QUAKE Romania stands
\nby Japan in these difficult moments, the country’s president, Klaus Iohannis,
\nsaid in a message which he conveyed on Tuesday along with condolences for the
\nvictims’ families. We recall that authorities in that country are in a
\nbattle against time in their attempt to find survivors after the 7.6 magnitude
\nearthquake on Monday, which was followed by many aftershocks. According to
\nprovisional tolls, scores have been killed and hundreds of buildings destroyed.
\nNumerous fires caused by broken pipelines have been reported in the north of
\nthe Noto peninsula, close to the quake’s epicenter. With sub-zero temperatures
\nat night, rescuers are making great efforts to find survivors. <\/p>\n
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WEATHER
\nAccording to sources with the Environment Ministry, 2023 was the hottest year
\nin the history of Romania’s weather forecasts. The average temperature stood at
\n12.5 degrees centigrade, two degrees above the average of the period between
\n1981 and 2010. At the same time, the 2012-2023 interval becomes the hottest
\nperiod in the country’s history of weather forecasts. Last Christmas also
\nproved to be the hottest since the beginning of weather monitoring in Romania
\nwith 21 degrees centigrade at Calafat, in the south. And according to
\nCopernicus Climate Change Service, 2023 was also the hottest in Europe, where
\nexperts have again been cautioning against the ongoing global warming, as the
\ngreenhouse gas emissions are growing. According to Romania’s Environment
\nMinister, Mircea Fechet, this means that the extreme weather phenomena will
\nincrease in frequency and intensity causing more damage and killing more
\npeople. <\/p>\n
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PRICE HIKES The new year has brought a
\nseries of fiscal amendments to Romanians, ranging from new VAT rises to other
\nmajored excises and taxes. Fines have also been raised, and companies reporting
\nover 50 million euros in turnover will be paying taxes of at least one percent
\nof their turnover. Tobacco excises have been raised and so has the VAT, which
\nstands between 9 and 19 % in certain products and services. A special tax has
\nbeen introduced for expensive goods, such as houses or cars, and authorities
\nhave also raised excises for sweet products. Fuel excises are also getting
\nhigher while experts believe the new fiscal measures will translate into a
\nhigher inflation rate and a local currency that depreciates against the Euro.
\nRomania’s budget deficit this year has been estimated at 5% of the GDP with an
\neconomic growth of 3.4%. 7% of the country’s GDP has been earmarked for
\ninvestment. <\/p>\n
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GAZA Israel has pulled out its
\ntanks from some parts of the Gaza city announcing a new stage in its war
\nagainst the terrorist group Hamas. The new change in Israel’s tactics involves
\nthe partial pull out of its troops from the Gaza Strip and an increased focus
\non smaller-scale targeted operations. Israel says one of the key objectives is
\nthe complete elimination of the Hamas threat and the release of the hostages
\nstill kept by the famous terrorist group. According to Radio Romania
\ncorrespondent in Israel, the attempts to release the Israeli hostages, which
\nseemed to be compromised at a certain point, have these days been given a fresh
\nimpetus thanks to the mediation efforts of Qatar and Egypt. The war in Gaza,
\nwhich broke out after the attack on Israel masterminded and conducted by the
\nterrorist group Hamas on October 7, when 12 hundred people were killed and 240
\nkidnapped, has so far caused the death of roughly 22 thousand Palestinians in
\nthe Gaza Strip. At the same time, most of the region’s 2.3 million people
\nresidents has been displaced. <\/p>\n
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(bill)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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