COVID-19 IN ROMANIA<\/b>
\n– The country’s Supreme Defense Council on December 3 will examine the national
\nanti-COVID-19 vaccination strategy, the Presidency announced on Thursday. The
\nstrategy was previously adopted in a Government session. President Klaus
\nIohannis expressed hope that, the moment the first results of the new
\nanti-COVID-19 vaccine come out, people will be less reluctant to take the shot.
\nAlmost 450,000 people have had Covid-19 in Romania since the start of the
\noutbreak, with some 9,000 new cases and 171 new deaths reported on Thursday.
\n1,226 people are receiving intensive care treatment. A number of villages
\naround Bucharest are in lockdown. People’s health comes first and easing
\nrestrictions too early risks undoing the progress made, said president Klaus
\nIohannis. He explained that, according to statistical data, new infections have
\nbegun to drop slightly countywide over the last six days.<\/p>\n
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COVID-19 IN THE WORLD<\/b>
\n– Global coronavirus cases pass 60 million and the death toll 1.42 million. The
\nUS, which is the worst hit country in the world, has recorded 13 million cases
\nand at least 268,000 deaths. In Europe, the president of the European
\nCommission Ursula von der Leyen said the first European citizens may be
\nvaccinated before the end of December. In a speech before the European
\nParliament, she said EU member states should start preparing the logistics for
\nthe deployment of the vaccine doses. The European Union on Wednesday signed a
\ncontract with the American biotechnology company Moderna for 160 million doses
\nof its vaccine, which offers 94.5% protection. Meanwhile, most countries are
\nstruggling with high infection rates. Despite this, France, Ireland and the UK
\nhave announced plans to ease restrictions around Christmas, to allow people to
\nvisit friends and families.<\/p>\n
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PLAN<\/b>– The Recovery
\nand Resilience Plan for Romania was presented on Thursday by President Klaus
\nIohannis and Prime Minister Ludovic Orban. Under the plan, Romania will be
\nallotted \u20ac30 billion worth of European funds, to be invested in reforms, infrastructure
\nand many sectors that need to be modernized and revived. The Recovery and
\nResilience Plan will be submitted to public consultation before being presented
\nin Brussels, so that funding be released next year.<\/p>\n
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MOLDOVA <\/b>– The
\nEuropean Union has paid the first installment worth \u20ac50-million to the Republic
\nof Moldova as part of the financial agreement signed this summer. The purpose
\nof this loan, the total value of which amounts to \u20ac100 million, is to reduce
\nrestrictions on external funding, lowering the balance of payments and meeting
\nbudgetary needs, the Moldovan Finance Minister has said. Moldova’s President
\nelect, Maia Sandu, thanked the EU for its financial support, saying it is
\ncrucial to keeping the economy healthy. On the other hand, the Moldovan
\nofficial said the first weeks of her mandate will be devoted to organizing the
\nvisit to Chi\u015fin\u0103u to
\nbe paid by Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis. <\/p>\n
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BORDER POLICE<\/b> -
\nThe Romanian Border Police have apprehended six Syrian nationals who crossed
\nillegally into Romania on the Bulgarian border. Five adults aged 17-35 and a
\n10-year-old child, the migrants were in route to a West-European country. They
\nhave been taken into custody by Bulgarian authorities who will conduct an
\ninvestigation. 3 Moroccan nationals aged 26-36 were also detained on the
\nHungarian border, also claiming they were headed for Western Europe. <\/p>\n
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MARADONA <\/b>– The former
\ngreat Romanian player Gheorghe Hagi deplores the death of Diego Maradona,
\nsaying he was unique and an inspiration to him for his love of the game. Hagi
\nwas often compared with the Argentina star player and was even called
\nMaradona from the Carpathians at the peak of his career. The former
\nRomanian international player Miodrag Belodedici also paid tribute to Maradona,
\nsaying he considers him to be the best player in history. Maradona died from heart
\nattack aged 60 at his home in Buenos Aires on Thursday. He won the World Cup
\nwith the national side in 1986, but was eliminated from the 1994 world
\nchampionship after testing positive for
\ndoping. After struggling with drug use, overeating and alcoholism for many
\nyears, Maradona reinvented himself and took over the management of the
\nArgentinean national side in 2008. Three days of national mourning were
\ndeclared in Argentina after his death.<\/p>\n
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FIFA RANKING<\/b> -
\nRomania went up 7 places to the 37th position in the FIFA ranking published
\ntoday, so they will be in pot two for the 2022 World Cup qualifying draw. The
\nleap made by Romania in the world ranking comes after its results in November:
\na 5-3 win against Belarus in a friendly match, a 3-nil win against Norway
\nRomania was handed by UEFA and a draw against Northern Ireland in the Nations
\nLeague competition. Romania is now in Europe’s top 20. The draw for the 2022
\nWorld Cup in Qatar will take place on 7th December. (C. Mateescu & V. Palcu) <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":75903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[35885,30892,35374,35886,29053,29101,28945,29130,35884,31762,32402],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-assistance-programme","tag-border-police","tag-covid-19","tag-diego-maradona","tag-european-commission","tag-fifa","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-moldova","tag-recovery-and-resilience-plan","tag-romanias-football-team","tag-vaccine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n