Romanian president Klaus Iohannis is on a visit to the US. Romania joins OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency.
Salary bill. The Chamber of Deputies has approved the new public sector salary bill. While the first stage of the proposed salary increase was to begin in July, the latest version of the bill provides for a 25% increase in all state sector gross salaries beginning on the 1st of January 2018. Teachers and doctors, who were promised further increases, will see their salaries go up again on the 1st of March next year.
US visit. Romania's president Klaus Iohannis, who is on a working visit to the US, is today attending a talk in Washington on the bilateral Strategic Partnership signed 20 years ago. Also today, he will meet representatives of the Romanian community in the US. On Thursday, Iohannis had talks with Mike Pompeo, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, telling him he appreciated the excellent collaboration between the Romanian and American special services. The president said that Romania, including its intelligence services, understands it must act as a provider of security at international level. On Friday, president Iohannis is to meet his counterpart Donald Trump. He is the first head of state from Central and Eastern Europe to be received by the US president since the latter's inauguration.
Nuclear Energy Agency. Romania will join today the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The ceremony is held in Paris in the presence of prime minister Sorin Grindeanu and the OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria. On Thursday, the Romanian prime minister will meet his French counterpart Edouard Philippe. A traditionally Francophone and Francophile country, Romania signed a strategic partnership with France in 2008. Grindeanu is accompanied in Paris by his finance minister Viorel Stefan, who is today attending the signing of an international convention in the fiscal area endorsed by more than 60 states. The main goal of this convention is to counteract the practices employed by international companies to transfer their profits to countries with low taxation or tax havens, which leads to a reduction in state budget revenues.
Economic growth. The National Institute for Statistics has confirmed that Romania's economy has grown by 5.7% in the first quarter of the year. The biggest contribution to the growth came from consumption, the IT sector, services, trade and industry. Statistical figures show that industry, which has become a key sector and contributed almost a quarter to the GDP, has grown by 6.7% compared with the same period last year. The construction sector and the financial system have seen a decrease. In 2017, the government is counting on a 5.2% economic growth rate, while international financial institutions put this figure at 4 to 4.5% of the GDP.
UK elections. Today is the last day of the election campaign for the early parliamentary elections in the UK. One of the main themes at this stage of the campaign is security, given the recent terrorist attacks in London and Manchester. The Conservative prime minister Theresa May and the Labour leader Jeremy Corbin have suspended their campaigning twice in respect of the victims. Yesterday, Theresa May said she wanted longer prison sentences for the persons committed of terrorist actions and increased powers to restrict the suspects' actions.
Iran attacks. At least seven people were killed today in Tehran in terrorist attacks targeting the Parliament building and the Mausoleum of ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian authorities say several attackers entered Parliament, one of whom was killed, while the other two arrested. Two suicide attacks were carried out at the Mausoleum, which is located 20 km from the Parliament headquarters.
Roland Garros. World no. 4 Simona Halep of Romania today faces world no. 6 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam tournament of the year. If she wins, Halep will meet either world no. 3 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic or world no. 27 Caroline Garcia of France. In the women's doubles, two more Romanian players are vying for a place in the semifinals. Irina Begu and her doubles partner, the Chinese player Saisai Zheng face the all-Australian pair Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua, while Raluca Olaru and Olga Savchuk from Ukraine play against the Taiwanese-Swiss pair Yung-Jan Chan and Martina Hingis.
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