Polish Sports Minister Witold Banka has been officially announced as the next head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The 35-year-old former 400-metres runner-turned-politician was appointed a member of the executive committee of the international sports doping watchdog in 2017.

In January he won a key vote by a committee within the Council of Europe to become Europe’s candidate to succeed the current WADA President.

WADA was established in 1999 by the International Olympic Committee to promote, coordinate and monitor the fight against drugs in sports.

Banka on Tuesday vowed to make every effort to keep sports “clean” from doping cheats.

Something from the sea in southern Poland

Researchers have unearthed a 150-million-year-old fossilized sea monster called a pliosaur in a cornfield near a village in southern Poland. In a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, researchers from the Polish Academy of Sciences describe the titan of the Jurassic period.

With jaws up to 8 feet long and 4 and a half times more powerful than those of a T Rex, the pliosaur could grow to be twice the size of a modern killer whale, weigh dozens of tons and eat any creature in the water.

The fossil is about 33 feet long and was surrounded by ancient crocodile teeth and turtle shells and situated in what’s believed to have been a tropical archipelago dotted with warm-water lagoons and reservoirs.

„This new locality is rich in fossils of coastal and pelagic reptiles” the researchers wrote of the find’s site, located in the north-eastern part of the Holy Cross Mountains near the village of Krzyżanowice.

Wizz-off to a holiday

Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air announced this week that it has launched new flight connections from Gdańsk and Katowice and Warsaw to Ukraine, Norway and Israel.

The new flights from Gdańsk to Odessa in Ukraine will operate on Mondays and Fridays.

Currently Wizz Air offers 185 routes to 28 countries from nine airports in Poland. The carrier has been operating in Poland since 2004.

And finally, the contract for completing the glazing of the palm house in Oliwa Park in Gdansk was signed this week. The chosen firm will have 9 months to carry out the entire operation. Work is due to start next week when detailed measurements will be made to order the glass for the rotunda. Actual fitting work is likely to be carried in the first quarter of 2020. The original palm house which is being completely renovated dates back to the 18th century and even houses a 180-year-old date tree.

The reconstruction of the palm house was completed in July, after the previous contractor left the construction site without completing the work.

The Weather

Today it is going to be rainy and cold with a gentle breeze. Temperatures will only reach 9 degrees centigrade (48 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, and 5 degrees centigrade (41 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight.

Sunday will remain cloudy with chances of showers throughout day.

The secret to overcoming the November blues by Martin Caren RGEN Newscaster.

This evening, the timeless „Swan Lake” will be performed by The Royal Moscow Ballet at the Gdynia Arena. Tickets cost between 89 and 189 złoty

Now if you take a walk along the beach any weekend in the winter you will probably see people braving the icy waters of the Baltic partaking in the popular pastime of “morsowanie” or “cold water swimming”. The sport has well proven health and wellbeing benefits as well as being enormous fun! You can try it for yourself this Sunday where you will have the opportunity to dare to enter the water for the first time or do it with support if you’ve already done it before. The event will take place tomorrow at the Klipper Tavern in Jelitkowo. At 3pm there will be a 30-minute warm-up, led by a personal trainer Paweł Ptak and then when everyone is warmed up, participants will enter the water under supervision. At 4pm there will be a bonfire on the beach for everyone.

And finally, Monday from 9.30 am Poland’s National Independence Day Parade will be taking place inGdansk on Podwale Staromiejskie (by the Old City). With sunny weather expected, this should be a fantastic experience in the open air to commemorate the anniversary of the restoration of Poland’s sovereignty as the Second Polish Republic in 1918. There will also be a polish food festival in restaurants in the city.