GOVERNMENT <\/b>– The PNL – PSD – UDMR government led by Liberal Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 was sworn
\nin on Thursday after receiving Parliament’s investiture vote earlier that day.
\nPresident Klaus Iohannis said the new government must quickly solve the health
\nand energy crises and capitalize on the opportunities provided under the
\nNational Recovery and Resilience Plan. PNL will control the Foreign Ministry,
\nthe Interior Ministry, Education and Energy, in addition to four other
\nministries. The Social-Democrats have a total of nine ministries, including
\nFinance, Defense and the Economy. UDMR will control the Development,
\nEnvironment and Sports ministries. The governing program is based on the
\nprinciples of resilience, stability, transparency, equity and efficiency. The
\nnew cabinet pledged to increase pensions, the minimum social benefits, the
\nminimum wage and child-rearing allowances. On Thursday, the Ciuc\u0103 Cabinet also convened in its first session.<\/p>\n
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COVID <\/b>– 2,104 new cases of Covid-19 – a sharp drop compared to the previous day -
\nwere reported in Romania on Thursday. At the same time, 212 deaths were
\nannounced, of which 35 registered prior to the reference period. 1,314 patients
\nare currently in intensive care. The incidence rate at national level has
\ndropped to 2.57 per thousand inhabitants. The National Public Health Institute
\nannounced that over 70% of the cases registered in the last week were
\nunvaccinated people. Since the onset of the vaccination campaign, nearly 7.7
\nmillion people have received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine.<\/p>\n
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EMA <\/b>– The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday green-lit
\nthe anti-COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer for administration in children
\naged 5-11. This is the first anti-COVID serum authorized for administration in
\nthis age bracket. The vaccine will be administered in two doses with a
\nconcentration of 30% of the original serum. The European Medicines agency
\nauthorized the vaccine amidst a resurge of COVID-19 infections across the EU. <\/p>\n
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VISIT <\/b>– Princess Margaret, Custodian of the Crown of Romania, and her husband,
\nPrince Radu, as of Wednesday are paying a visit to the UK. The royal couple was
\nreceived at Windsor Castle by Queen Elizabeth II. At the same time, they
\nvisited the Royal Defense College, where they talked with students on topics
\nrelated to European and Euro-Atlantic current affairs. The Custodian of the
\nCrown of Romania and Prince Radu also met with the Lord Mayor of London,
\nVincent Thomas Keaveny, at his residence. The first visit of the Royal Family
\nof Romania to London took place in 1874, when the Sovereign Prince Charles I
\nand Princess Elisabeth met with the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King
\nEdward VII and Queen Alexandra). The first British royal visit to Romania took
\nplace at Pele\u0219 Castle in Sinaia
\n(central Romania), in 1888, when the future King Edward VII was the guest of
\nKing Charles I.<\/p>\n
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\nMOLDOVA <\/b>– The Russian consortium Gazprom will continue
\nto deliver gas to the Republic of Moldova, after the Moldovan government on
\nFriday committed to paying an outstanding debt. Gazprom had threatened to cut
\noff gas supplies if it did not receive its money. Gazprom spokesman Sergey
\nKupriyanov, quoted by Radio Romania’s correspondent in Moscow, said that the
\ndeferment of payment was an exception and an expression of the Russian
\nconsortium goodwill. He underlined, however, that Gazprom strongly hoped that,
\nin the future, the Republic of Moldova would fully comply with its contractual
\ncommitments and make payments in due time. Gazprom recalled that the signing,
\nlast month, of a new gas contract with the Republic of Moldova was conditioned
\nby the full and timely payment of current bills. The contract provides for a
\nprice of about 450 dollars per one thousand cubic meters of gas, deferred
\npayment, a five-year rescheduling of the 700 million dollar debt and its
\nindependent audit. (LS & VP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n