The chances of survival for two cavers trapped in a cavern in the Tatra mountains are ‘very low’, said the head of the Tatras Volunteer Search and Rescue team yesterday. A team of more than two dozen Polish and Slovakian rescuers have been battling round the clock to save the pair since they were reported missing over the weekend.
It’s understood the missing cavers entered the Wielka Sniezna, or ‘Great Snowy’, cave system on Thursday to explore uncharted areas deep underground when a narrow passage suddenly flooded, separating the two men from the rest of their team and trapping them. Those that made it out of the cave immediately alerted emergency services who have since brought in rescuers from Polish and Slovak mountain rescue, the Krakow fire department, and a mine rescue team from Bytom according to reports from TVP.

Wielka Sniezna is the longest, largest, and deepest cave system in the Tatra mountains, with 24km of tunnels reaching more than 800m deep.

Freedom of movement ‘will end’ on October 31st, UK government says

International news and the BBC is reporting that the British government has said that freedom of movement between the UK and the EU ‘will end’ in the event of a no-deal Brexit on October 31st. Under the administration of Theresa May, the UK government had been considering extending rules allowing EU citizens to live, work, and study in the UK until 2021.

But new prime minister Boris Johnson’s government has since adopted a harder stance on Brexit and has said freedom of movement will end on the 31st of October, the Brexit deadline day.

International news and the BBC is reporting that the British government has said that freedom of movement between the UK and the EU ‘will end’ in the event of a no-deal Brexit on October 31st.

Under the administration of Theresa May, the UK government had been considering extending rules allowing access to all EU citizens to live, work, and study in the UK until 2021. But new prime minister Boris Johnson’s government has since adopted a harder stance on Brexit and has said freedom of movement will end on the 31st of October, the Brexit deadline day, unless Brussels agrees to negotiate what Britain sees as an unfair Deal.

Some groups have claimed that ending freedom of movement so suddenly would mean millions of lawful residents losing their rights overnight. However, the Government has clarified in a no-deal scenario, those EU citizens with the right to permanent residence in the UK should not see their rights affected. All EU nationals who are already in the UK can apply for settled status or pre-settled status in the same way as now.

An end to freedom of movement would not affect those EU citizens coming for holidays and short trips, but would impact those who wish to work or study in the UK, however the changes to freedom of movement will not directly affect Irish citizens. The Government says EU nationals living in the UK will have at least until December 2020 to register their residence in the UK.

US officials to visit Poland this week ahead of President Trump’s visit

Officials from the US are to visit Poland this week ahead of President Trump’s trip to Warsaw next month Polskie Radio reports. The officials will liaise with Polish authorities and a full agenda for the presidential visit is expected to be released following the talks.

The US President is set to visit Poland for commemorations of the beginning of the Second World War on September 1st.

Pole retains crown at the speed climbing world championship

In sport, Poland’s Aleksandra Miroslaw has retained her title as world champion in the sport of speed climbing.

Miroslaw completed the course at the IFSC World Championship in Japan in just 7.129 seconds. She now has an opportunity to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which will feature sport climbing for the first time.

Ukrainian wins international Polish language competition.

And a Ukrainian woman has seen off over 200 competitors to win an international Polish language competition. Khrystyna Harvat was crowned the winner in the contest for non-native speakers with a Slovenian coming second and a Ukrainian and Croation tying for third.

WEATHER

Tuesday’s forecast, mostly cloudy today with temperatures reaching about 20 celsius, thats 68 fahrenheit. A small chance of some rain this evening, but dry through the day with light winds from the west.