November 2, 2021 UPDATE
Click here for a news update
Newsroom, 02.11.2021, 19:47
Covid — On Tuesday Romania registered a new record of deaths reported in 24 hours, namely 586, in patients infected with COVID-19. In the same period, 11,073 new cases of COVID-19 contamination were reported. According to the Strategic Communication Group, since the onset of the pandemic, in Romania, 1,666,097 cases of people with coronavirus infections have been confirmed. 1,429,157 patients have recovered from the disease. All in all, 48,664 people diagnosed with COVID-19 have died in Romania. Neighboring Bulgaria also reported a new death record on Tuesday. With a population almost three times smaller than that of Romania, Bulgaria reported 310 deaths in 24 hours. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Sofia, 94% of the deceased were unvaccinated people. Since the summer season, Bulgaria and Romania have reported the lowest vaccination rate against the new coronavirus of all the 27 EU member states – according to calculations made by international news agencies, based on data provided by national authorities.
Government – The Romanian prime minister designate, the Liberal Nicolae Ciucă, on Tuesday announced that he was relinquishing the mandate he received from President Klaus Iohannis to form a new government. The decision was adopted by the leadership of his party, after the prime minister designate failed to obtain support in Parliament for the government team made up of the National Liberal party — PNL and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania — UDMR. On Wednesday he was supposed to ask for the investiture vote in the plenum of Parliament. According to procedures, the head of state will have to launch a new round of consultations with the parliamentary parties, in order to nominate another potential prime minister. The Liberal leader, the interim prime minister Florin Cîțu, is now talking about a relaxation of the negotiating mandate and promises that the liberals will have consultations with what he calls the democratic political forces in Parliament to form a majority to support a government with full powers. On the other hand, the co-president of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR, the nationalist opposition), George Simion, announced the initiation of procedures to suspend President Iohannis. He specified that Alliance for the Union of Romanians started gathering signatures from senators and deputies to support his action, adding that parliamentarians from several parties promised to sign the document. According to the Constitution, the suspension procedure must be initiated by at least one third of the total number of senators and deputies, i.e. 156 signatures. Accused of not exercising his constitutional role of mediator and lately perceived as part the problem and not as one who seeks solutions, Iohannis has reached a confidence rate of only 14%, according to a recent poll, commissioned by the Social Democratic opposition.
COP26 — More than 100 countries around the world on Tuesday pledged to halt deforestation by 2030 and thus curb global warming. At the so-called COP26 in the Scottish city of Glasgow, the UN summit dedicated to combating climate change, the heads of state and government promised to protect forests, considered the lungs of the planet, because they neutralize much of the billions of tons of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere following human activities. Also on Tuesday, 80 of the participating states pledged to reduce emissions of methane, one of the greenhouse gases, by 30% in the next decade. Attending the Glasgow summit, President Klaus Iohannis said that Romania had reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 64% between 1989, when the communist dictatorship collapsed, and 2019. 40% of the electricity produced in Romania comes from renewable sources — the Romanian president also added. (LS)
