Ukraine can count on the European Union, the bloc’s leaders told the country’s new president in Kiev on Monday at a summit intended to boost political and economic ties with Poland’s eastern neighbour.
European Council president and a former Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said Europe does not and will not recognise the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia. Adding that just a few days ago the EU unanimously extended economic sanctions against Russia for another six months reiterating that the sanctions would remain in place until the Minsk agreements are fully implemented.
Poland named 2nd-best country in the world ‘to invest in or do business’
Poland has been ranked second among the world’s 67 best countries to invest in this year by a business news website. Malaysia has been named as the best country in the world to invest in or do business for 2019 according to a survey by CEOWorld magazine. Poland came in as number two worldwide and the top destination in Europe as the most attractive destination for investors and businessmen, according to the magazine’s ceoworld.biz website. Poland was followed by The Philippines, Indonesia and Australia. The results are based on eleven different factors including corruption, freedom (personal, trade, and monetary), workforce, investor protection, infrastructure, taxes, quality of life, red tape, and technological readiness.
Retracing Germany’s tragic Kindertransport, 80 years on.
Just months before the outbreak of the Second World War, 10,000 mostly Jewish children were granted refuge in England. Eighty years later, survivors are retracing a painful journey that is still relevant today. After Hitler took power in 1933, Western powers restricted most all migration out of Nazi Germany and its occupied territories including Gdansk. But the mass incarceration of 30,000 Jewish men, the murder of 91 others and the destruction of thousands of synagogues and Jewish businesses on Nov. 9, 1938 — known as Kristallnacht— clued in governments of Germany’s intentions for Jewish populations. The British government promptly lifted visa and passport restrictions on Jewish and other persecuted children under 17 years old and 10,000 mostly Jewish children were transported to England thanks to funds from private British charities and individuals., a rescue effort known as the Kindertransport, or „children’s transport”. To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the rescue, a handful of other survivors and their families are retracing the tragic journeys thousands took and confronting a history that’s still relevant today. You can see a monument to this epic story – a group of children with luggage set in bronze, in front of the Central station in Gdansk.
Polish scientists develop strong new painkiller
Researchers from the University of Warsaw have developed a new chemical compound 5,000 times more effective than current painkillers. The compound causes the body to simultaneously send a signal inhibiting and relieving pain and a second signal extinguishing its source, according to the researchers. A member of the research team, said it was a huge advantage over current painkillers none of which works in both ways simultaneously. Researchers say the substance could be used in neuropathic pain relief, acute trauma or palliative treatment. Current opioids, such as morphine, effectively relieve pain, but show addictive properties and have severe side effects. The research team is working on the first phase of clinical trials, while planning to seek patent protection for the drug in Poland and selected other countries around the world.
Poland’s Gdynia named a UNESCO ‘learning city’
Gdynia is the first Polish city to be added to the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities. The UNESCO network is an international platform that allows cities at different stages of development to exchange ideas for education. UNESCO s website says that a learning city “promotes lifelong learning for all”. Membership of the network provides the Polish city with access to tools and strategies of other member cities as well as access to a consultancy network, according to a statement released by the city of Gdynia yesterday. The network includes over 200 cities worldwide.
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