November 3, 2020

Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 03.11.2020, 14:07

COVID-19 A new all-time high in Covid-19 infections, 7733
out of 30,336 tests conducted, has been reported in Romania today. Another
all-time high, 120 fatalities, has been reported by Strategic Communication
Group in the past 24 hours. 258,437 infections have been confirmed on Romania’s
territory since the onset of the pandemic. 181,175 people have been declared
cured. 11,897 patients are being treated in hospitals across the country out of
which 974 in IC units, the largest number so far. Romania’s president Klaus
Iohannis has today summoned a session to assess and present the measures taken
to contain the Covid-19 epidemic. The event is also attended by the country’s
Health Minister Nelu Tataru, the head of the Emergency Situations Department,
Raed Arafat, Romania’s Representative to the World Health Organisation,
Alexandru Rafila, and other experts from the country’s medical field.

VISIT Romania’s Prime Minister Ludovic
Orban is today paying a formal visit to Israel and Palestine. According to a
communiqué issued by the government in Bucharest, the Romanian official is expected
to sign with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu several documents on
avoiding double taxation and the prevention of tax evasion on income duties in
the two countries. The head of the Romanian executive is to assess together
with Israeli officials the stage of the bilateral relations in the fields of
politics, economy and security. Also high on the agenda are the latest
developments in the Middle East and North Africa. In Ramallah, the Romanian
official will be having talks with his Palestinian counterpart Mohammad
Shtayyeh.

PROTEST Scores of employees from
Romania’s medical system protested in front of the government’s building in
Bucharest calling for coherent strategies and better working conditions to be
able to deal with the crisis caused by the pandemic. Union leaders are
denouncing the shortage of qualified personnel, funds and equipment. According
to them, medical workers are exhausted after months of working in extremely
difficult conditions.

ATTACKS The attacks in Vienna, in which
armed men killed and wounded several people have been committed by at least one
an ‘Islamist terrorist’, Austria’s interior Minister Karl Nehammer has been
quoted by Reuters as saying during a news conference today. The Austrian
official has repeatedly called on people to stay off the streets, adding that
the terrorist shot dead by the police in the street seems to have been a
supporter of the Islamic State. The police have been searching several houses
and apprehended a few people in connection with the attacks. Road blocks have
been set up and border control tightened in an attempt to catch the attacker
that got away. After the attack in Vienna last night, Germany and the Czech
Republic have tightened controls at their border with Austria. US president
Donald Trump and several European leaders, including Romania’s president, Klaus
Iohannis, have sharply condemned the attacks in the Austrian capital. In a
Twitter message, the Romanian official has conveyed condolences to the families
of the victims, expressing Romania’s solidarity with Austria. The EU has also
sharply condemned the cowardly attack on Monday night, which the president of
the European Council described as a violation of human rights and values.
German chancellor Angela Merkel says that ‘Islamist terror is our number one
enemy and the fight against it is ‘our common struggle’.

ELECTION Millions are expected to the polls in the USA to cast
their ballot for the future US president. Against the present pandemic
background, the turnout of those who voted beforehand reached an all-time high,
over 96 million. The incumbent president Donald Trump and his Democratic
contender, Joe Biden, on Monday gave a last impetus in the key-states. Biden
has a constant advance of roughly 8 percent in national polls, but differences
are low in the so-called swing states, which could decide the winner. Trump is
anticipating a wave of Republican wins, whereas Biden says that the US is done
with the chaos of the Trump administration. We recall that the US voting
system, which is unique in the world, was created 200 years ago. Americans aren’t
voting directly for a president or another, they are actually voting for a list
of electors supporting a certain candidate. Once in four years, in the first
Tuesday in November, the electors are designating the president, who must have
got a least 270 out of a total 538 votes.

(bill)