Today marks the 18th anniversary of the worst-ever terrorist attack on US soil, one which claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people, including six Poles.
Maria Jakubiak, Dorota Kopiczko, Jan Maciejewski, Łukasz Milewski, Anna Pietkiewicz and Norbert Szurkowski were among the victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and US Airlines Flight 93. A monument commemorating the Polish victims of September 11th was unveiled in Warsaw’s Skaryszewski Park in 2012, and is traditionally visited by the Polish Prime Minister on the anniversary of the 2001 attacks.
The 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City will host a ceremony beginning today at 2:40pm Warsaw time at the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan. The ceremony will be streamed online on the museum’s Facebook page and at 911memorial.org/live.
Links: https://www.facebook.com/911memorial, 911memorial.org/live
The future head of the European Commission – Ursula von der Leyen – has officially unveiled her “college” of Commissioners, with Poland set to receive the agriculture and rural development portfolio.
According to Von der Leyen, the new team of commissioners will be instrumental in shaping the Union’s activities, pointing to climate change, international relations with the US and China, and digitization as the most important areas of activity over the next five years.
Poland’s representative, former PiS MEP Janusz Wojciechowski, is slated to serve as agriculture commissioner, a position which will have him working closely with Dutch social democrat and former EU Commission President candidate Frans Timmermans, who has been tasked with developing the “European green deal” under the auspices of the climate change directorate.
The new European Commissioners will take office November 1, assuming they are officially approved by the European Parliament in the coming weeks.
The Pomeranian state sanitary inspector, SANEPID, has issued a warning for residents to avoid contact with water from the Wisła River and the waters of Gdańsk Bay from Stogi to Mikoszewo
Pomeranian SANEPID found higher than normal levels of E.coli bacteria in water samples taken from these areas, in direct connection with the discharge of untreated sewage into the Wisła from a failure at the “Czajka” wastewater treatment plant in Warsaw last week.
As such, farmers, fishermen, and recreational enthusiasts are advised to avoid contact with water from the Wisła and the Gulf of Gdańsk from the town of Stogi to the town of Mikoszewo, an area which includes Wyspa Sobieszewska.
Officials reiterate, however, that municipal drinking water supplies are perfectly safe as none of the cities in Pomerania draw their drinking water from the Wisła.
Source: Radio Gdansk
Despite their best efforts, the Polish men’s basketball team was unable to outmanuever Spain’s solid defense in the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA Basketball World Cup yesterday.
Poland was able to keep up in the first half, though Spain’s tight defense locked out top scorer Mateusz Ponitka, forcing teammates AJ Slaughter and Adam “Waca” Waczyński to pick up the slack. In the second quarter, however, Spain surged ahead to finish the match 90-78, knocking Poland out of contention for the World Cup this year.
According to head coach Mike Taylor, Poland “played hard and gave our best…I’m so proud of how we represented [our country].” His words were echoed by Polish point guard Adam Waczyński, who considers his team’s performance “a big success for Polish basketball.”
As one commentator summed up, “people will remember [this team] as the Cinderella squad of the entire competition. This generation has put Polish basketball on the map and everyone has taken notice.”
Poland will face off against the loser of the Australia – Czechia match tomorrow at 3pm Polish time, but their 4-2 record in the tournament has already guaranteed them a spot in the top 8.
Source: FIBA
http://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2019/news/spain-put-an-end-to-poland-s-world-cup-fairy-tale
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