Security – Romania’s security has
\nbeen consolidated and the efforts to strengthen the structures of the North-Atlantic
\nAlliance on the territory of the country, especially the NATO battle group
\nestablished in 2022, will be continued, said President Klaus Iohannis, who, on
\nTuesday, attended the ceremonies in Constanta (southeast), which marked Navy
\nDay. In turn, the Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu gave assurances that the government
\nwould allocate the necessary resources for equipping and modernizing the
\nRomanian Naval Forces. Security at the Black Sea ensures the stability of the
\nentire region and turns Romania into an important security provider, the speaker
\nof the Senate, Nicolae Ciuc\u0103, also said. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Government – The Romanian government resumes discussions
\nabout the measures to balance the state budget. The executive should finalize
\nand adopt, by the end of the month, the emergency ordinances for reducing the
\nexpenses of the civil servants’ apparatus and the increase in the budget revenue
\nreceipts. According to a draft law, which appeared in the public space, owners
\nof luxury cars whose value exceeds 100,000 Euros will have to pay a tax, IT
\nemployees whose salaries exceed 10,000 lei per month (about 2,000 Euros) will
\nno longer be exempted from taxes, and workers in constructions and agriculture
\nwill have to pay health insurance contributions. At the same time, state
\nemployees who have a gross monthly salary of over 10,000 lei may no longer
\nreceive holiday vouchers. The government also intends to increase the excise
\nduty on sugar and to impose only two VAT rates of 9 and 19%. SMEs with incomes
\nup to 300,000 lei could be taxed with 1%, and those that exceed this income,
\nwith 3%. Last but not least, companies that shift profits would have to pay a
\n15% surtax on the amounts transferred. As to the emergency ordinance regarding
\nthe reduction of the size of the state apparatus, the government is analyzing
\nthe possibility of abolishing 200,000 unfilled positions, merging some public
\ninstitutions and reducing the number of state secretaries, management
\npositions, members in the boards of administrators and the number of members in
\nthe cabinets of local authorities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Tennis – The Romanian tennis player Sorana C\u00eerstea started
\nthe WTA 1,000 tournament in Cincinnati, in the American state of Ohio with a
\nvictory. C\u00eerstea, 31st in the WTA ranking, passed the Russian
\nEkaterina Alexandrova in the first round with a score of 6-0, 6-2 and will meet
\nin the second round Maria Sakkari, from Greece, seeded 8th in the
\ntournament. A second Romanian player in the main draw, Irina Begu, was defeated
\nby the Czech Marie Bouzkova, 6-2, 6-2. However, in the doubles, the pair Irina
\nBegu from Romania and Sara Sorribes Tormo, from Spain, qualified for the round
\nof 16 after defeating the pair Elisabetta Cocciaretto (Italy) \/ Mayar Sherif
\n(Egypt) 7-6 (7\/5), 6-3). The Romanian-Spanish pair will meet the pair Storm
\nHunter (Australia) \/ Elise Mertens (Belgium), seed number two, in the round of
\n16.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Gaudeamus – The Gaudeamus Radio Romania Book Fair in
\nSibiu (center) has come to an end. For five days, approximately 15,000 visitors
\nattended the event, more than at the previous edition. Conni Chifor, a representative
\nof the fair, talked about the very large number of children present and said
\nthat, for them, literature was definitely the queen of the ball. She added that
\nthe public, including those who watched the events online, could participate in
\nnumerous contests with book prizes. The next edition of the Gaudeamus Radio
\nRomania Book Fair will take place in Iasi (east), during the first week of
\nschool, between September 13-17.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Baccalaureate – Almost 34,000 high school graduates
\nfrom Romania, enrolled for the second session of the Baccalaureate exam, are today
\ntaking the Romanian language and literature exam, with the papers being
\nassessed digitally for the first time. The tests will be scanned and uploaded
\nto a platform that will distribute them to two teachers from any corner of the
\ncountry, except from the county of origin of the student. On Thursday, the
\nmandatory written test in the specialty subjects is scheduled. The optional test,
\nat the student’s choice, in the specialty subject is scheduled for August 18
\nand on August 21 candidates who belong to national minorities will take the
\nwritten test in their native language and literature. The first results will be
\nannounced on August 25, followed by the final results on August 29 after
\nexamining potential appeals. In order to pass the baccalaureate exam, high
\nschool graduates must pass all language and digital skills assessment tests and
\nmust obtain an exam average grade of at least 6.00 in the written tests. At the
\nfirst session of the Baccalaureate exam, only 75% of the registered candidates
\npassed the exam.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UN – Almost
\n10,000 civilians have lost their lives since the beginning of the war in
\nUkraine, according to the UN. Thus, 9,444 civilians have died, including 500
\nchildren, and more than 16,940 have been injured since the beginning of the
\nRussian invasion in February 2022. The real figure is probably much higher. The
\nUN notes that the toll is not complete because data is missing from several
\nregions, especially from Mariupol, Lisiceansk and Severodonetsk, occupied by the
\nRussian forces after heavy fighting, and also from Kyiv. The figures also show
\nthat the vast majority of those killed (7,339) died in Ukrainian regions bombed
\nby Russia and defended by the Ukrainian army. In the regions of Donetsk and
\nLugansk, in the east, there were significantly more casualties on both sides of
\nthe front than in the capital Kyiv, in the center and west of Ukraine. The UN
\nreport also notes that more civilians died in the first months of the war. In
\nthe spring and summer of 2023, between 170 and 180 civilians lost their lives
\neach month. (LS)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/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":[31531,29517,13794,30697,30712,30448,31470,29598,28939,28905,29724],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-611787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-emergency-ordinance","tag-gaudeamus","tag-nato","tag-navy-day","tag-report","tag-security","tag-sorana-cirstea","tag-state-budget","tag-tennis","tag-ukraine","tag-un"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n