Evacuation. 41
\nRomanian citizens and their family members left the Gaza Strip on Thursday
\nthrough the Rafa Border Crossing, following efforts by the inter-institutional
\ncrisis unit through the Romanian embassy in Cairo and Romania’s Representation
\nOffice in Ramallah, the Foreign Ministry has announced. The Foreign Ministry
\nrecalls that a group of 93 Romanian citizens and their families arrived in
\nRomania on Wednesday and the Romanian diplomatic service is continuing the
\ndialogue with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities with the view to facilitating
\nthe evacuation of the other Romanian citizens in Gaza according to the
\ndevelopments on the ground and the agreement of the parties involved. A third
\nconsular mobile team from the foreign ministry’s cell crisis rapid reaction
\nunit travelled to Cairo on Friday to support efforts on the ground. <\/p>\n
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\n
\n
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Middle East. The UN Palestinian refugees agency (UNRWA) said more than 100 UN employees
\nwere killed in Gaza since the start of the war between Israel and the Islamist
\nmovement Hamas. The head of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, called for an
\nimmediate ceasefire for humanitarian purposes. Following the unprecedented
\nattack on Israel by Hamas on 7th October, in which over 1,400 people were
\nkilled, Israel declared war on Hamas. According to the health ministry in Gaza,
\nIsraeli air strikes killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, mainly civilians. In
\nParis, French president Emmanuel Macron said vulnerable countries in the Middle
\nEast must benefit from international financial assistance so as not to be drawn
\ninto the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The International Monetary Fund on
\nFriday announced an agreement worth 1.2 billion dollars for Jordan, a country
\nneighbouring Israel. Devoid of natural resources and dependent on international
\naid, Jordan is already hosting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and fears
\na massive exodus to its territory. The IMF’s director Kristalina Georgieva also
\nspoke of the need to grant more help to Egypt, which is also affected by the
\nconflict.<\/p>\n
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\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
Court.
\nRomania’s former foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu is one of the judges elected
\nby UN vote to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. It is for the
\nfirst time that a Romanian national holds this position and for the first time that
\nno Russian candidate was elected. The achievement reflects Romania’s firm
\ncommitment to the international rules-based order, said Romanian president
\nKlaus Iohannis. According to the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, Aurescu’s new
\nposition is an achievement for the Romanian diplomatic service as well as the
\nrecognition of his professionalism and expertise. <\/p>\n
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\n
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\n
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Tanks. The defence ministry in Bucharest welcomes the US Congress’ approval of the sale to Romania of the latest version of 54 Abrams main battle tanks,
\nammunition and training simulators. The contract is estimated at 1.07 billion
\ndollars. Defence minister Angel T\u00eelv\u0103r said the purchase is not only a major
\nopportunity for the Romanian land forces, who will thus benefit from
\nlatest-generation combat equipment, adjusted to the regional security
\nenvironment, but also demonstrates the solidity and excellent level of the
\ncooperation between Romania and the US, especially in the area of defence. <\/p>\n
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\n
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Inflation. The inflation rate
\nforecast for the end of the year remains at 7.5%, but the National Bank of
\nRomania has revised next year’s level upwards, in the wake of an increase in
\ntaxes and duties laid down in a bill for which the government assumed
\nresponsibility in Parliament. Moreover, 2024 is an election year, but later,
\nthe inflation rate will go down again to reach the level targeted by the
\nNational Bank at the end of 2025, said the bank’s governor Mugur Isarescu as he
\npresented the quarterly report on inflation on Friday. Consumer prices are
\nexpected to go up again at the beginning of next year, mainly driven by the tax
\nhikes. Governor Isarescu also presented the risks to the Central Bank’s
\nforecast. He said the authorities must be very careful to the inflation driven
\nby an increase in salary costs in the coming period. According to the new
\nestimate, the inflation rate is expected to reach the levels targeted by the
\nNational Bank of Romania, namely 1.5-3.5%, in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tennis. Romania leads Serbia 2-nil in the Billie Jean
\nKing Cup play-offs as Jaqueline Cristian a defeated Aleksandra Krunic 7-5,
\n6-4, on Friday evening in Kraljevo (Serbia). Earlier, Gabriela Ruse defeated
\nMia Ristic 7-6, 6-3. S\u00e2mb\u0103t\u0103, in the first singles match, Jaqueline Cristian will
\nface Mia Ristic, while Gabriela Ruse will later play Aleksandra Krunic. In the
\ndoubles, Katarina Kozarov and Natalija Stevanovic will be playing against Irina
\nBara andMonica Niculescu. (CM)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of local 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-611965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n