October 30, 2023
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 30.10.2023, 13:55
Visit. The Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, the Czech Vera Jourova, is on a formal visit to Bucharest today. She has met with the minister of justice, Alina Gorghiu, for talks on the rule of law and justice reforms, where Romania is in a good place, as she told Radio Romania. “There are still new laws that must be implemented in practice and this must be done not for Brussels, but for the Romanian people, in order to have access to a very well prepared judicial system”, the European official also stated. Vera Jourova will also meet with president Klaus Iohannis, Prime-Minister Marcel Ciolacu and several ministers, to discuss topics such as the digitalization projects included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, artificial intelligence and combating disinformation. Vera Jourova will also participate in a meeting on digital technology and will visit the European Cybersecurity Competence Center.
Motion. The Bucharest Chamber of Deputies is debating, today, a simple motion against the Minister of Finance, Marcel Boloş, from the PSD-PNL coalition Cabinet. The Save Romanian Union and the Force of the Right Party, which filed the motion, consider him responsible for the increase in taxes, as a result of the application of fiscal measures for which the Government recently assumed responsibility in Parliament. The vote on the simple motion is scheduled for Tuesday.
Gaza. In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian civilians are in urgent need of fuel, food and water. The Palestinian Red Crescent announced on Sunday evening that the Israeli army had bombed several times around one of its hospitals in Gaza, causing damage and endangering patients and civilians who had come there to take refuge. At the same time, thousands of people broke into warehouses and aid distribution centers in the south and center of the Strip, taking basic food. 33 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid entered, on Sunday, through the Rafah crossing point on the border with Egypt. It was the largest convoy to enter the besieged Palestinian territory since the limited resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries. “Preventing the access of humanitarian aid” to the Gaza Strip could constitute a “crime”, said, on Sunday, in Cairo, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, after visiting Rafah.
Israel. The Israeli army has announced that it struck targets in Syria and Lebanon, in response to rocket fire coming from these countries. In another development, new rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip targeted, today, the south of Israel, the most affected being the city of Netivot, where a residential block was hit, writes The Times of Israel, noting that there were no victims. Palestinians in the north of Gaza also said there had been intense air and artillery strikes as Israeli troops, backed by tanks, launched a ground assault on the enclave. The Israeli military say they have hit more than 600 targets in recent days, killing dozens of terrorists and continuing to expand its ground operations in Gaza. After the attacks of the Islamist group Hamas on October 7, more than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel. On the other hand, Hamas authorities in Gaza say that the toll of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes has exceeded 8,000.
Handball. Romanias womens handball champion, CSM, defeated Buducnost Podgorica of Montenegro 29-24, away from home, in group A of the Champions League, on Sunday. The Bucharest team scored its third victory in this European season. After six stages, the Romanian champion is in 4th place, with 6 points, in the group dominated by Gyori Audi of Hungary. In the next stage, CSM will play at home against the Hungarian team Debrecen, on November 11. On Saturday, in group B of the competition, the vice-champion Rapid Bucharest defeated Krim Ljubljana from Slovenia, 27-22. In the next round, they will play at home against the Norwegian Vipers Kristiansand, on November 12. (MI)
