CHRISTMAS – Orthodox Christians on Thursday, on the
\nsecond day of Christmas, celebrated the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. This
\nold and important feast day is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who brought Jesus
\nChrist into the world, and was first celebrated 1,500 years ago. Christians in
\nRomania have celebrated the Nativity of Jesus Christ this week. <\/p>\n
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STATISTICS – Over 2 million foreigners visited
\nRomania in the first 9 months of the year, spending some 1.15 billion euros,
\naccording to the National Statistics Institute. Half of them traveled for
\nbusiness, taking part in conferences, congresses, classes, trade fairs and
\nexhibitions. Foreign tourists spend 50% of their money on accommodation,
\npreferring units that offered included breakfast. Some 18% of the money was
\nspent in restaurants and bars, while a little over 30% represented gifts and
\nsouvenirs. 80% of foreign tourists came to Romania by plane, 11% using their personal
\ncars and 7% by bus and coach. <\/p>\n
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MIGRANTS – The number of migrants who reached Italy in 2019 was
\nhalf compared to 2018, the Italian Interior Ministry reports. Compared to 2017,
\nthe number of immigrants dropped by some 90%. Since the start of 2019, some
\n11,500 immigrants reached Italy, mostly from Tunisia, Pakistan and the Ivory
\nCoast. Italy is offering money and equipment to restore the effectiveness of
\nthe Libyan Coast Guard, in order to be able to intercept migrants trying to
\nreach European shores. The number of arrivals in Italy is going down, yet
\ncritics argue this was made possible by violating human rights, considering
\nimmigrants locked in Libyan camps were exposed to severe abuses and torture.
\nAfter the change of Government in Italy in 2018, the then Interior Minister and
\nleader of the Lega Nord far-right Party, Matteo Salvini, introduced harsh
\nanti-immigration policies. The new center-left Government that took office in
\nSeptember, has switched to a milder attitude towards rescue organizations,
\nallowing ships saving migrants to dock. <\/p>\n
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ACCIDENTS – A total of 44 road traffic accidents
\nhave occurred in the last couple of days in Romania, killing 19 people and
\ngravely wounding another 33 people, the Romanian Police General Inspectorate
\nreports. Traffic agents have seized 500 drivers’ licenses and approximately 90
\nregistration certificates. Although the number of people killed in traffic
\naccidents has been on the wane in the last three years, Romania continues to
\nrank 1st at EU level with the highest number of road traffic
\nvictims. <\/p>\n
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FLU -The number of people who have the flu is low at present, with only
\nisolated cases having been reported, the National Center for the Surveillance
\nand Control of Communicable Diseases reports. Physicians warn vaccination
\nremains the only effective weapon against the flu virus. The number of Romanians
\nwho have taken the flu vaccine this year is slightly higher than in 2018, when
\naround 150 people died due to complications caused by the flu. A total of 33
\ncases of flu virus infections were reported this winter season, with 1 person
\ndying to the virus. <\/p>\n
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COMMEMORATION – Entire communities in Asia on Thursday
\ncommemorated the 230,000 victims of the 2004 earthquake and ensuing tsunami in
\nthe Indian Ocean, marking 15 years since one of the biggest natural disasters,
\nReuters reports. On Christmas morning in 2004, a 9.1 Richter-scale earthquake
\noccurred off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province, triggering a wave as high
\nas 17.4 meters that swept coastal areas in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India,
\nThailand and another nine countries in the region. In the Aceh Indonesian
\nprovince alone entire villages were wiped off the map, killing some 125,000
\npeople. More than 25,600 residential, commercial, government and school
\nbuildings now stand inside the high-risk area, which was almost completely
\nwiped out in 2004. <\/p>\n
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STRIKE IN PARIS – The strike against the reform of the
\npension system in France continued for the fourth consecutive week in Paris. On
\nChristmas Day, surface and underground trains in Paris were canceled or
\ndelayed. On the second day of Christmas, on Thursday, traffic was disrupted,
\nwith one in two high-speed trains being cancelled and five subway lines being
\nshut down. The Government in Paris, backed by the European Commission, says the
\nreform of the pension system is necessary, trying to merge the country’s 42
\npension schemes into one, thus eliminating the regime of special pensions,
\nespecially those for public transport workers who can enjoy early retirement.
\nUnions will stage wide-ranging protest actions on Saturday. Union
\nrepresentatives will meet with Government officials on January 7 for the first
\nin a series of meetings that will take place before the bill is presented to
\nthe Council of Ministers on January 22. <\/p>\n
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(Translated
\nby V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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