April 28, 2025
A roundup of domestic and international news
Newsroom, 28.04.2025, 13:50
Parliament. A draft law that radically changes the retirement rules in the justice system enters the Senate today as the decision-making body. The permanent bureau has decided on an accelerated timetable for analyzing and voting on the bill initiated by the leaders of the ruling coalition. The document, which stipulates that the retirement age for magistrates will rise to 65 as of January 1 next year and that the amount of the pension cannot exceed the amount of the last salary, has already been green-lighted by the Chamber of Deputies. The European Commission’s release of the third tranche of funding from the NRRP depends on the approval of this law. Also today, the Senate will debate and vote on a simple motion tabled by AUR against the Minister of Labor, Simona Bucura-Oprescu, who has been summoned to Parliament to respond to criticism of the problems in the pension system.
Summit. Romania’s Acting President Ilie Bolojan is attending the 10th summit of the Three Seas Initiative in Warsaw on Monday and Tuesday. Set up in 2015 at the proposal of Poland and Croatia, the Three Seas Initiative now brings together 13 EU member states between the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Seas, two associate states (Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova) and has three strategic partners: the USA, the European Commission and Germany. According to the Presidential Administration in Bucharest, the Romanian acting Head of State will attend this evening the official dinner hosted by Polish President Andrzej Duda at the Presidential Palace, and on Tuesday he will attend the segment dedicated to heads of state and government at the Business Forum of the Three Seas Initiative and the Three Seas Initiative Summit.
Rome. Catholic Church cardinals who have already arrived in Rome are meeting today to discuss the election of a new pope. It is the fifth so-called general congregation since the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday. The cardinals have already held such meetings in the days leading up to Pope Francis’ funeral and burial on Saturday. So far, there is no date for the start of the conclave, which will take place in the Sistine Chapel behind closed doors. At the earliest, the conclave could begin on May 5, after a nine-day period of mourning. To become pope, a cardinal must receive two-thirds of the votes cast in the conclave. There is a single ballot on the first day, followed by four on each successive day. Once a new pope is elected, white smoke rises from a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel. Currently, the Catholic Church has 135 cardinals under the age of 80, which makes them eligible to attend the conclave. More than 400,000 people paid homage to Pope Francis on Saturday, both at Mass in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican and as the funeral cortege passed through the streets of Rome and then to the tomb in the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica.
Ukraine. North Korea today admitted for the first time that it has sent troops to the frontline in Russia. The North Koreans’ military presence had long been known, with Ukraine presenting ample evidence of their participation in fighting in the Russian Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched a surprise offensive last summer. Reuters notes that Pyongyang initially sent 11,000 troops and later another 3,000 to replace those killed or wounded in the fighting. Following today’s announcement, both Seoul and Washington condemned North Korea’s involvement in the war. Pyongyang acknowledges the presence of its forces in Russia, just a day after US President Donald Trump again criticized Moscow for bombing Ukraine. He had done the same after meeting President Volodimir Zelenski at the Vatican. At the time, Trump told Vladimir Putin to stop the attacks. But in an interview aired on a US television on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country would continue to bomb military targets and that the civilian targets hit in last week’s bloody attack in Kyiv may not have been entirely civilian. Also on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the US could abandon peace talks and that this week would be crucial in that regard.
Attack. A 30-year-old man has been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder after driving a car into a crowd at a street festival in Vancouver, Canada. The attack at a festival celebrating Filipino culture left 11 dead and dozens injured. Efforts to identify some of the victims were in full swing Sunday night, and police said the suspect – Kai-Ji Adam Lo, a local resident – could face new charges. According to investigators, the suspect was on police radar before the attack, but an extremist motive has been ruled out, citing instead his history of mental health problems.
Handball. CSM Bucharest missed out on qualifying for the Women’s Champions League Women’s Handball Final Four after losing 26-22 (14-12) away from home to Denmark’s Team Esbjerg on Sunday in the second leg of the quarterfinals. CSM Bucharest won by a single goal, 30-29, in the second leg, so the team’s run this season comes to an end along with the international career of Cristina Neagu, who announced her retirement at the end of the season. Neagu scored four goals in the match in Denmark to end her European career with a total of 1,232 goals, making her the all-time top scorer. The 36-year-old has been named best player in the world four times. Cristina Neagu has won the Champions League trophy once (2015) with Buducnost, twice silver and bronze medals four times. (MI)
