Poland will be among the first three beneficiaries of a European Union initiative aiming to protect jobs threatened by the coronavirus pandemic, officials have announced. Poland stands to receive EUR 11.2 billion in low-interest loans from EU coffers under the bloc’s EUR 100 billion SURE instrument, which aims to mitigate unemployment risks during the COVID-19 crisis. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Thursday that Italy, Spain and Poland would be the first three member states to benefit from the measure. The loans are intended to assist member states in addressing sudden increases in public expenditure to preserve employment, according to EU officials.
Source – Polskie Radio
Protests have been held in a number of cities around Poland on Friday evening over a ruling by the country’s top court that eugenic abortion of foetuses with genetic defects violates the constitution.
Source – Polskie Radio
Rising tennis star Iga Świątek was on Friday awarded the Gold Cross of Merit, a high Polish state decoration, for her achievements in sports and for helping promote the country internationally.
At a ceremony in Warsaw, President Andrzej Duda praised the 19-year-old, who on October 10th won the women’s singles at the French Open tournament, claiming her maiden Grand Slam title and becoming the first Pole to lift a Grand Slam singles trophy.The player’s father, Tomasz Świątek, a former Olympic rower, was also handed a high state honor at the presidential palace on Friday for his outstanding contribution to the promotion and development of Polish sports,
Source – Polskie Radio
And finally, data released this week from the Gdańsk Tourist Organization and the Pomeranian Science Institute shows that about 13 percent fewer tourists visited Gdańsk in the 2020 tourist season than in 2019.
Due to the ongoing pandemic and the subsequent restrictions, the number of foreign tourists decreased by almost 80% but Gdańsk hosted almost 30% more domestic tourists this year. The results indicate that slump has not been as bad as had been expected.
Sources – Trojmiasto.pl
Weather
Today will be a cloudy day with sunny intervals in a moderate breeze with temperatures reaching 14 degrees centigrade (57 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and dropping to 8 degrees centigrade overnight. Sunday will again be a cloudy with sunny intervals and a moderate breeze. Temperatures will reach 16 degrees centigrade during the day, and 7 degrees overnight. And don’t forget that the clocks go back this evening!
That was the Radio Gdańsk English news and weather.
