Poland won two medals on the first day of the Paralympic games in Tokyo yesterday. Marcin Polak, a visually impaired track cyclist, raced to bronze in the 4,000 metres men’s pursuit, together with his co-driver Michał Ładosz. And Adrian Castro fought his way to a silver medal in the wheelchair fencing contest in a showdown with the Chinese Yanke Feng.
Castro already brought home a bronze medal from the Rio Paralympics in 2016.
Poland has 89 athletes in 12 events at this year’s tournament.
Source: polskieradio24.pl
Army begins building anti-migrant fence
The army has begun building a fence along the Belarus border in Podlasie province, designed to keep migrants from entering Poland.
The three-metre high structure will eventually stretch for 180 kilometres through the Zubrzyca Wielka region.
The construction is close to an area where a group of more than 20 foreign migrants, mostly Afghans, has been camping on the Belarusian side of the border for several days, unable to cross into Poland.
Tensions between Belarus and its neighbours have escalated in recent days with the EU accusing the government of Aleksander Lukashenko of „weaponizing” migrants by directing them to enter Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.
The Polish border guard agency said yesterday that in August so far there have been 2,900 attempts to illegally cross from Belarus to Poland, and almost 900 illegal immigrants have been detained.
The migrants trying to reach the EU are from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and other countries.
Source: PAP/BBC
Gdynia councillors throw out new law to curb advertising
City councillors in Gdynia have repealed a new law intended to reduce the amount of visual advertising in the city, after just two months in operation.
The so-called landscape resolution was in preparation for six years, but yesterday it was thrown out in its entirety, with one councillor calling it „legal trash only suitable for the garbage can.”
The action came after the province of Pomerania appealed to the Administrative Court against the document, saying it was invalid.
Gdynia councillors had previously supported the initiative unanimously, saying that the city finally had a tool to fight ugly advertising.
Deputy Wojciech Szczurek promised the council chamber that a replacement resolution will be ready by January next year.
Source: dziennikbaltycki.pl/Radio Gdansk
Gdynia man runs across Iceland—in record time
An amateur athlete from Gdynia has broken two records by running across Iceland.
Extreme runner Przemysław Szapar took 17 days to make the 1,000 kilometre journey between the eastern and western tips of the country.
Szapar, who’s 42, told the Dziennik Bałtycki newspaper that as a younger man he wouldn’t have been able to complete the challenge, saying that whereas before he took up physical challenges, now the mental aspect is very important.
Source: thefirstnews.com/Dziennik Bałtycki
Call to join coast cleanup
Pomeranian residents are invited to join two days of action to clean up the region’s coast, starting tomorrow.
There’ll be a mass beach cleanup on the Hel peninsula on Friday, moving on Saturday to the Tricities.
Registration for the Clean Baltic event opens on Władysławowo beach at 7am tomorrow.
Volunteers will be given a T-shirt, gloves and bags to collect garbage.
On Friday there will also be a panel discussion of scientists addressing the problems faced by our marine ecosystems.
More information on the organiser’s website.
Source: Radio Gdansk
Weather
It’s cloudy and chilly across the country today, with rain in many places. Gdansk will reach 17 degrees Celsius or 62 Fahrenheit, with glimpses of sun and rain possible this afternoon.
Andrew Carter/MarWer
