NEWS OF THE DAY - JUNE 24

The Parliamentary Committee for the control of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) has issued a report to determine whether the President of Romania was informed about the illegal activities of the the Anghels, a family known as "the Bercea clan." The document will be sent to the Standing Bureaus of the two chambers of Parliament, the committee chairman Georgian Pop said on Tuesday. "The vote for this report was unanimous. SRI had in attention, since 2001, matters relating to national security tied to the activities undertaken by Sandu Anghel, also known as Bercea Mondial, and others from his entourage", said Pop. According to the report, 13 information bulletins were issued since then to beneficiaries with the central authorities, including President Traian Basescu on October 29, 2009 -- one month after he met Sandu Anghel at a roma festival in september 2009 -- on matters of national security; 14 information bulletins were issued to local authorities, and 19 bulletins to prosecuting and investigation authorities. A court has last week admitted prosecutors' request to arrest pending trial Mircea Basescu, President Basescu's brother, for allegedly taking a bribe to help keep Sandu Anghel out of jail.

* Chamber of Deputies Chairman Valeriu Zgonea on Tuesday announced an extraordinary session of this legislative body early in July. According to him, the agenda will include the ratification of the Association Agreement of the Republic of Moldova with the European Union; the bill for cutting the social contributions (CAS) by 5 percent for employers; and possibly the law authorizing the Government to issue orders during the Parliament's recess, if the Constitutional Court rules it is unconstitutional.

* The Constitutional Court of...