January 7, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 07.01.2024, 18:44

Saint John. Orthodox Christians and Greek Catholics celebrated on Sunday Saint John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Old Testament and the only one who knew the Messiah, whose coming he had prepared. The Jews recognized him as a prophet and would come to get baptized in the waters of the Jordan, to repent their sins. John introduced Jesus as the Messiah. Almost two million Romanians celebrated their name-day on Sunday. Old-style Christians celebrated Christmas also on January 7th.

Government. Next week, the Government of Romania is expected to make a series of decisions that will allow the filling of vacant positions in the health system. Many hospitals are complaining of staff shortages, after public sector hiring was blocked. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu asked for a quick solution in the first meeting of the Government this year. He stressed that there are approximately 4,500 doctors in which the Romanian state has invested hundreds of millions of euros and that the Executive must ensure that they remain in the country. Ciolacu specified that, in the next period, the Ministries of Health and Development must update the lists of vacant positions and submit to the Government new memoranda on organizing the necessary contests.

Israel. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, was received, on Sunday, in Amman by King Abdullah II of Jordan, who asked him to put pressure on Israel to obtain an immediate truce in the Gaza war against the terrorist group Hamas, FP reports. Blinken arrived in Jordan on Saturday night as part of a new tour of the Middle East in an attempt to prevent an escalation of the conflict. The Hashemite sovereign also emphasized the need to put an end to the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. The king said that there will be no peace and stability in the region without a just settling of the Palestinian issue, based on the two-state solution, Palestinian and Israeli. From Jordan, Blinken will go to Qatar, the emirate that acted as a mediator between Israel and Hamas since the end of November. From there, the US official will fly to Abu Dhabi, to Saudi Arabia and then Israel. In another move, the Israeli army has announced that it has completed the destruction of the command structure of the terrorist group Hamas in the north of the Gaza Strip. The army spokesman said that Israel had killed about 8,000 militants in northern Gaza and that Israeli forces were now focusing on destroying Hamas in the south and center of the Strip.

Ukraine. On Saturday night, Russia launched attacks with drones and three cruise missiles at Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force announced on Sunday, adding that their air defense systems destroyed more than 20 of the drones. The Air Force reported that Russia attacked the south and east of Ukraine in particular, Reuters reports. The Japanese foreign minister, Yoko Kamikawa, visited Ukraine on Sunday, to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitro Kuleba, as well as other officials. Minister Kamikawa reconfirmed for the Ukrainian side that Japans consistent policies to support Ukraine remained unchanged even in the current difficult international situation, the press service of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, quoted by news agencies.

Timisoara. Timisoara, the city that was a European Capital of Culture in 2023, needs a modern concert hall, Mayor Dominic Fritz said on Radio Romania. He said that the space that currently hosts such events is a former cinema and therefore, in 2024, a competition of architectural plans will be organized for the construction of a philharmonic. The mayor of the city located in the west of the country, on the banks of the river Bega, is of the opinion that the revenue and the cultural effervescence that such an edifice creates in the city make such an investment worthwhile. “It will certainly be one of the great legacies of this cultural capital,” said Dominic Fritz. More than 1.3 million people visited the city last year to participate in the cultural events organized as part of the Timisoara – European Capital of Culture program.

Moldova. Last year, Romania was the largest importer of wines from the Republic of Moldova, with a quarter of the total amount, Radio Chisinau reports. At the same time, the European Union was the main sales market with 45 percent, while only 26% of exports reached the ex-Soviet states. The remaining approximately 30 percent went to other countries of the world, such as the United States of America, Canada and China. In total, the revenues collected in 2023 by the Republic of Moldova from the export of wines exceeded 100 million dollars.

Handball. The Romanian womens handball champion, CSM Bucharest, has defeated 44-26 the Montenegrin team Buducnost, in group A of the Champions League. CSM is now ranked third in the group headed by Gyor (Hungary). On Saturday, the other representative of Romania in the Champions League, Rapid Bucharest, was dramatically defeated by the Slovenian team Krim Mercator Ljubljana, 25-24, away from home, in Group B. Rapid is the penultimate in the group, and in first position is Esbjerg, from Denmark.

Weather. Precipitations have covered all regions of Romania. It is predominantly raining, but snow will soon take over many regions. A yellow code warning for strong winds, snow falls and blizzard affecting in particular the east and southeast of the territory is in place starting Sunday evening. Meteorologists have also announced that starting Monday the weather will get significantly colder, so that on Tuesday the highs of the day will be negative, ranging from minus 8 to 0 degrees Celsius and rain will turn into snow in many parts of the country. (MI)