SWIMMING The Romanian athlete David Popovici was awarded the best
\nswimmer of the year 2022 title by the well-known website Swimswam.com. The
\npeak of Popovici’s year came at the 2022 European Championships. There, he
\nfirst took down Cesar Cielo’s super-suited world record time of 46.91 in the
\n100 free, going 46.86. Then, he swam a 1:42.97 in the 200 free, becoming the
\nthird male to break 1:43 behind Paul Biedermann and Michael Phelps and the first
\nto do so in a textile suit, the website says. David Popovici won the 100 and
\n200 free at every major long course international meet that he competed at: the
\nWorld Championships, the European Championships, the World Junior Championships,
\nand the European Championships. <\/p>\n
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RECYCLING
\nAll traders in Romania that sell bottled water, soft drinks or alcoholic drinks
\nin plastic, glass or metal containers between 100 ml and 3 l are bound to
\nregister within 2 months on the platform of a guarantee-return system (SGR). Otherwise,
\nthey risk fines between EUR 4,000 and EUR 8,000. The authorities want the
\nsystem to become operational at the end of November 2023. Shops will also have
\nto arrange packaging return centres. The prices of drinks will include the
\nroughly EUR 0.10 packaging guarantee, which consumers will collect when
\nreturning the bottles. Romania will thus have the second-largest return system in
\nEurope, after Germany, the environment minister Tanczos Barna said recently.<\/p>\n
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NATO
\nWestern countries must be prepared to provide long-term support to Ukraine as
\nRussia shows no signs of relenting, NATO’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said.
\nIn an interview to the BBC, Stoltenberg saidmilitary
\nsupport would ensure the survival of Ukraine as a sovereign country and force
\nRussia to sit down and negotiate an end to the war. According to Jens Stoltenberg,
\nRussia’s partial mobilisation programme, ordered in September, indicated that
\nMoscow had no desire to end the war, and NATO must make sure that Ukraine stays
\nin a strong position in the event of negotiation talks between the two sides. <\/p>\n
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UKRAINE
\nRussia last night carried on attacks on Ukraine using Iranian-made drones, and
\ntargeting the capital city in particular. Air raid alerts sounded for several
\nhours, and local authorities say a young man was injured and several buildings
\ndamaged. This is the second consecutive night of heavy Russian missile attacks
\non Kyiv, after the massive one on New Year’s night. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian
\nforces, which destroyed some of the drones, announced having caused substantial
\ncasualties among the Russian troops in Bakhmut, a small town in the east of the
\ncountry which has been seeing heavy fighting for several months now. Apparently
\n170 Russian troops were killed and at least 200 wounded. Moscow has not yet
\nconfirmed the losses, but said its recent attacks targeted buildings where the
\nUkrainians were reportedly producing drones. <\/p>\n
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POPE
\nThousands of believers have gathered in Vatican to pay
\ntheir respects to the former Pope Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday aged 95
\nand whose body is lying in state at St Peter’s Basilica ahead of the funeral scheduled
\nfor Thursday. On Sunday Pope Francis paid tribute to his dearest predecessor,
\nemphasising his sacrifices offered for the good of the Church. Benedict
\nXVI, who announced his resignation from the papacy in 2013 on account of his
\nill health and age, was a highly praised theologian. The funeral will be
\npresided over by Pope Francis, and it will be the first time in the 2,000-year
\nlong history of the Catholic Church that a Pope will be buried by his successor. <\/p>\n
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BRAZIL
\nBrazil’s new president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was sworn in and vowed to rebuild
\nthe country together with the Brazilian people. For his 3rd term in
\noffice as president, Lula da Silva (77) announced plans to strengthen
\nenvironment protection and curb famine. He criticised his far-right
\npredecessor Jair Bolsonaro’s government, arguing
\nthat They emptied the resources for health, dismantled education, culture,
\nscience, and destroyed the environmental protections. Luiz Inacio Lula da
\nSilva governed the country in 2003-2010, when he fought poverty through major
\nsocial programmes. However, corruption had deepened during his previous terms
\nin office, and da Silva himself served time for corruption and money
\nlaundering, although later on the Supreme Court ruled it a mistrial. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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