Foreign Ministry welcomes United States budget increase for the European Reassurance Initiative for 2017
Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the announcement made by the United Statesd on quadrupling the budget for the European Reassurance Initiative (ERI) for 2017 and the determination to ensure a robust American military presence in Europe. The measure will significantly contribute to strengthening the security of Romania and of the other allies in perspective of security challenges they face, stresses diplomacy in Bucharest in a statement. (RADIO ROMANIA reports)
Romania participates at a conference of donors for the victims of Syrian conflict
Romania will join the countries which will participate at the London donor conference to help victims of the conflict in Syria. Yesterday, the Government has supplemented the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with 550,000 lei in order to provide humanitarian aid for refugees. The international press writes that United Kingdom will put pressure on world leaders today to double their financial contribution and to end the humanitarian crisis. The war in Syria began five years ago and since then over 4,5 million residents have sought refuge abroad. (RADIO ROMANIA reports)
Bill on Women’s Day and Man’s Day
The Chamber of Deputies decided that November 19 will legally become Man’s Day. The bill also declares March 8 as the official Women’s Day. According to the legislative, the measure will contribute to eliminating discrimination between men and women. The document states that special events can be organized and Public Television and Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company can broadcast programs to promote women’s rights or, where appropriate, men’s rights in these two days. The bill was rejected by the Senate, but the Chamber of Deputies is the decision-making body, so that the law will be sent to the president for promulgation.
(RADIO ROMANIA reports)
Adrian Strugariu
The law on the struggle against food waste passed in Parliament
The French Parliament definitively adopted, Wednesday, February 3rd, a series of measures against food waste.
Indeed, after the National Assembly, the Senate has, in its turn, unanimously approved a bill including special provisions to prevent supermarkets from throwing food and make their unsold products unfit for consumption.
This bill on litter in the National Assembly by the Socialist deputy Guillaume Garot engraves, in the French Law, a hierarchy of measures to put in place to recover and recycle foodstuff and avoid their waste.
It indicates ways of prevention, the possibility of using foodstuff for energetics purposes and more the possibility to take it for consumptions purposes or for animal feed.
(Manon Custodio)
Medical studies
In France, lots of students fail at the Medical school. That’s why; the CPU (Conference of University Presidents) makes some proposition. The CPU doesn’t want to select students before their first common years of medical studies (in France, it’s called PACES). So it proposes to integrate all paramedical formations at the University. Indeed, nurse, nursing auxiliary, dietician, masseur-physiotherapist, podiatrist, osteopath, optician and others are in public or private school but not at the University.
Currently, some formations are accessible on the results of an entrance examination or on admission based on application file (osteopath and dentist for example); others will be soon reachable after one year of study (PACES, STAPS or biology). It’s a complex system to understand, that’s why the CPU wants to make it easier.
Only “long formations” (more than 5 years) are going to keep a progressive selection (with the PACES) and “short formations” (less than 5 years) will be accessible thanks to a selection at the start.
In this way, if students fail the exam to enter in long formation, they will be able to reorientate themselves in second years of short formation, and stay at the University.
This difficult protocol encourage French student to come make their studies in Romania. In fact, the admission is without the results of an entrance examination, but only on admission based on application file. Furthermore, students are better supervised and have more support.
(Dupuis Jessica)
Amnesty International calls for an end to the state of emergency, which „has upset hundreds of lives”
Amnesty International France condemns the harmful consequences of the state of emergency set up in France on population. They ask parliamentarians not to extend the measures taken immediately after the attacks on November 13th in Paris.
This state of emergency strengthened police powers, allowed house arrests and raids day and night, and prohibited meetings. In two months, more than 3000 raids had been led, 400 people questioned and 400 others summoned, according to the ministry of the interior.
According to Amnesty, these measures detract human rights : during a meeting of the NGO with 60 people, most declared these measures had been taken with a few, even no, explanation, and even with excessive violence. Some also said they lost their jobs because of stigmatization linked to raids.
The NGO also points out the fact that muslims are the main target of these measures, arbitrarily and unfairly biased : anti-muslims attacks had tripled in 2015 in France.
As the government wants to extend the measures for three months after February 26th and write these measures in the Constitution, state of emergency raises questions from Human rights defenders, including United Nations and Council of Europe.
(Michel Elisa)
