German Chancellor Angela Merkel was in Poland last Friday to attend ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.
In her comments, Merkel described what happened at Auschwitz as “incomprehensible for the human mind”. She went on to stress that each of the camp’s 1.1 million victims, mostly Jews, “had a name, dignity, an origin, and a history”.
President Andrzej Duda echoed these sentiments in a letter urging all to remember the Jews, Poles, Roma, Sinti, and Soviet Prisoners of War murdered in Auschwitz. “This site,” he wrote, “will forever stand as a reminder for all generations of the crimes to which humans obsessed by hatred and contempt for other nations are capable of”.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation was created as a means of conserving and protecting this history for future generations, a moral duty Prime Minister Morawiecki claimed Poland was willing to undertake as a gesture of „belated justice” towards the victims.
Source: PAP
POLISH ARMY SET TO ASSIST ALBANIA WITH EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY
In the wake of last month’s devastating earthquake, a group of Polish army officers are set to travel to Albania to assess ways to help the Balkan state recover.
“Our allies can count on our help”, wrote Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak in a post on Twitter last Friday, adding that his ministry will send a reconnaissance group to Albania to assess how the Polish army can help with cleanup efforts on the ground. “We will help, among other things, with the rebuilding of local infrastructure”, wrote Błaszczak.
The epicenter of the quake was located 30 km west of the capital Tirana, with aftershocks felt across the Balkans and as far as southern Italy across the Adriatic Sea. The areas most affected included the tourist city of Durres (population 122,034) on the Adriatic and Tuihumane (population 12, 335), a small town north of Tirana.
Over 50 people were killed in the November 26th earthquake with thousands more injured. Damages are estimated at over 100 million Euro, with some 8,000 buildings destroyed and more than 12,000 people left homeless. The 6.4-magnitude quake was the strongest earthquake to hit Albania in more than 40 years, and is thus far the deadliest earthquake worldwide in 2019.
Source: The First News, USGS.gov
ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE TOP TEN FOOTBALLERS IN THE WORLD
Football fans have something to celebrate after Robert Lewandowski was voted the eighth best player in the world at the prestigious Ballon D’Or awards last week.
While the top place was taken by Argentina’s Lionel Messi for a record 6th time, Lewandowski came out on top in voting from both Germany and Poland. In a post on Facebook, Lewandowski thanked his fans for their support, writing that he was “very happy to be considered one of the top 10 footballers in the world”.
On the women’s side, American winger Megan Rapinoe added the Ballon D’Or to her already substantial list of awards, including an Olympic gold medal and the Golden Boot and Golden Ball awards from two World Cup wins.
The Ballon D’Or is the most prestigious individual award in football, with some 180 sports journalists from around the world voting for the best male and female footballer by country.
Source: The First News, PAP
LECHIA CONTINUES THEIR WINNING STREAK AT HOME
Local football fans are in an even better mood today after Lechia Gdańsk continued their winning streak by handily defeating Wisła Plock 2:0 last night at Ergo Arena.
Top-scoring team captain Flavio Paixao stayed true to form with goals in each half, leading the White and Green to a comfortable victory and bumping them up to 5th place in the Ekstraklasa league.
Lechia will attempt to continue their winning streak next weekend against the 9th-ranked Jagiellonia on Sunday at 5:30pm in Białystok.
WEATHER
Today will be mostly cloudy and cool, with a chance of rain showers later in the day. Temperatures will continue to hover around 5-6 degrees Celsius or low to mid-40s Fahrenheit. Tomorrow’s forecast features slightly warmer temps and clearer skies, with temperatures dropping again towards the end of the week.
