Moldova

President Maia Sandu has detailed the scale of a recent cyberattack that hit nearly half a million citizens, an announcement that arrives just as the government considers system-wide security overhauls. It is a digital setback for a country currently preoccupied with more physical infrastructure: while 2,300 apartment buildings in Chisinau have been connected to the central heating, 330 others are still waiting for the radiators to warm up.

The government is also testing the patience of the labor unions with a proposal to make firing employees easier. Prime Minister Vasile Tofan’s administration, currently weighing staff reductions and changes to the labor code to stave off bankruptcy, is simultaneously defending a plan to raise salaries for members of parliament. The opposition has noted the discrepancy; the government has noted the deficit.

In the courts and on the streets, the news is a matter of scale. Fuel prices dropped by a handful of bani this morning, even as more than 305,000 applications have been registered for energy compensation. Meanwhile, the independent outlet Agora has announced it will move its reporting exclusively to social media, ending 12 years of web-based journalism.