Romania

Prosecutors searched the driving license office in Ilfov this morning, suspecting a system of bribes between employees and instructors. It was a busy morning for those following the public purse: in Iasi, the city hall managed to approve and pay a 2 million lei invoice in under three hours. In the capital, the head of the meteorological agency claims she is being forced out after a decade, just as reports emerged of the agency awarding millions in contracts to one-employee firms without a tender.

The search for a government remains in the usual deadlock. The Social Democrats say they will only support the latest proposed cabinet if two other parties join them; those parties have noted the Social Democrats were the ones who collapsed the previous government. The Prime Minister-designate has suggested a six-month truce to provide stability, an optimistic request in a parliament currently preparing for early elections.

The economic data is no more settled. Romania recorded the highest rent increases in the EU this year, while the national statistics office reported that average net salaries have finally fallen behind inflation. For those in Neamt County, the problems are more basic: a water shortage is so severe that residents are waking up in the middle of the night to shower before the taps run dry again.