PLAN Romania’s Prime Minister Florin Citu is in
\nBrussels for talks with the EU officials over the projects the Romanian government
\nhas included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Prime Minister
\nis today expected to have talks with the European Commissioner for Transport
\nand the European Commission vice-presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis
\nDombrovskis. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Citu held talks with the president of
\nthe Community Executive Ursula von der Leyen, which the two officials have
\ndescribed as constructive. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 The entire Romanian territory is presently
\nin the so-called green zone, as the infection rate has dropped below 1.5 per
\nthousand. However, the number of daily fatalities remains high, around 100, but
\nthe number of patients in intensive care is also going down. The significant
\ndrop in the infection rate has been influenced by the stepped-up vaccine
\nrollout, says its chief coordinator army physician Valeriu Gheorghita. Over
\n3,700,000 people have received at least one dose of the vaccine whereas about
\n2.5 million got the second jab. Romanians are now able to get the vaccine
\nwithout having to register beforehand. After Bucharest and Cluj, Craiova, in
\nthe south-west, has become the third city to stage a vaccination marathon.
\nOther Romanian cities are expected to follow suit and host vaccination
\nmarathons and drive throughs later this week. <\/p>\n
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DIRECTORS As of Tuesday night, Romania’s public radio
\nand TV stations have new interim directors. Parliament in Bucharest has
\nappointed journalist Liviu Popescu as head of the Romanian public radio while
\nRamona Saseanu has become director of the national TV station. The two are to
\noccupy these positions for 6 months until the appointment of new boards of
\ndirectors for the two institutions. We recall that on Tuesday, the Legislature
\nrejected the activity reports submitted by the two institutions for the years
\n2017, 2018, 2019, which entailed the sacking of the present board of directors.
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TENNIS The world’s third tennis player, Romanian
\nSimona Halep, is today taking on Angelique Kerber of Germany in the second
\nround of the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome with 1.6 million dollars in prize
\nmoney. Halep is leading 6-5 the head-to-head matches. The entitre champion in
\nRome, Halep is Romania’s only representative in the Italian tournament at Foro
\nItalico. <\/p>\n
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MISSION Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has
\nbriefed Parliament on the conclusion of Romanian army’s participation in NATO
\nResolute Support mission in Afghanistan and the repatriation of the Romanian
\ntroops according to the schedule agreed upon with its strategic allies and
\npartners. The Resolute Support mission kicked off on January 1st as a sequel of
\nthe international mission Security Force Assistance ISAF. Its main objective
\nwas the training and counseling of the Afghan security forces.<\/p>\n
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RIOT The Israeli government has
\ndeclared a state of emergency in the central city of Lod after rioting by
\nIsraeli Arabs, as the conflict opposing Israeli forces to Palestinian militants
\nintensifies, the BBC reports. The city mayor has compared the situation to a
\ncivil war. The fighting
\ncame after weeks of rising tensions that were stoked by violent confrontations
\nbetween Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at a place in Jerusalem that
\nis holy to both Muslims and Jews. According to the Israeli press it has been
\nfor the first time after many decades when the authorities need to resort to
\nthe state of emergency to reinstate order. The international community has
\nurged the two sides to put an end to the escalation. At least 35 Palestinians,
\nincluding 10 children, and five Israelis have reportedly been killed in the
\nviolence so far.<\/p>\n
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(bill)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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