Protests break out after Belarus elections. Police in Belarus fired water cannons, tear gas, and stun grenades in a crackdown on protests that erupted yesterday as President Alexander Lukashenko was set to claim another election win in the face of the biggest challenge in years to his grip on power.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Minsk while protesters clapped, shouted „victory,” waved flags, and honked car horns in solidarity with the opposition. Local media also reported detentions and clashes between police and protesters in other cities.
State-approved exit polls show six-term incumbent Lukashenko winning 79.7% of the vote while his main opponent, former English teacher Svetlana Tikhanouskaya, received 6.8%. Tikhanouskaya emerged from obscurity a few weeks ago to lead some of the largest opposition rallies Belarus has seen in 25 years. Foreign observers have not judged an election to be free and fair in Belarus since 1995.
In response to the reported crackdown, Polish President Andrzej Duda and his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nausėda issued a joint statement calling on Belarusian authorities “to fully recognize and uphold basic democratic standards” and “fundamental freedoms…including the rights of national minorities and freedom of speech.”
The full statement (in English) is available online: CLICK HERE
Source: Radio Poland, PAP
Mare fetches EUR 1.25m at “Pride of Poland” auction
The auction, the first of its kind around the world this year amid the coronavirus pandemic, was the highlight of the world-renowned Arabian Horse Show held annually in Janów Podlaski in eastern Poland.
The mare, called “Perfinka,” was the most expensive mare sold and went to a buyer from Saudi Arabia, with 9 other horses sold at the event bringing the overall total to EUR 1,587,000. The current record for the most paid during the annual auction is EUR 1.4 million, which went toward the purchase of a 10-year-old mare named “Pepita” in 2015.
While the scale of the event was smaller than previous years due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported that some 95,000 people from around the world tuned in to watch the online broadcast of the auction.
Source: Radio Poland
Belgian cyclist wins Tour de Pologne
After an impressive sprint in Stage Four of the race, 20-year-old Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel was again first across the finish line in Kraków yesterday to win this year’s Tour de Pologne, Poland’s largest cycling race.
Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark came in second, followed by Britain’s Simon Yates in third. Top-ranked Polish cyclist Rafał Majka took fourth place, missing out on a podium spot by a mere four seconds.
Evenepoel’s win in the Tour de Pologne was all but sealed after a bold performance on Saturday around the southern town of Bukowina Tatrzańska, when he broke away from the rest of the pack and finished almost two minutes ahead of Fuglsang.
In related news, doctors announced that Evenepoel’s teammate, Dutch cyclist Fabio Jakobsen, had successfully been brought out of a medically-induced coma by doctors at Santa Barbara Hospital in Sosnowiec.
Jakobsen was badly injured in a horrific finish-line crash during the first stage of the race, an incident authorities are in the process of investigating. The rider accused of instigating the crash, fellow Dutch cyclist Dylan Groenewegen, was subsequently disqualified from the race.
Source: Radio Poland, tourdepologne.pl
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Weather
High temps and sunny skies will stick around for the next several days, with temperatures today pushing to a high of 26°C (79°F) and dropping overnight to 17°C (62°F). Temps will drop slightly tomorrow, with warm, sunny weather set to continue through the rest of the week.
Thomas Holdstock
