GOVERNMENT PM Marcel Ciolacu announced that
\npreparations have started for drafting the 2024 public budget. The government
\nwill analyse the projects and programmes that went well, as well as the
\ninvestment applications for next year. On the other hand, the PM dismissed the
\nidea of other fiscal changes in addition to the ones for which his Cabinet has
\ntaken responsibility before Parliament. The law on measures to ensure Romania’s
\nlong-term financial sustainability, promulgated by president Klaus
\nIohannis on Thursday, introduces
\nnew taxes and tax raises and cuts off tax facilities.Some of the measures take effect
\non November 1, while the others will be enforced as of January 1. Marcel
\nCiolacu also estimated that the new pensions law will be endorsed in Parliament
\nby the end of next month and will take effect on January 1, 2024.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
VISIT
\nThe European Commission vice-president for Values and Transparency, V\u011bra
\nJourov\u00e1, will be on an official visit to Romania on Monday, when she will have
\nmeetings with president Klaus Iohannis, PM Marcel Ciolacu and other Cabinet
\nmembers. According to the European Commission, the EU official will discuss the
\nrule of law and reforms in the judiciary, Romania’s goals in the digital
\ndecade, the digitisation projects included in the National Recovery and
\nResilience Plan, as well as AI and fighting disinformation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
ISRAEL
\nIsrael has moved to the second stage of the war against Hamas, namely the land
\noperation in Gaza Strip, the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu announced. In a
\ntelevised address, he warned that this was going to be a long and difficult
\nwar, aimed at freeing the hostages taken by the Palestinian terrorist group and
\nat destroying the military and leadership capabilities of Hamas. An Israeli
\ntactics expert described Israel’s current operation as modular, with
\nalternating attacks from 4 directions (water, air, land, and virtual). So far
\nthe Israeli Army resorted to air strikes to hit Palestinian territory, after
\nthe Hamas attacks of October 7 killed over 1,400 people in Israel. In turn, Hamas
\nsays the Israeli retaliatory strikes killed over 8,000 people. According to an
\nIsraeli army spokesman, the number of hostages held by Hamas was updated at 130.
\nThe UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, voiced his surprise at the escalation
\nof Israel’s military attack on the Gaza Strip after the UN General Assembly issued
\na resolution calling for immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Guterres said that
\nin spite of this international consensus, the bombing has reached unprecedented
\nlevels. Pro-Palestinian rallies were organised on Saturday in many cities in
\nthe world.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
PEACE
\nThe president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, attending a meeting in Malta,
\ncalled for a global model based on his 10-point plan for peace with Russia, Reuters
\nreports. An official list of the participants in the meeting is not yet
\navailable, but attending were officials for European, South-American, Arab,
\nAfrican and Asian countries. The plan includes clauses concerning the
\nrestoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the pull-out of Russian troops,
\nprotection of food and energy supplies, nuclear security and the release of all
\nprisoners. The co-chairs of the meeting, Ukraine and Malta, issued a joint
\ndeclaration that mentions the participants’ commitment to just and sustainable
\npeace, based on the UN Charter. The parties will take steps to arrange for a
\npossible peace summit at a later date.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
DST On Saturday night, Romania switched to winter time, setting
\nclocks back one hour from 4 AM to 3 AM. Sunday is thus 25-hour long. Daylight
\nsaving time, first suggested by the scientist Benjamin Franklin in 1784, is
\ncurrently used in 70 countries. The concept has come under debate in recent
\nyears, with the EU asking member states to end seasonal clock changes and
\nchoose either winter time or summer time, but a decision in this respect is yet
\nto be made. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Click here for a roundup of local and world 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":[29547,29403,29286,36186,29389,31396,35417,30820,35105,29310,28905,36582,32725],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-611941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-budget","tag-dst","tag-government","tag-hamas","tag-israel","tag-malta","tag-measures","tag-meeting","tag-peace","tag-russia","tag-ukraine","tag-war","tag-winter-time"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n