Trains delayed and cancelled as Poland’s rail system breaks down.

The Polish rail system crashed yesterday with fears that it may have been caused by a cyberattack. According to the national rail operator, the breakdown occurred at 4 a.m. on Thursday, with 19 of the system’s 33 train control centres going out of action. Some 820 kilometres of Poland’s rail network were affected, including a major route from the capital Warsaw to the northern port city of Gdańsk. Alstom, the France-based supplier of equipment for the centres, announced that a defect in its machinery was to blame for the breakdown. Services are expected to be running as normal today.

Source – Polskie Radio

UK to deploy missile defence system in Poland to help deter Russia.

The United Kingdom is set to supply a missile defense system to Poland in a bid to bolster Poland’s air defences against possible Russian attack on NATO’s eastern flank. The „Sky Sabre” system which is a medium-range, anti-air missile system will be deployed to Poland along with 100 UK troops. Poland’s Defence Minister met with his British counterpart in Warsaw and said of the deployment: „We can always count on the United Kingdom. British soldiers serve on the Polish-Belarusian border and support the Polish armed forces”.

Source – Polskie Radio

Polish PM to meet with Swiss and Dutch leaders on Monday.

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawieczki is set to speak with the Dutch and Swiss Prime Ministers next Monday as he continues with his diplomatic efforts with other world leaders. The PM will host Switzerland’s Ignazio Cassis and the Netherlands’ Mark Rutte in Warsaw, at the start of what will be a „key” week for diplomacy, a Polish government’s spokesman said. Both NATO and the European Union are holding summits next Thursday. The PM will try to convince the Netherlands that Ukraine should be swiftly admitted to the EU and the Swiss talks are expected to focus on sanctions against Russia.

Source – Radio Gdańsk

The former school in Oliwa was transformed into a temporary shelter for refugees. The city is looking for more locations.

And finally, an unused building in Gdańsk Oliwa district has been made available for the use of 190 refugees for temporary shelter as the city struggles to find accomodation for families displaced by the war in Ukraine. The city made the disused building in need of renovation ready for use in under a week with rooms needing painting, adjusting rooms to accomodate showers and make general repairs. The city is also constantly looking for new locations where refugees from Ukraine could stay temporarily and recent days have been difficult. A spokesperson for the city said that „we feel that this wave has calmed down, but a lot depends on the hostilities in Ukraine. We have a further action plan for these negative scenarios”. Many refugees are being housed in private homes and hotels.

Source – Radio Gdańsk

Weather

Today will be mainly cloudy with some sunny spells in a gentle breeze and temperatures of degrees centigrade (48 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and 0 degrees overnight. Tomorrow will see continued sunny spells in a gentle breeze with temperatures of 7 degrees during the day and -3 degrees overnight.
That was the Radio Gdańsk English news and weather.

Martin Caren/aKa