The Polish government has put two additional provinces on partial lockdown due to an alarming rise in the number of COVID cases.
A near-complete regional lockdown came into force on Saturday here in Pomerania and the province of Warmia-Mazury. As of today, the central Mazowieckie region, which includes Warsaw, and the western province of Lubuskie, will also face increased lockdown measures.
Hotels, shopping malls, cinemas, theatres, museums, and swimming pools in red zone regions have been ordered to close, and primary school students have partly returned to remote classes.
Pandemic restrictions in the rest of the country are expected to remain in place until at least March 28.
Poland on Sunday reported over 17,000 (17,259) new coronavirus infections and 110 additional deaths, bringing its total number of cases during the pandemic to 1,906,632 and deaths to 47,178.
Women dominated at the US Grammys last night, with Beyonce becoming the most awarded woman in US history with a record 28th win in the ‘Best R&B Performance category.
She was joined on the podium by a host of other familiar faces, including Taylor Swift with ‘album of the year,’ 19-year-old pop phenom Billie Eilish with ‘record of the year’ and rapper Meghan Thee Stallion in the ‘best new artist’ and ‘best rap performance’ categories.
Americans weren’t the only ones winning awards, however, with Brits Harry Styles winning for ‘best solo performance’ and Dua Lipa for ‘best pop vocal album.’ Nigerian pop star Burna Boy also joined the list, taking home an award for ‘best global music album’ for “Twice as Tall.”
The Korean K-Pop band BTS, who were hoping to be the first Korean act to win a Grammy for pop duo/group performance, ultimately lost out to the Lady Gaga/ Ariana Grande collaboration ‘Rain on Me.’
A Belarusian band has been told they will be disqualified from the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest unless they modify their current entry to be “non-political.”
The song „Ya Nauchu Tebya” („I’ll Teach You”) by the group Galasy ZMesta, features lyrics reportedly satirizing Belarusian protest slogans, leading many critics to call it “propaganda” for authoritarian Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
According to reports by Deutsche Welle, Galasy ZMesta is “known for mocking the mass protests against [Lukashenko]” which have been taking place since the contested presidential election last August.
Galasy ZMesta’s song has been removed from Eurovision’s official YouTube channel with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) concluding that the song currently “puts the non-political nature of Eurovision in question.”
A Polish photojournalist working for the German Press Agency was detained last week by security forces in Myanmar while covering the ongoing protests there.
In a statement issued last Friday, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that photojournalist, Robert Bociaga, had been detained earlier in the week. According to the MFA, the Polish consul in Bangkok and the German consul in Myanmar are making a coordinated effort to establish contact with the Pole and obtain information about his condition and legal status.
Myanmar has been the scene of mounting violence after the army ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in a February 1 coup.
Weather
Today will be mostly cloudy and cold, with a slight breeze coming in from the southwest and a chance for some rain this afternoon and again overnight. Temperatures will warm up slightly during the day, with a high of 6°C, or 43°F, dropping to -1°C or 31°F overnight. Similar cloudy, wet weather is expected for tomorrow, with skies clearing midweek.
Elizabeth Peck/ako
