Slovenia edged Poland in a thrilling seesaw four-set match in the Volleyball European Championship semi-final in Ljubljana last night. Poland had before the match completed a set of fine victories, but in the cauldron of the Slovenian arena and up against the pressure of a relentless Slovenian team, Poland could not deliver a victory and their hopes of gold ended abruptly and painfully, losing 3 sets to 1 all of which were closely fought – 25 points to 23 in the first set then 24:26, 25:22 and finally were beaten 25:23 in the final set. Poland will play for a bronze medal place on Sunday in Paris.

Poland’s government is planning to introduce legislation that will allow the government to open new coal mines without the approval of local authorities, the Polish energy minister said earlier this week. The government wants to build new mines as it expects half of the country’s electricity to be generated from coal by 2050. That would be down from 80 percent coal-powered electricity currently but goes against EU calls for member states to reach zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Polish leaders have hit back at Emmanuel Macron after the French President accused them of blocking his bid to make the European Union carbon neutral by 2050. Mr Macron sparked outrage when he suggested France’s climate activists should move their protests from Paris to Poland. Poland relies on coal for 80 percent of its energy and is slowly trying to reduce its reliance on coal fired power. Polish President Andrzej Duda hit back at Mr Macron and suggested France’s tumultuous Yellow Vest protests were a result of social upheaval caused by his environmental policies. The spat began with Macron’s comments on a flight to the United Nations when he said Poland had blocked his efforts to make the EU commit to carbon neutrality in 2050, along with the Czech Republic, Hungary and Estonia.)

Poland’s first hybrid passenger train made its first ever trip from Gdańsk to Sopot this week to mark the opening of the Traco 13th International Railway Fair in the city. The new trains have internal combustion engines as well as a traditional electric motor which means they can use sections of line that do not have a power supply. Poland’s infrastructure minister said that the hybrid train is a great solution for Poland’s future, as it will mean a very easy transition from electric traction routes to non-traction routes. He added that long stops and the unplugging of diesel locomotives will also no longer be unnecessary.

The Weather

Today will be quite cloudy with sunny intervals until mid afternoon when it will cloud over and start to rain, quite heavily later in the evening and into the night. There will be a moderate breeze with temperatures reaching 18 degrees centigrade (64 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, and 12 degrees centigrade (54 degrees fahrenheit) overnight.

The rain will die off into Saturday leaving light rain showers interspersed with sunny spells in a light breeze and temperatures reaching 17 degrees centigrade (63 degrees Fahrenheit).

RGEN NEWS