The World Health Organisation has said „good progress” is being made in the search for a vaccine against Covid-19. Speaking to reporters yesterday, WHO expert Mike Ryan said several potential vaccines were now in advanced trials, though he added none could be expected to be ready until early next year.

Late last week vaccine researchers at Oxford University in the UK announced they had successfully tested one potential vaccine, saying it had passed safety tests and produced an immune response in human trial. However they stressed further testing was still necessary before the vaccine could be put into production. On Monday a separate team of researchers from the US and Germany announced similar progress.

Globally more than 165 possible vaccines are under development, with a small handful entering advanced testing.

The news comes after the World surpassed 15 million known cases of the virus, with the United States, Brazil, and India the counting the highest case numbers.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has praised the new long term EU budget agreed by European leaders earlier this week.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Mr Morawiecki said the budget was „very good for Poland” and would support „sustainable economic growth”. He added that the budget could pave the way for way he described as a „golden decade” of prosperity in Poland.

Mr Morawiecki joins a host of other leaders from the EU’s Eastern regions in expressing satisfaction with the budget; Hungarian, Bulgarian, Croatian, and Czech leaders were also among those pleased with the agreement which will see billions of Euros flowing into the region over the next 7 years.

The 2021-2027 budget was finally approved after four days of crunch negotiations between EU leaders in Brussels, which also saw the approval of a 750 billion euro pandemic recovery fund.

The Tricity SKM, The main rapid transit connection between Gdansk, Sopot, amd Gdynia, could finally be in for new trains under plans announced by Polish Railways and the Pomeranian Government.

As many as 30 new vehicles could be purchased under the plans, replacing the SKM’s aging fleet.

According to reports by the Puls Gdańsk news site, the bulk of the trains would be bought by the Pomeranian voivodeship government with others being bought directly by Polish State Railways, who operate the SKM.

The new trains would be electrically powered with a top speed of 80-100kmh. They would replace much of the SKM’s current fleet, almost all of which is over 30 years old.

Classical Latin is set to return to Polish schools later this year under planned changes to the national curriculum.

Latin language & ancient culture would feature alongside philosophy, art, and music as a options for a 1 hour weekly class for students in the first year of secondary school, around age 15.

Currently, Latin is only available as an extended-level subject, with just a handful of students across the country.

Though Classical Latin, the language spoken in ancient Rome, is taught in schools in some other countries including the UK, it has been declining in popularity with New Zealand in the process of withdrawing the subject from its curriculum.

The planned curriculum changes also include more teaching on issues like personal finance, health, and the environment.

Weather

Mostly sunny going into the afternoon with highs of around 20°C, that’s 68°F.

A moderate westerly wind keeping things feeling cool and pleasant with no rain expected on thursday.