Poland is to launch a national lottery for people fully inoculated against the coronavirus, with prizes of up to PLN 1 million.
Officials said the aim is to encourage Poles to sign up for shots, especially those dithering about whether to get vaccinated. After initial shortages in supplies of vaccines, the government is now facing a new problem: persuading people to take part in the country’s inoculation programme.

The final draw in the lottery will take place on October 6th, and two lucky winners will each find themselves PLN 1 million better off. There will also be daily, weekly and monthly prizes.

Source – Polskie Radio

The chairman of the board of the controversial Open Dialogue Foundation, whose sources of funding are being probed, has been remanded in custody for three months by a Polish court, prosecutors said on Friday.

The suspect was detained by the country’s Internal Security Agency on Wednesday. He is suspected of money laundering to the tune of PLN 5.3 million security officials have said.

He is the husband of the head of the Poland-based Open Dialogue Foundation, who was expelled from Poland in 2018. Poland’s counter-intelligence service said at the time that there were „serious doubts” about how her Open Dialogue Foundation was financed.  

Source – Polskie Radio

Towns and villages across Poland have begun cleaning up after fierce local storms lashed parts of the country earlier this week.

Three people were slightly injured after strong winds battered parts of Poland on Thursday and in the early hours of Friday, snapping trees, damaging roofs and disrupting power supplies. Firefighters said they were called out more than 3,100 times to deal with the aftermath of extreme weather events in various regions across the country. A spokesman for the fire service said that the gales had destroyed the roofs of around 860 buildings nationwide.

Also on Thursday, the most powerful tornado to hit the Czech Republic wreaked havoc, leaving several fatalities and more than 200 injured across the Hodonin district.

Source – Polskie Radio

The Polish Space Agency has announced plans to build an operational center in our around Gdańsk. The complex will acquire and use data from EU satellites as well as taking part in the construction of new satellites and developing protective systems and space and rocket technologies.

The estimated cost of building the POLSA operational centre is expected to cost around EUR 20 million. One of the reasons for choosing Gdańsk as a location is due to its location, because the further north the data antenna are, the more data they can collect from the satellites.

POLSA already has its headquarters in Gdańsk. The centre is hoped to be completed between 2025 and 2026.

Source – Radio Gdańsk

Weather

Today will be a warm and sunny day with a moderate breeze and temperatures of 22 degrees centigrade (72 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, dropping to 11 degrees overnight.

Sunday will remain sunny and warm with a gentle breeze and temperatures reaching 23 degrees during the day and 12 degrees overnight.

MC/am