US President Joe Biden is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin today in Geneva as relations between Russia and the West remain at their lowest point since the Cold War.
Expectations for the meeting are similarly low, given the current backdrop of increasingly frequent cyberattacks, accusations of election interference in Europe and the US, and military tensions on Russia’s border with Ukraine. Neither leader is under the impression that today’s meeting will improve relations; its purpose, writes French daily Le Figaro, is to keep things from getting worse.
The Biden administration indicated previously that it would tell the Russians „what they want them to know” in order to establish a relatively „stable and predictable” relationship between the two powers.
Source: PAP
Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski told reporters yesterday that Poland is close to reaching herd immunity against the coronavirus.
According to Niedzielski, research has found that close to 60 percent of the population have antibodies that make them resistant to COVID-19 because they have been vaccinated or were infected and then recovered from the coronavirus.
The number puts Poland tantalizingly close to the threshold of herd immunity. Nearly 10 million Poles have been fully inoculated against COVID-19.
The prime minister’s top aide, Michał Dworczyk, who is spearheading the inoculation drive, said more than 2.4 million shots had been administered in Poland over the last week, the highest figure so far over seven days.
Officials on Tuesday reported only 215 new infections, down from a single-day high of 35,251 on April 1.
Source: Radio Poland
Poland’s government has endorsed a plan to increase the country’s minimum wage to PLN 3,000 (EUR 660) a month as of January 2022.
Poland’s minimum monthly wage rose to PLN 2,800 (EUR 620) at the start of this year, up from PLN 2,600 in 2020. Under the proposed plan, the minimum hourly rate would go up to PLN 19.60 (EUR 4.30) effective January 1, 2022.
According to state news agency PAP, the proposed figures are still subject to consultation with the government’s social partners as part of the Council for Social Dialogue.
The average gross Polish monthly wage in April was PLN 5,805.72 (around EUR 1,285), according to figures announced last month by the state-run Central Statistical Office (GUS).
Source: Radio Poland
The Auschwitz Memorial and Museum announced yesterday that Luis Ferreiro, director of the Spanish company Musealia, had been awarded its prestigious „Light of Remembrance” award.
Piotr Cywiński, the director of the Auschwitz Museum, presented Ferreiro with the award on Monday during the ceremonial opening of the exhibition: Auschwitz. Not so long ago. Not so far away in Kansas City (USA).
The exhibition was a joint effort of the Spanish company and the Museum. On display are more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs, including hundreds of personal items, such as suitcases, eyeglasses, and shoes, that belonged to survivors and victims of Auschwitz.
The „Light of Remembrance” award is given annually by the Museum to people who have significantly contributed to awareness and education of Auschwitz and the Holocaust. The Auschwitz. Not so long ago. Not so far away exhibition on display at the Bank of America Gallery in Kansas City’s Union Station until the end of January 2022.
Source: PAP, Radio Poland
Weather
This afternoon will be mostly sunny and warm, with a light breeze coming in from the northeast and very little chance of rain. Temperatures will peak around a high of 19°C, or 66°F, dropping to a low of 11°C or 51°F overnight. The sun will stick around on into the weekend, with temperatures expected to push up into the 30s as a heatwave moves across Poland.
Elizabeth Peck/mw
