Russia and Ukraine successfully conducted a prisoner exchange yesterday in a sign of thawing relations between the two countries under the government of Volodymyr Zelensky Those exchanged included 24 Ukrainian sailors detained by the Russian Navy while sailing through the Kerch Strait last November, as well as Ukrainain filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who has been imprisoned since his arrest in Crimea in 2014 „on suspicion of plotting terrorist acts”. Sentsov was awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought last year, and was recently honored as the „symbolic hero” of the Solidarity of Arts festival held last month in Gdańsk. Zelensky’s newly-elected administration was lauded by the Russian Foreign Ministry for “demonst[ating] common sense and readiness to compromise.” Russian officials went on to express hopes that the „mutual release” of detainees „would create a positive background for substantive work” under the auspices of the Minsk agreement.
Those released back to Russia included Kyryla Wyszynski, a journalist from Kiev, and Volodymyr Tsemakh, whose association with the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in July 2014 resulted in calls by the Netherlands to exclude him from the transfer. In a later statement, the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, Stef Blok, expressed regret „that under pressure from the Russian Federation, Mr Tsemakh was included in this prisoner swap”.

Source: PAP

Polish men’s basketball team advances to the Quarter-Finals in the FIBA Basketball World Cup

Continuing their „magical run”, the Polish men’s team defeated Russia 79-74 on Friday for a fourth consecutive win at the Basketball World Cup in Beijing. The surprising but “thrilling” victory by the 25th-ranked Polish team saw them initially lagging behind 10th-ranked Russia until the second half, when Adam “Waca” Waczyński’s series of three-pointers and down-to-the-wire free throws secured the Poles a place in the World Cup Quarter-Finals alongside top-ranked Argentina, Serbia, and Spain.

Poland’s undefeated status in the tournament has already earned them a top-two finish in the group table as well as a place in world basketball history. The last time the Polish team competed in the World Cup was 1952 in Uruguay, where they placed fifth overall.
The Polish team will face its next challenge today at 2pm Polish time against 5th-ranked Argentina.

Source: Radio Gdańsk, FIBA
http://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2019/news/waczynski-overpowers-russia-to-keep-poland-undefeated

Gdańsk premieres the first autonomous bus in Poland

On Friday, Gdańsk became the first city in Poland to feature an autonomous, self-driving bus which will carry passengers along Karwieńska street to the gates of Oliwa ZOO. The EZ10 bus will run every half hour from 10am to 3pm daily and can hold up to ten people along with an emergency operator. It will be free throughout September for anyone who wants to test out the new technology, with participants being asked to fill out a survey after their ride.
Poland’s bus joins others in Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Latvia, Germany, Norway and Denmark as part of the „Sohjoa Baltic” project, which aims to research and promote autonomous, self-driving minibuses as viable solutions for urban transit.
More about the project is available at the Sohjoa Baltic website: http://www.sohjoabaltic.eu/en/

Source: Radio Gdańsk

Music, films and food at cultural festivals around Gdańsk

Today is the last chance to enjoy the rich cultural heritage of Gdańsk as the “Zbliżenia” and “Vilnius in Gdańsk” cultural festivals wrap up with workshops, film screenings, and free live concerts.
The 16th annual Vilnius in Gdańsk festival offers opportunities to sample Lithuanian cuisine alongside poetry readings, concerts, and folk art workshops today in the courtyard of the Gdańsk Forum.

The full program is available online here: https://www.gdansk.pl/wiadomosci/wilno-w-gdansku-po-raz-16-rozpoczal-sie-trzydniowy-festiwal-artystyczno-rzemieslniczy,a,154225

In Gdańsk Wrzeszcz at the New Synagogue, the 7th annual Jewish Cultural Festival „Zbliżenia” will wrap up a screening of the documentary film „In the shadow of the Great Synagogue” by Andrzej Dudziński at 5pm and a concert of the “Songs of Sephardic Jews” at 6:30pm.

For more information, visit the festival website at: http://www.zblizeniafestiwal.org/index.php/program

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