WHO Warns Ebola Outbreak May Spread Further In West Africa
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Monday that the Ebola outbreak is likely to spread further and make thousands of new victims in West Africa.
In March 2014, the WHO reported a major Ebola outbreak in Guinea, a western African nation. Researchers traced the outbreak to a two-year old child who died on 6 December 2013. By July 31, 2014, they reported that the death toll had reached 826 people from 1440 cases. On 8 August, the WHO declared the epidemic to be an international public health emergency. (Romania Libera)
Labor Minister: 20,000 Mothers, 50,000 Pensioners, 25,000 Public Workers To Get Tax Amnesty
Romania’s Labor Minister Rovana Plumb said 20,000 mothers, 50,000 pensioners and 25,000 public workers will get tax amnesty.
The minister also said that those who have already returned money to the state will get it back in equal tranches, over a five-year period at most, starting 2015. (Adevarul)
Halliburton Mulls Developing Deepwater Projects In Black Sea
U.S. oilfield services provider Halliburton focuses on two fields with great growth potential in Romania, namely increasing oilfield production and developing deepwater projects in the Black Sea, Joe Rainey, Halliburton president for the Eastern Hemisphere, told Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta.
According to a government’s press release, Ponta had a meeting Thursday with Rainey who expressed his interest in the evolution of the local energy sector and presented his company’s new investment plans in Romania.
Halliburton representatives also expressed their interest in Romania’s oil and gas industry, while Ponta requested that local experts should get involved in future operations to be developed by the company. (Puterea)
Romania Industrial Sales Rise 2.7% On Month In July
Romanian industrial sales rose in July from a month earlier, boosted by higher demand in the manufacturing sector, according to the country’s statistics institute INS.
Industrial sales increased 2.7% last month, after a 1.6% decline in June. Sales in the manufacturing sector advanced 3.3% on the month in July, but mining sales went down 13.5%, the data showed. (Curierul National)
PM: Romania Should Spend Over $3B On Public Investments By End-2014
Prime Minister Victor Ponta said Romania should spend over $3 billion on public investments by the end of 2014, adding, however, that although the funds are covered from the state budget, bureaucracy makes it hard to carry out investments.
Ponta told a conference organized by the U.S. Embassy, the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania (AmCham Romania) and AMRO that the 2% of the GDP Romania should spend on public investments by the end of the year translates into a large amount (over $3 billion), and that the capital invested in economy will impact the entire development of the country. (Romania Libera)
Senate Chairman Presents Solicitation To Suspend President Basescu
Senate Chairman Calin Popescu Tariceanu presented Monday the solicitation to suspend President Traian Basescu, citing the latter’s “attitude” as regards observing the Constitution.
The leader of social democrat senators, Ilie Sarbu, said the issue was not brought up during yesterday’s meeting of social democrat lawmakers.
The Hungarian minority party UDMR already said it disagrees with suspending Basescu, while the co-president of the Christian Liberal Alliance, Vasile Blaga, said the two parties are not interested in Tariceanu’s actions. (Evenimentul Zilei)