October 18, 2016 UPDATE
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Newsroom, 18.10.2016, 12:15
POVERTY – Romanian PM Dacian Ciolos on Tuesday said that poverty is the result of corruption and of the way in which public resources are allocated. On the other hand, Ciolos says that a change in the citizens behavioral attitudes is also necessary in order to eradicate poverty. The head of government attended debates on the program drafted by the government in an effort to curb poverty. It includes 47 measures destined for all age brackets, from preschoolers to elderly people. Over 37% of the Romanians are exposed to a risk of poverty and social exclusion, Romania ranking second in the EU from this point of view, data released by Eurostat show. One in three children in Romania is facing poverty.
PROSECUTION – Romanian MPs on Tuesday voted in favor of the National Anticorruption Directorates request to prosecute Elena Udrea, suspected of involvement in two cases of abetting bribe-taking. The charges are linked to the presidential election campaign of 2009, when Udrea was the Minister for Regional Development and Tourism. Also on Tuesday the Directorate indicted Bogdan Olteanu, a former Chamber of Deputies Speaker, currently under house arrest for influence peddling. Prosecutors say that over July-November 2008 Olteanu received 1 million euros from businessman Sorin Ovidiu Vantu in exchange for using his influence to appoint Liviu Mihaiu governor of the Danube Delta.
TERRORISM – EU Commissioner for Security Julian King on Tuesday told the German publication Die Welt about the risk of an influx of jihadist militants in Europe if their stronghold in Mosul is destroyed by the Iraqi offense. A 30,000-strong force, mostly Iraqi military, on Monday made their advance on Mosul on the first day of the siege on this city, the last major stronghold of the Islamic State in Iraq. There are fears the siege might generate a humanitarian crisis for the 1,5 million civilians on the ground. The military operation, supported by a US-led international coalition, is the most important action of the Iraqi military within its reinstatement since the death of dictator Saddam Hussein.
MIGRATION – Eight Pakistani nationals were stopped at the Romanian-Serbian border, in the southwest, on Tuesday morning, while trying to illegally cross into Serbia, from Romania. Following checkouts, the police officers established that the respective persons were Pakistani citizens, who said they had crossed the border on foot, with the declared intention to head for a West European state. Many such attempts by migrants trying to illegally cross the border have been foiled in the past two months.
CORRUPTION – One of the shareholders in the wine making company Murfatlar (in south-eastern Romania) and nine other persons have been taken into custody by the anti-corruption prosecutors, in a tax evasion file. The estimated value of the prejudice stands at some 600 million lei (135 million Euro). The anti-corruption prosecutors on Monday searched the headquarters of several firms in the wine-growing industry and the houses of several people, in several counties in the south and south-east, in a file in which investigations are carried out for crimes assimilated to corruption and tax evasion. The acts were reportedly carried out in the 2010-2014 period. In 2015, the wine company Murfatlar, one of the first ten players on the Romanian wine industry reported a turnover of 27 million Euro and a net profit of some 800 thousand Euro, according to the balance sheet submitted to the Finance Ministry.
SIMPLE MOTION – Romanian MPs on Tuesday adopted the simple motion “Lies can kill, too, tabled by the Social Democratic Party against the justice minister in the current technocratic cabinet, Raluca Pruna. The MPs of the National Liberal Party and of the national minorities didnt cast their votes. In the document, the Social Democrats were demanding the resignation of justice minister Raluca Pruna for a series of statements she made in a plenary session of the Higher Council of the Magistracy, on October 6, when she claimed “she had lied to the European Court of Human Rights about the situation of funds allotted to penitentiaries. Ahead of the vote in parliament, Raluca Pruna defended herself, saying her mandate does not have a biased political stake. She assumed responsibility for the statements she made, saying that no one can take away her right to signal problems in the justice system, among which a severe one, such as under-financing. Todays vote does not lead to the sacking of the minister.
SYRIA – The Russian and Syrian forces halted air raids in Aleppo as of Tuesday morning, Russian defence minister, Sergey Shoygu, has said. He has underlined that this cessation of fire, ahead of schedule, is necessary to allow citizens to leave Aleppo on Thursday. According to Shoygu, ahead of the humanitarian break, the Syrian troops will take distance from Aleppo, for the rebels to be able to leave the city along two corridors, laid out particularly to that end. The second largest city, Aleppo, has been divided since 2012, into the eastern districts controlled by the rebels and the western districts controlled by the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Since September 22, the 250,000 inhabitants of the districts controlled by the rebels have been subjected to intense air raids by the Syrian regime and its Russian ally, harshly criticised by the West. The Syrian conflict, which started with the 2011 stifling of pro-democracy protests, has left over 300,000 people dead.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Marius Copil, ranked 198th in ATP standings, defeated Joao Sousa of Portugal, 33 ATP, in the opening round of the tournament in Antwerp, Belgium, totaling 600,000 euros in prize money. In the next round Copil will face the winner of the match pitting Steve Darcis of Belgium against Benoit Paire of France. In other news from tennis, Sorana Cirstea, 82 WTA, lost to Tereza Smitkova of the Czech Republic in the opening round of the tournament in Luxembourg, totaling 225,000 dollars in prize money. Monica Niculescu, 52 WTA, has advanced to the second round after defeating Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, 63 WTA.
(Translated by D. Vijeu and V. Palcu)
