Morning headlines – December 6th 2021
Florin Jipa
Image source: Profimedia
Coronavirus and vaccines
- Vaccination in Romania: In the last 24 hours, more than 32.000 people got vaccinated. Totally, more than 7,79 million people got the vaccine, with more than 7,53 getting both doses and 1,65 of them getting the third dose.
- Coronavirus in Romania: In the last 24 hours, there were recorded 916 new SARS CoV-2 cases, 78 deaths, and in ICU there are now 910 people hospitalized.
Global political and military events
- Biden-Putin summit. Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will have, on Tuesday, an online discussion and Biden will reaffirm US’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity given the Russian troops’ dislocation at the border. Putin, however, will ask the US for guarantees that NATO will not expand to the east. (CNN)
- Japan will pay more for the US troops’ dislocation on its territory. A new agreement is about to be signed between the US and Japan, which will increase Japan’s annual financial contribution for the US troops’ dislocation, said Japanese sources, however with no details on the increase. Japan is paying 1.8 billion dollars annually. (AP)
- China develops space capacities two times quicker than the US. General David Thompson, the deputy chief of space operations from the US Space Forces has warned at the Reagan National Defence Forum that the Chinese state is developing the space capacities `two times quicker` than the US and could even overcome US in terms of space capacities, by the end of the decade. (CNN)
- Record numbers for the 2020 arms sale. The turnover of the top 100 defense companies reached more than $531 billion in 2020, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). It has increased with 1.3 percent from last year, while the world economy is down 3 percent. However, Russian (-6.5%) and French (-7.7%) companies had decreases. The top five companies are American, the top being led by Lockheed-Martin, Europe ranks 6th and 11th with BAE Systems and Airbus, while China ranks 7th, 8th and 9th with Norinco, Avic and CETC. (AP)
- China wants the first permanent military base in the Atlantic. China is analyzing the opening of a permanent military base in the Atlantic, in Guinea, says a US report. (Wall Street Journal)
- Pope Francis visited migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos. The Sovereign Pontiff called on European powers to support migrants: "I beg you to stop this shipwreck of civilization". (AP)
Romania's defence and security
- Solemn meeting, 30 years after the adoption of the Constitution. The Romanian Parliament meets on Monday, at 13.00, in a solemn sitting, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution. The Romanian Constitution, the first since 1989, was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on November 21, 1991 and approved by National Referendum on December 8, with 77.3%.
- International Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence in Bucharest. The Polytechnic University of Bucharest has inaugurated, within the Faculty of Automation and Computers, the International Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, where it will develop an ecosystem of excellence in research and innovation in the field of Artificial Intelligence. (Agerpres)
