CHRISTMAS The Western rite Orthodox
\nbelievers, the Greek Catholics and Catholics from the world over, including
\nfrom Romania, a country with an Orthodox majority, on Saturday celebrated the
\nfirst day of Christmas. The Christmas holiday invites us to be generous, as
\nthe magi in the time of Christ, to show love and compassion to all around us
\nand offer gifts not only to children but also to the elderly, the sick, the
\nlonely and sad’, Daniel, the patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church said. In
\nturn, president Klaus Iohannis also conveyed a Chrismas message, in which he
\nreferred to the spirit of this holiday at the end of another difficult year.
\nThe head of the Romanian state wished the Romanians to enjoy this holiday,
\nunderlining that together we can overcome this difficult period. Christmas is
\nmarked through special religious sermons in churches and monasteries across the
\ncountry but also through beautiful traditions and rich family dinners. Old
\nritualists, who are a majority in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia and Georgia are
\ncelebrating Christmas on January 7th. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 The fifth wave of the pandemic, which is most severe as compared
\nto the fourth wave is expected to arrive in Romania in less than three weeks,
\nthe country’s Interior Minister Lucian Bode has announced. The spread of the
\nOmicron variant will be accelerated by the Romanian workers from abroad, who
\nare to arrive in large numbers for the winter holidays. The number of the new
\ninfections is still low in Romania with roughly 600 new cases announced on
\nSaturday and 29 related fatalities. Since the beginning of the pandemic, almost
\n1.8 million Covid infections have been reported in Romania and 58 thousand
\nrelated fatalities. Shortly after the authorization in the USA of the
\nanti-Covid drug, Paxlovid, Romania’s health minister, Alexandru Rafila is
\nmaking moves to import the new drug as soon as possible. Rafila has already had
\na series of meetings with representatives of Pfizer, the company that produces
\nthe vaccine. According to the latest surveys, the drug reduces by almost 90%
\nthe risk of hospitalization and death. The US has also authorized an anti-viral
\npill produced by Merck. <\/p>\n
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OMICRON Airline carriers in the USA
\nhave been severely affected by the Covid-19 infections driven by the Omicron
\nvariant, which created greater uncertainty among Christmas holiday travelers.
\nAccording to Flightaware.com a quarter out of the over 4 thousand flights
\ncancelled globally is in the United States alone. The situation became possible
\ndue to the flight crews who tested positive and were forced to go into
\nisolation in order to contain the pandemic. The USA, like other countries, has
\nseen a surge in the Covid-19 infections and although the Omicron variant is
\nless severe than Delta, scientists are worried by the growing number of
\ninfections. Government data in Britain showed a record tally of more than 122
\nthousand Covid infections nationwide on Friday, marking a third day in which
\nthe number of new cases has surpassed 100 thousand. The government headed by
\nBoris Johnson preferred to postpone the tightening of restrictions as Omicron
\nposes lower risks than the Delta variant. France has also exceeded the
\nthreshold of 94 thousand new Covid infections, a record high since the
\nbeginning of the pandemic. Outdoor mask mandates have again come into effect in
\nGreece, Spain and Italy. <\/p>\n
TROOPS Over 10 thousand Russian servicemen that had been deployed close
(bill)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":105194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[35374,36475,29125,36442,29009,30299],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-105590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-covid-19","tag-daniel","tag-iohannis","tag-omicron","tag-orthodox","tag-troops"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nto the Ukrainian border returned to their barracks, the Interfax news agency
\nannounced, quoting sources of the Russian army. They participated in maneuvers
\nheld close to Ukraine and also in Crimea, a region Russia annexed in 2014. The
\nlatest Russian military buildup at the borders with Ukraine fuelled concern among
\nUkraine’s and western leaders that Moscow had planned an attack. Russia denied
\nall allegations adding that it needs pledges from the West, including from NATO
\nthat the alliance will not expand towards its borders. <\/p>\n
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