Attempts by the UK Prime Minister to force a snap Parliamentary election failed for a second time last night, falling far short of the required two-thirds majority.
As of 2am this morning, the UK Parliament is officially suspended until October 14th, after which Johnson will have to find another alternative to the current elections standoff. Johnson was hoping a fresh round of voting would provide him with the means and a mandate for a “do or die” Brexit come October 31st, a plan that was thwarted by his sixth Brexit-related loss in as many days.
Alongside newly passed legislation requiring Johnson to request an extension from the EU if no deal is in place by the October deadline, it is looking increasingly likely that the current standoff will continue when Parliament resumes next month.
In an additional blow to Johnson’s efforts, Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd resigned over the weekend in protest against her government’s perceived lack of commitment toward pursuing a deal for Brexit as well as the recent expulsion of 21 “good, loyal moderate Conservative” colleagues, an action she described in an interview as an “assault on decency and democracy.”
Source: Guardian, Reuters
In a sad turn of events, the bodies of two cavers trapped inside the Great Snowy Cave in the Tatra mountains were recovered last Thursday.
A preliminary autopsy released Monday shows that the cavers died of hypothermia, according to Jan Ziemka, a prosecutor from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Nowy Targ.
Rescuers received a call for help on August 17th after two members of a group of cavers were trapped by floodwaters while exploring unknown corridors of Jaskinia Wielka Śnieżna, the largest and deepest cave in the Tatras.
Dozens of rescuers were involved in the rescue operation, including firefighters specializing in high altitude rescue, soldiers working with special explosives, and members of the Slovak Mountain Rescue Service.
The Prosecutor’s office is currently investigating if the organizers of the spelunking expedition in the Tatras inadvertently caused the death of two men, and if the rescue operations were conducted in accordance with standard operating procedures.
Source:PAP
As part of a global competition led by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the Polish Astronomical Society, Poles will get to choose the names of an extrasolar planet and its star.
The planet, BD + 14 4559 b, was discovered in 2009 by a team of Polish astronomers from the Astronomy Center at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The team which discovered the planet was led by prof. Andrzej Niedzielski and also included Grzegorz Nowak, Monika Adamów and prof. Aleksander Wolszczan.
Potential names were submitted in a previous round, and the official selection committee announced Monday it had settled on a final list of seven pairs of names, one for the planet and the second for its star. The final pairs include characters from the literary works of Andrzej Sapkowski and Stanisław Lem as well as figures from Polish history and mythology. Also included are the chemical elements discovered by Marie Skłodowska-Curie and various geographic locations in Poland.
Votes can be submitted online at the IAU100 NameExoWorlds website at: https://www.iau100.pl/planety/. The competition ends October 31st.
In yesterday’s European Qualifier match in Warsaw, Poland managed to eke out a scoreless draw against visiting team Austria in extra minutes.
Despite beating Austria 1-0 in March, the Poles played a decidedly defensive match against the Austrians yesterday, with both teams missing multiple opportunities to score but the Austrians dominating possession.
As it stands, Poland still sits atop the rankings in Group G, and with a month until the next match, Poland has plenty of time to brush up on their offensive skills before facing Latvia on October 10th.
Following up on a disappointing loss to Argentina on Sunday, the Polish men’s basketball team hopes to make history today with a win against Spain in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
While odds are on the #2 world ranked and currently undefeated Spaniards, the Poles have already proven themselves capable of shaking up the status quo with their previous shock wins against #10 ranked Russia and their strong opening salvo against tournament hosts China.
The game is set to begin at 3pm today, Polish time.
EP/RGEN News
