests were made after searches of 18
homes. Authorities believe he was a lone attacker, who ran the streets and
opened fire on passers-by and customers in bars and restaurants, just before
the national quarantine came into force. Chancellor has Sebastian Kurz sent a
message of unity to the people, promising that Austria will defend its
democracy, fundamental rights and its liberal lifestyle.

FOOTBALL Romania’s football champions CFR Cluj will
be up against Italian side AS Rome in their third game in Europa League group
A. CFR tops the group after a 2-0 win against CSKA Sofia from Bulgaria and a
one-all draw at home against Swiss side Young Boys Bern. Eliminated from the
preliminaries of the Champions League, CFR is Romania’s only representative in
this year’s edition of the European football cups.

(bill)