Voters in the US state of New Hampshire headed to the polls yesterday to choose their Democratic nominee for the upcoming US Presidential elections.

After a week of campaigning around the state and a particularly heated debate last Friday, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders claimed victory with 25.7 pct. of the vote, followed by former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg in second with 24.4 pct. After a strong showing in Friday’s debate, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar came in a surprising third place with just under 20 pct. of the vote.

The top three candidates will divide New Hampshire’s 33 available delegates on their quest to win the 1,991 delegates necessary to secure the national Democratic nomination. The remaining field of candidates, including former frontrunners Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden, did not make the 15 pct. threshold to win any delegates.

After poor performances in both Iowa and New Hampshire, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet and entrepreneur Andrew Yang have officially suspended their campaigns, with Yang promising his supporters that “we will continue to do the work and move this country forward because the Yang Gang isn’t going anywhere.”

All eyes are now on the upcoming Nevada caucuses on February 22nd and the South Carolina primary on the 29th.

Source: NPR

CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF MARIE SKŁADOWSKA CURIE

The Nobel Foundation marked the International Day of Women and Girls in Science yesterday by promoting female Nobel prize laureates such as Marie Składowska Curie.

Curie was the first woman ever to win a Nobel prize, and the only woman to win in two different categories, taking home a shared Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903, and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911.

Since Curie’s time, the number of women in science and engineering has grown exponentially. According to data released by Eurostat in 2017, Poland now boasts a nearly equal (48.5%) female-to-male ratio in the fields of science and engineering, putting it well above the EU average of 41% and a majority of EU countries, including Germany (33%) and France (40%).

Source: The First News, Eurostat

POLISH MUSICIANS AMONG INTERNATIONAL OPERA AWARDS NOMINEES

One of the hottest names in modern classical music, Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński, has been nominated for this year’s International Opera Awards.

He is joined by contemporary composer Dariusz Przybylski in the “newcomer” category, along with Małgorzata Szcześniak in the “designer” category.

The list of nominees also includes two recordings of operas by 19th-century Polish composer and “father of national Polish opera” Stanisław Moniuszko. One of his operas, “Halka”, premiered last night at the National Opera in Warsaw as part of a joint production with the Theater an der Wien of Austria.

Founded in 2012, the International Opera Awards are an annual celebration of excellence in opera around the world. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre on May 4th.

Source: Radio Poland

MEMBERS OF THE INSTITUTE OF NATIONAL REMEMBRANCE (IPN) MET YESTERDAY IN GDYNIA TO COMMEMORATE THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MASS DEPORTATIONS OF POLES TO SIBERIA

Headed by IPN President Dr. Jarosław Szarek, the delegation laid flowers in front of the monument to Siberian exiles (pomnik “W hołdzie zesłańcom Sybiru”) in Park Rady Europy in Gdynia. The monument was built in 2004 at the behest of the Gdynia Siberian Circle as a means of raising awareness of the tragic events of 1940-41, a history that was actively suppressed under Poland’s communist regime (PRL).

On the night of February 10th, 1940, some 140,000 people were deported from the former Eastern Borderlands (kresy) of Poland to remote regions of the Soviet Union. What followed was a series of deportations resulting in the eventual expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Poles and other nationalities from the region. The exact number of deportees is not known but files from the Soviet security apparatus (NKVD) suggest that several hundred thousand residents were deported between 1940-41.

The full interview with Dr. Szarek (in Polish) is available here: http://bit.ly/Polish-deportations-PL

WEATHER

Today will be mostly cloudy with a chance for rain showers throughout the day and a strong breeze coming from the southwest. Temperatures will remain on the chilly side at 4 degrees Celsius, or 40 degrees Fahrenheit, with perceived temperatures closer freezing. Rain is expected again overnight, with similar cold, windy, and wet weather tomorrow morning.

RGEN/EP