February 12, 2024
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 12.02.2024, 13:55
DEFENSE – The president of
Romania, Klaus Iohannis, has called a meeting of the Supreme Defense Council on
February 21, the Presidency reports. The agenda includes security developments
in the Black Sea region in the context of Russia’s war of aggression, progress
in defense planning, army modernization programs and efforts to mobilize more
military staff. The agenda of the meeting also includes a report on the
activity of the Cyber-Security Operative Council in 2023, and the 2023 activity
report of the Supreme Defense Council. The meeting will also address other hot
topics on the national security agenda.
ELECTIONS – The ruling
coalition is today expected to resume talks on the organization of local
elections concurrently with the European Parliament election, one June 9. Last
week’s talks failed to produce any clear results. The coalition is also
considering the possibility of organizing the parliamentary election
concurrently with the presidential election. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu
wants a clear timetable for the elections scheduled to take place in 2024. The
opposition has argued against any overlapping elections, a move they say would favor
ruling coalition parties. AUR, the Right Force, PMP and AUR said the
organization of two concurrent elections is undemocratic and unconstitutional.
DEEPFAKE – The Chamber of
Deputies is expected to vote on deepfake, a phenomenon that gained increased
traction with the increasing use of AI to promote information and fake audio
and video content online. The bill stipulates fines up to 40 thousand EUR and
even prison sentences of up to two years for people producing and distributing
deepfakes online, without labeling the content as such. Minister for Research
and Digitization, Bogdan Ivan, says the bill will be implemented before April.
SALARIES – The average net
salary in December 2023 stood at some 1,000 EUR, up by 6.6% compared to
November 2023, the National Statistics Institute reports. The highest salary
increases were reported in the sectors manufacturing coke and oil-derived
products (over 2,500 EUR), while the lowest increases were reported in the
hospitality sector (over 560 EUR). Fluctuations in annual revenues are mainly
related to the distribution of annual and holiday bonuses, particularly in
those months used as reference (December, March or April).
WAR IN GAZA – A series of
Israeli air strikes reported in Rafah killed over 50 people, the Hamas Health
Ministry reports. In turn, the IDF confirmed a number of raids targeting
terrorist objectives in the south of the Gaza Strip. The international
community has expressed concern after last week the Israeli PM Benjamin
Netanyahu ordered the army to carry out an offensive in Rafah, currently
hosting a large number of people displaced due to the war in Gaza. The United
States want Israel to come up with a reliable and viable plan to protect the
civilian population prior to the military intervention, also pressing for
continuing negotiations for obtaining a ceasefire.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Sorana Cîrstea (26 WTA) defeated
Sloane Stephens of the USA (39 WTA), 6-3, 6-2 in Sunday’s opening round of the
WTA 1000 tournament in Doha, offering over 3.2 mln USD in total prizes. In the
second round Cîrstea will play the top seed and world no. 1 Iga Świątek of
Poland. Also in Doha, Monica Niculescu and Cristina Bucșa have qualified to the
women’s doubles round of 16, where they will play Miyu Kato of Japan and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia. In other
news, Karolina Pliskova of Czechia has won the Transylvania Open, the only WTA
250 tournament in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, after defeating Ana Bogdan on Sunday,
6-4, 6-3. In the women’s doubles, Caty McNally and Asia Muhammad of the USA won
the final against Harriet Dart of Great Britain and Tereza Mihalíková of Slovakia.
(VP)
