Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya took time out to honor Tadeusz Kościuszko during her recent visit to the United States. “We are all Kościuszko,” Tsikhanouskaya reportedly stated, an apparent reference to ongoing efforts by the people of Belarus to challenge the autocracy of longtime Belarusian president Aleksander Lukashenko. She was joined at the statue of Kościuszko by the Polish and Lithuanian ambassadors to the United States.
Kościuszko, who died in 1817 at the age of 71, is widely remembered as a national hero in both Poland and the United States. He served as a colonel in the American War of Independence and later returned to Poland to lead a national uprising against the Russian Empire in 1794.
Tsikhanouskaya said in a tweet later that day the people of Belarus were drawing inspiration from his legacy as they “courageously fight for liberty and freedom.”
During her visit to the US capitol, Tsikhanouskaya gave the Biden administration a specific list of targets she would like to see sanctioned as she pushed for the United States and international community to ratchet up pressure on the oppressive Lukashenko regime.
Source: Radio Poland, Radio Gdańsk
Poland’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.9 percent in June from 6.1 percent in May according to data recently released by Poland’s Central Statistical Office (GUS).
The figure is 0.1 percentage points lower than an earlier estimate by the country’s labor ministry. GUS data shows there were around 993,400 people without jobs across the nation at the end of June, compared with 1,026,700 a month earlier.
According to the European Union’s Eurostat statistics agency, which uses a different methodology, unemployment in Poland was a modest 3.8 percent in May, one of the lowest rates in the 27-nation bloc.
Source: Radio Poland
Iga Świątek is out of the Women’s Singles tennis competition at the Tokyo Olympics after losing in straight sets to Spain’s Paula Badosa on Monday.
Świątek’s devastating loss wasn’t the only surprise in the competition, as top seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Petra Kvitova all crashed out earlier this week, leaving Japan’s Naomi Osaka as the highest-ranked player remaining until she lost to Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in straight sets (6-1, 6-4) early Tuesday morning.
Source: Olympics.com
The Polish men’s national volleyball team claimed their first victory in Tokyo after defeating Italy 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-20) on Monday.
The result was a welcome contrast to their first game on Saturday, in which the Polish team lost 2-3 to Iran in a five-set thriller. The Poles will next face Venezuela Wednesday morning at 9:25 CEST.
Source: Olympics.com
The 17th annual Ladies’ Jazz Festival returns this evening with concerts by the Grand Prix finalists at the Konsulat Kultury in Gdynia.
The finalists will be performing tonight and tomorrow at 17:00 and 19:00, with additional concerts at Konsulat Kultury and Teatr Muzyczny in Gdynia continuing throughout the week. Due to coronavirus precautions, ticketed seats are limited, but many of the concerts, such as last night’s tribute to Maria Koterbska, will be streamed online.
For more information and a complete schedule, visit http://www.ladiesjazz.pl/.
Weather
Today will be mostly cloudy with thunderstorms and a good chance of rain in the early afternoon. Temperatures will peak around a high of 28°C, or 82°F, cooling off overnight to a low of 17°C or 63°F. Warm temps and additional rain are forecast again tomorrow, with sun and clearer skies returning later in the week.
EPeck/pb
