Polish president signs bill to help families buy coal for winte

Poland’s president has signed a bill to help households buy coal for heating in winter, his aides have announced, amid soaring energy prices in Europe. The Polish government last month proposed a one-off allowance of PLN 3,000 (EUR 630, USD 640) for all families that use coal to heat their homes. President Andrzej Duda on Thursday signed the plan into effect after it was approved by Poland’s parliament. The law is designed to protect customers from the effects of rising prices of coal in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, government officials have said. The government has earmarked some PLN 11.5 billion (EUR 2.4 billion, USD 2.46 billion) for the initiative, according to officials.

Source – Polskie Radio

Poland sends firefighters to help put out wildfires in France

Poland on Thursday sent 49 fire engines with a total a crew of 146 to help combat wildfires raging in the south of France, according to officials. Under orders from Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński, the fire-fighting teams were due to depart from the south-western city of Legnica for France’s Bordeaux region around noon. Poland offered support after the government in Paris appealed for help through the European Union’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC). According to France’s Interdepartmental Crisis Management Operational Centre (COGIC), the blazes have already consumed over 700 hectares of forest. Some 3,000 people have been evacuated.

Source – Polskie Radio

Poland to play pre-World Cup friendly with Chile

Poland will play a pre-World Cup friendly game against Chile, Polish football officials have announced. The match will be played at the National Stadium in Warsaw on November 16 in the run-up to this year’s World Cup in Qatar, according to the Polish Football Association (PZPN), the national governing body for the sport. Poland, captained by star striker Robert Lewandowski, qualified for the 2022 World Cup after defeating Sweden 2-0 in a play-off at home in late March. The have been drawn to play Argentina, Mexico and Saudi Arabia in the group stage of the tournament. The 2022 World Cup will be held in Qatar from November 20 to December 18.

Source – Polskie Radio

Driver crashes car in Gdańsk after police pursuit

And finally, a routine police vehicle stop in Sopot near Gdańsk ended in a chase and the pursued vehicle crashing, it has emerged. At around 1.00 am, police attempted to pull over a Mazda car that was driving too quickly. The driver ignored the signals to stop and sped off in the direction of Gdańsk Żabianka. En route, he lost control of the vehicle and hit a road sign. He then exited the vehicle and ran off, leaving two 23 year old passengers at the scene, one of whom was injured. Police are aware of the identity of the driver who is wanted for other offences. Failure to stop for police is punishable with up to a 5 year sentence.

Source – Radio Gdańsk, Wikipedia

Weather

Today will be another glorious sunny day in a gentle breeze and temperatures of 25 degrees centigrade (75 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and 14 degrees overnight. Tomorrow will continue sunny and hot with temperatures of 25 degrees during the day and 15 degrees overnight.

Martin Caren/aKa