Romania

Luca Niculescu is asking parliament for a six-month political agreement to meet basic objectives, an offer that suggests the prime minister-designate is aware his shelf life may be short. The Social Democrats are meeting to decide what they want in exchange for their support; meanwhile, the Liberals claim to have 25 votes ready for a government they have otherwise refused to join. Mr Niculescu says he does not promise miracles, only a list of ministers by Thursday.

The head of the National Meteorological Administration, Elena Mateescu, is facing a probe into 50 million euros of European project funds and a ministerial report regarding state-funded luxury purchases. Ms Mateescu, who has led the agency for a decade, says there is a campaign to remove her. The environment minister has referred a list of the agency's acquisitions, including perfumes and lingerie, to prosecutors.

A police commissioner has negotiated a sentence for ordering the secret destruction of an archive in Ploieşti, though some documents were reportedly pulled from the fire. Elsewhere, the Bucharest Tribunal is deciding whether to keep Călin Georgescu in pre-trial detention, and the national trade deficit has reached 22.4 billion euros for the year to October.