A roundup of domestic and international news
PARLIAMENT - The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have today resumed their plenary sittings, their first after the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats has withdrawn from the ruling coalition. Alliance leader Calin Popescu-Tariceanu has resigned as Senate Speaker. Social-Democrat leader and Prime Minister Viorica Dancila in turn said her Government would move on. The opposition threatens to file a no-confidence motion. President Klaus Iohannis has rejected the nominations made by the Prime Minister for the positions left vacant by outgoing Alliance members of the Government and will soon respond to the nominations of interim ministers.
PENSIONS - Pensions will be paid in their new increased format starting Monday, Labor Minister Marius Budai said today. Yesterday, the new pension law came into force, increasing pensions by some 15%. Five million pensioners in the public system will be benefitting from this increase. The opposition warns that the measure threatens to deepen the budget deficit, while the IMF has recommended Romanian authorities review the law.
UNEMPLOYMENT - The unemployment rate in Romania at the end of July stood at 3.01%, by 0.49% lower compared to the same period of 2018, and by 0.06% higher than June this year, the National Employment Agency (ANOFM) reports. The slightly upward trend in the unemployment rate is influenced by the number of students who graduated forms of education and registered as unemployed. The total number of the unemployed stood at 262.044 people at the end of July, most of whom were reported in the rural area. As regards unemployment broken down in types of education, the number of unemployed people with primary or without any form of education accounted for the largest share, 29.61%.
ENESCU FESTIVAL - The "George Enescu" International Festival continues with the London Symphonic Orchestra concert in the highlights. Over 2,000 members of choirs and instrumental orchestras will hold concerts and recitals in parks, museums, shopping centers and corporate buildings all across Bucharest. This year's theme is "The World in Harmony", while the artistic director of the festival is Vladimir Jurowski. Until September 22, Bucharest and other 10 cities in Romania and Germany, France, Italy, Canada and the Republic of Moldova will host events as part of the Festival. Over 2,500 of the world's most valuable musicians will climb on stage in Bucharest to perform in one of the 84 concerts and recitals offered as part of the Festival.
DORIAN - The northwest of the Bahamas Islands was battered by Dorian Hurricane, with wind speed peaking at 300 km/h. Dorian has destroyed buildings, cars and uprooted trees, also causing flash floods. The National Hurricane Centre in the United States has confirmed Dorian to be a Category 5 storm, the most powerful to ever strike this region. The United States has declared a state of emergency for states on the eastern coast with Dorian drawing near, the BBC reports.
ELECTION IN GERMANY -The German far right reported a significant increase in the number of vote grabbed in the two regional ballots held in Germany, reporting over half of the votes grabbed in the previous election of 2014, according to preliminary estimates. The AfD Alternative for Germany, who has been criticizing German Chancellor Angela Merkel's pro-immigration policy, is set for second spot in Eastern Saxony and neighboring Brandenburg, second to the CDU Conservative Party and the SPD Social-Democratic Party, respectively. Eastern Germany remains, therefore, a bastion of support for the AfD, which is less popular in Western Germany.
TENNIS - Romanian tennis player Raluca Olaru lost in both matches played on Sunday at the US Open, in the women's doubles and mixed doubles, respectively. Olaru was the only representative of Romania left in the competition. We recall Simona Halep, the number four seed in the women's singles, was knocked out surprisingly in the second round by Taylor Townsend of the United States, who in the third round went on to eliminate another Romanian, Sorana Cirstea.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
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