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"The only way to fly responsibly right now is not to fly," said Hiske Arts, who is leading the campaign by Fossil Free Netherlands. In preliminary hearings, its lawyers argued "fly responsibly" ads were well-intentioned. KLM says it has already discontinued 19 communications it says form the core of the Fossil Free suit. Its "fly responsibly" web page now re-routes customers to a message that reads: "Air travel is currently not sustainable. While advertising authorities have banned some ads, they say airlines should be allowed to discuss improvements in order to prevent "greenhushing", or allowing the issue to disappear from discussion.

Persons: BEUC, Dimitri Vergne, Laurent Donceel, Lucas Boudet, Toby Sterling, Joanna Plucinska, Mark Potter Organizations: Hiske, Fossielvrij, Dutch, KLM, Fossil, Hiske Arts, Fossil Free Netherlands, European Commission, Air France, Schiphol Airport, Airlines, Advertising Standards Association, Thomson Locations: Netherlands, Amsterdam, Europe, AMSTERDAM, LONDON, Brussels, London

☆ I became a nomad in my 60s and have traveled to 37 countries. I want to show others that international travel is not something to fear in your 60s.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

His fear during that trip inspired him to travel abroad more often, and encourage others, too. "Regardless of your age, you are not too old to travel," he said. I was born and raised in the Philadelphia area but have lived in California for most of my adult life. Courtesy of Norman Bour)Since 2019, my wife Kathleen and I have lived in and traveled to 37 different countries. The dollars we spend go towards lodging, travel, and food.

Persons: Norman Bour, Kathleen Plumley, Kathleen, we've, We're, Katheen, we're Organizations: Service, Social Security Locations: Wall, Silicon, California, Europe, Philadelphia, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Prague, Romania, Southern California, Costa Mesa, Bour, Plumley, Egypt, London, Paris, Stockholm, Balkans, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, United States, Auschwitz

☆ Romania says possible drone fragments found on its territory
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Sept 13 (Reuters) - Elements of a possible drone were identified on NATO-member Romania's territory, the defence ministry said on Wednesday, following Russian drone attacks on Izmail in southern Ukraine, just across the border. If confirmed, it would be the third time that such fragments have been found on Romanian territory in recent days. "The crew of an IAR 330 Puma helicopter of the Romanian Air Force ... (identified) fragments that could have come from a drone, dispersed over an area of several dozen metres," the defence ministry said in a statement. It said that the fragments were seen in the area of the towns of Nufarul and Victoria, in Tulcea county. Earlier, the defence ministry had said emergency services had received calls about possible cases of drones coming down in the area.

Persons: Alan Charlish, Kevin Liffey Organizations: NATO, Puma, Romanian Air Force, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Romanian, , Nufarul, Victoria, Tulcea county, Warsaw

☆ Arms maker says interest in its weapons 'largely' driven by Ukrainians using them to fight Russians
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Polish arms maker says customers are flocking to weapons systems used in Ukraine. The state-owned PGZ said it has fielded two new orders for portable rocket launchers. Ukrainian forces have used such portable rocket launchers, or MANPADS, to challenge Russia's air supremacy. AdvertisementAdvertisementWhile providing Ukraine with arms serves Warsaw's national security interests, it is also proving a boon to its defense sector. Other arms makers have also used Ukraine as a selling point — Ukrainian firms, especially.

Persons: PGZ, Patryk Brzeziński, SIPRI, Oleg Skillar, cdavis@insider.com Organizations: Russia, Service, Defense, Russian, Defence and Security, International, United, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, National Defense Magazine Locations: Polish, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, London, Ukrainian, United States, Russian, Poland, Stockholm, Europe, Balkans, Estonia, Baltic, Abu Dhabi

Ukrainian Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane, the world's biggest aircraft, flies during the Independence Day military parade in Kyiv, Ukraine August 24, 2021. Antonov did not respond to requests for comment on the centre and expansion plans in the drone sector. Under Ukroboronprom, Antonov has designed and built drones in the past, including the Horlytsia model, but cargo planes have long been its primary focus. Antonov's expertise in cargo planes could also be applied to long-distance drones, the source added, giving Ukraine's armed forces the capability to strike deeper into Russian territory. LIVE TESTINGKyiv has used aerial drones to attack airfields and Russian troops and aquatic drones against ships and a bridge.

Persons: Gleb Garanich, Antonov, Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukroboronprom, inefficiently, Tom Balmforth, Tim Hepher, Mike Collett, White, Alexander Smith Organizations: world's, Independence Day, REUTERS, Reuters, Washington , D.C, Vehicle, Russia, Strategic Industries, Thomson Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, KYIV, Washington ,, Soviet, Russia

☆ Putin: sending Soviet tanks into Hungary and Czechoslovakia was a mistake
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a report presentation on the development of Russia's far eastern regions held via a video link in Vladivostok, Russia, September 11, 2023. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsVLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the Soviet Union's decision to send tanks into Hungary and Czechoslovakia to crush mass protests during the Cold War was a mistake. "It was a mistake," Putin said when asked about perceptions of Russia as a colonial power due to Moscow's decision to send tanks into Budapest in 1956 and into Prague in 1968. The 1956 Hungarian Uprising was crushed by Soviet tanks and troops. At least 2,600 Hungarians and 600 Soviet troops were killed in the fighting.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Putin, Washington, Guy Faulconbridge, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Rights, Soviet, Czechoslovak, Thomson Locations: Vladivostok, Russia, Rights VLADIVOSTOK, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Budapest, Prague, Ukraine, Europe, United States, Soviet Union, Soviet, Warsaw, Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Czech

☆ Putin: Sending Soviet Tanks Into Hungary and Czechoslovakia Was a Mistake
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the Soviet Union's decision to send tanks into Hungary and Czechoslovakia to crush mass protests during the Cold War was a mistake. "It was a mistake," Putin said when asked about perceptions of Russia as a colonial power due to Moscow's decision to send tanks into Budapest in 1956 and into Prague in 1968. Putin said the United States was making the same mistakes as the Soviet Union. The 1956 Hungarian Uprising was crushed by Soviet tanks and troops. At least 2,600 Hungarians and 600 Soviet troops were killed in the fighting.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Washington, Guy Faulconbridge, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Soviet, Czechoslovak Locations: VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Budapest, Prague, Ukraine, Europe, United States, Soviet Union, Soviet, Warsaw, Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Czech

☆ Polish filmmaker brings struggle of Ukrainian evacuations to TIFF
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Jenna Zucker | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Polish filmmaker Maciek Hamela speaks to Reuters about his new documentary "In the Rearview", in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, September 11, 2023. REUTERS/Dennis Porter Acquire Licensing RightsSept 12 (Reuters) - Days after Russia launched its war on Ukraine, Polish filmmaker Maciek Hamela left his home in Warsaw, bought a van, and began transporting evacuees to safety. Hosting its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Tuesday, Hamela hopes the audience can put themselves in the refugees’ shoes. “Many of these people, especially in the first weeks of the war, they just wanted to get out,” Hamela said. “I'd like people to come and see this film not just because it's about the war in Ukraine,” Hamela said.

Persons: Maciek Hamela, Dennis Porter, Hamela, ”, ” Hamela, ‘, We’ll, “, Jenna Zucker, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, Russia, American, Toronto, UNHCR, “, Thomson Locations: Toronto , Ontario, Canada, Ukraine, Polish, Warsaw, Europe

☆ In Ukraine, Mathematics Offers Strength in Numbers
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Siobhan Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a Saturday evening in August, two Ukrainian mathematicians, Maryna Viazovska and Masha Vlasenko, set out on a 19-hour train trip from Warsaw to Kyiv. They were en route to a conference titled “Numbers in the Universe: Recent Advances in Number Theory and Its Applications.” Symbolically, the journey served to plant a flag. The event marked the opening of the International Center for Mathematics in Ukraine, or I.C.M.U., which was established on paper in November. “The goal is to bring the world of mathematics to Ukraine and open, or reopen, Ukrainian science for the world,” said Dr. Viazovska, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. She won a Fields Medal in 2022 and serves as scientific lead on the center’s coordination committee.

Persons: Maryna Viazovska, Masha Vlasenko, “, ”, Viazovska, Jean, Pierre Bourguignon Organizations: International Center for Mathematics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, European Research Council Locations: Warsaw, Kyiv, Ukraine, Lausanne, London

U.S. President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the European Union Ursula von der Leyen attend the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, September 9, 2023. The summit declaration avoided condemning Russia for the war in Ukraine but highlighted the human suffering the conflict had caused and called on all states not to use force to grab territory. A failure to agree on a summit declaration would have signalled that the G20 was split, perhaps irrevocably, between the West on one side and China and Russia on the other, analysts said. Diplomats have said negotiators from India, Indonesia, Brazil and South Africa drove the consensus in the summit document. Despite the lack of concrete progress, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India's chief G20 coordinator, said the meeting did take the group forward.

Persons: Joe Biden, Narendra Modi, Ursula von der Leyen, Evelyn Hockstein, Michael Froman, Svetlana Lukash, Lukash, Patryk Kugiel, ” Kugiel, Sergei Lavrov, Vladimir Putin, India's, Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Vardhan, ”, Michel Rose, Aftab Ahmed, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Indian, European, REUTERS, Diplomats, African Union, India, Foreign Relations, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Russian G20, Polish Institute of International Affairs, Xinhua, Reuters, Thomson Locations: New Delhi, India, DELHI, Ukraine, Russia, York, U.S, China, Beijing, Russian, Warsaw, Delhi, Indonesia, Brazil, South Africa, Germany, Britain

☆ EU Commission cuts euro zone growth forecast as Germany in recession
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Jan Strupczewski | Thomson Reuters | Jan Is The Acting Bureau Chief In Brussels. He Has Been Covering European Union Policy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Commission forecast euro zone consumer inflation of 5.6% in 2023 and 2.9% in 2024, both well above the European Central Bank's target of 2.0%. Inflation this year is to be lower than the 5.8% forecast in May, but higher than previously forecast in 2024, as the May forecast was for 2.8%. The ECB has been rapidly raising rates since the middle of 2022 to stem record price growth, making credit for the economy more expensive - a factor that hit the growth forecast. Germany, Europe's biggest economy, will shrink 0.4% this year, the Commission forecast, revising down a 0.2% growth prediction from May. But France and Spain will grow faster than previously expected in 2023 , the Commission said, projecting 1.0% and 2.2% growth respectively instead of the previously seen 0.7% and 1.9%.

Persons: Jan Strupczewski, Philip Blenkinsop Organizations: ECB, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Germany, Europe, Europe's, Italy, Netherlands, France, Spain

☆ US OKs potential sale of air and missile defense system to Poland -Pentagon
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Serviceman patrols in front of the Patriot air defence system during Polish military training on the missile systems at the airport in Warsaw, Poland February 7, 2023. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of an Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System to Poland for an estimated cost of $4 billion, the Pentagon said on Monday. As it upgrades its air defenses, the Pentagon said NATO-ally Poland had requested to buy phase two of a two-phase program for the command system enabled PATRIOT Configuration-3+ with modernized sensors and components. The sale would include 93 of the system's engagement operation centers, 175 fire control network relays and other related equipment, the Pentagon said. The principal contractor for the missile defense system will be Northrup Grumman (NOC.N), the Pentagon said in a statement.

Persons: Kacper, Northrup, Eric Beech, Katharine Jackson, Caitlin Webber Organizations: Patriot, REUTERS, Rights, U.S . State Department, Integrated Air, Missile Defense, Pentagon, Northrup Grumman, Thomson Locations: Warsaw, Poland, NATO

☆ In J.M. Coetzee’s New Novel, Love Awakens an Austere Soul
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Dwight Garner | More About Dwight Garner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

THE POLE, by J.M. Coetzee’s novels are slim, and so, by and large, are his characters — they’re Modiglianis, not Boteros. The most wraithlike, a saintly hunger artist, is the protagonist of his novel “The Life and Times of Michael K,” which won the Booker Prize in 1983. When an ample person does show up in Coetzee’s work, moral stigma is often attached. Lurie takes her fleshiness as a sign she’s fled the strictures of civilized intellectual life.

Persons: J.M . Coetzee, J.M, — they’re, Michael K, John Lurie, ”, Lurie, she’s, Coetzee isn’t, Witold Walczykiewicz, I’ve, It’s, Witold, Hulked, Max von Sydow, “, Beatriz, Dante, She’s Organizations: South, Deutsche Grammophon Locations: She’s, Warsaw, Barcelona

☆ Strabag maps out next step to decrease Russian investor's stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Logo of the construction company Strabag is seen at a construction site in front of the Supreme Court in Warsaw, Poland September 13, 2018. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 11 (Reuters) - Austrian construction group Strabag (STRV.VI) set out details on Monday of a planned capital reduction in its latest step aimed at decreasing the stake held by a company belonging to sanctioned Russian shareholder Oleg Deripaska. The move will decrease MKAO Rasperia Trading Limited's stake in Strabag from a current 27.8% to below 25%, ridding the company of its blocking minority, the Austrian firm said. Free reserves will be distributed to existing shareholders, who have the choice between a share option at a ratio of one new share per four already held or a cash option of 9.05 euros per share. Reporting by Tristan Veyet in Gdansk Editing by Miranda Murray and Rachel MoreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Kacper, Oleg Deripaska, Strabag, Vladimir Putin, Tristan Veyet, Miranda Murray, Rachel More Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Warsaw, Poland, Strabag, Austrian, Ukraine, Gdansk

☆ Romania summons Russian charge d'affaires over drone fragments -Agerpres
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A crater visible at the presumed crash site of a Russian army drone, close to charred tree trunks and a blast area, near Plauru, Tulcea county, Romania, September 7, 2023. Inquam Photos/Ovidiu Micsik via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 10 (Reuters) - Romania's foreign ministry summoned the Russian charge d'affaires after the discovery on Romanian soil of new fragments of a drone similar to those used by the Russian military, the Agerpres website reported on Sunday. On Saturday, Romanian authorities found the second set of drone fragments to have crashed in the NATO member state in a week, amid Russian attacks on Ukraine's river ports, just hundreds of metres from the Romanian border. On Saturday, President Klaus Iohannis said the discovery of the fragments pointed to an unacceptable breach of Romania's air space. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Russian strikes near the border were "destabilising" even if there was no indication Russia intended to hit Romania, a NATO member state.

Persons: Micsik, Strategic Affairs Iulian Fota, Klaus Iohannis, Jens Stoltenberg, Alan Charlish, Elaine Hardcastle, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: REUTERS, NATO, Embassy of, Russian Federation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs, Thomson Locations: Russian, Plauru, Tulcea county, Romania, Romanian, Bucharest, Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Ukraine's, Constanta, Warsaw

☆ Catholic Church beatifies Polish family for sheltering Jews
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Clergy attend the beatification ceremony of the Ulma family, who were murdered by German Nazis for sheltering Jews in Markowa, Poland September 10, 2023. Patryk Ogorzalek/Agencja Wyborcza.pl via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsWARSAW, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The Catholic Church beatified on Sunday a Polish family of nine, including a new-born baby, who died at the hands of Nazi Germans during World War Two for sheltering a Jewish family from the Holocaust. Speaking at the Vatican, Pope Francis described the Polish family as a "ray of light" in the darkness of World War Two and said they should serve as a model for others to follow. Polish President Andrzej Duda thanked the Catholic church for the beatification on behalf of the nation. HOLOCAUSTSome three million Jews who lived in pre-war Poland were murdered during the Nazi German Holocaust, accounting for about half of all Jews killed during World War Two.

Persons: Patryk, Wyborcza.pl, Jozef, Wiktoria Ulma, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Pope Francis, God, fearlessly, Pope, Andrzej Duda, PiS, Dariusz Libionka, Libionka, Jan Grabowski, Michael Schudrich, Justyna Pawlak, Anna Wlodarczak, Alan Charlish, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Catholic, Poland's, Roman Catholic Church, Vatican, Law and Justice, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland's Institute for National, Thomson Locations: Markowa, Poland, Nazi, Polish, St Peter's, Auschwitz, Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor

☆ Polish ruling party figures would face state tribunal after election, opposition says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

FILE PHOTO-Poland's central bank governor-designate Adam Glapinski speaks during a hearing at a parliamentary panel at the Parliament in Warsaw, Poland May 20, 2016. Agencja Gazeta/Kuba Atys via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWARSAW, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Poland's main opposition party said on Saturday it would convene a state tribunal if it wins October's national election to consider allegations against ruling party figures and their allies, including the president, prime minister and the governor of the central bank. The central bank said that it "never comments on statements from politicians". It also says Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki should face a state tribunal for giving the order to attempt to hold the presidential elections by post in 2020. Most polls for the national election show PiS with more than 35% of the vote, while the KO grouping has around 30%.

Persons: Adam Glapinski, Atys, KO, Donald Tusk, Tusk, PiS, Glapinski, Andrzej Duda, Mateusz Morawiecki, Alan Charlish, Mike Harrison Organizations: Agencja Gazeta, REUTERS, Rights, liberal Civic Coalition, Justice, National Bank of Poland, Thomson Locations: Warsaw, Poland, Germany, Russia

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s conservative governing party and the opposition showered potential voters with promises on Saturday as the country's political parties revealed their campaign programs before the Oct. 15 parliamentary election. The nationalist ruling Law and Justice party, which took power in 2015, wants to win an unprecedented third term. The government's tenure, however, has been marred with bitter clashes with the European Union over the government's rule of law record and democratic backsliding. At a party convention, leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is Poland's most powerful politician, made promises of new spending on social and military causes for the nation living in the shadow of Russia's full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine. The government has already largely increased the state budget deficit with spending on benefits for large families and retirees, its own voter base as well as on purchasing armament.

Persons: —, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Donald Tusk Organizations: Law, Justice, European Union, Civic Coalition, EU Locations: WARSAW, Poland, Ukraine, Brussels

☆ Exclusive: New rules would give Europe more scope for military spending post-Ukraine invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Jan Strupczewski | Thomson Reuters | Jan Is The Acting Bureau Chief In Brussels. He Has Been Covering European Union Policy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

EU fiscal rules underpin the euro currency used in 20 nations by limiting government borrowing. Currently only nine EU members meet a NATO alliance defence spending goal of 2% of national output, with four - Finland, Romania, Hungary and the Slovak Republic - above that only in 2023. After Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, many European countries neighbouring Russia called for military spending to be excluded outright from EU deficit calculations. 'NOT HEARD A NO'Opposition to a full exemption from EU calculations stemmed from concern that military spending could be a very broad category that could help hide a lot of ordinary expenses. By stipulating that military spending would only be a "relevant factor" that could help avoid disciplinary action, the new rules would leave it to the Commission's judgement what spending would be eligible.

Persons: Valentyn, Deal, Jan Strupczewski, Mark John, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Union, NATO, REUTERS, European, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, BRUSSELS, EU, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Slovak Republic, France, Germany, Italy, NATO, Russia, U.S

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Film director Agnieszka Holland demanded an apology from Poland's justice minister after he compared her latest film, which explores the migration crisis at the Poland-Belarus border, to Nazi propaganda. Holland said Wednesday that she planned to bring defamation charges against Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro unless she receives an apology within seven days. Holland’s feature film, “Green Border,” explores a migration crisis that has played out along Poland’s border with Belarus over the past two years. Holland said the comparison to Nazi propaganda was offensive because of what Poland suffered under Nazi occupation during World War II and given her own background. Holland's film dramatizes the migration tragedy that unfolded in the “green border” of swamps and forests between Belarus and Poland.

Persons: Agnieszka Holland, Holland, Zbigniew Ziobro, Ziobro, ”, Poland, ” Holland Organizations: —, Reich, Venice Film, Nazi, Law, Justice Locations: WARSAW, Poland, Belarus, East, Africa, Russia, Venice, Warsaw, Polish, Ukraine

An easyJet Airbus A320neo aircraft is parked on the tarmac of Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport, in Madrid, Spain, June 22 2022. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Easyjet PLC FollowLONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Decarbonisation efforts in the aviation sector will cost more money, but that cost should not fall to the consumer, easyJet Chief Executive Johan Lundgren said on Wednesday. He added that options to decarbonise, like creating sustainable aviation fuels, are not yet at scale and cost three to five times more than typical jet fuel. Lundgren also said a wide range of stakeholders including governments needed to chip in to ensure decarbonisation costs remain low. A lot of the cost will depend on the speed of innovation, which Lundgren is hopeful can mitigate price hikes.

Persons: Adolfo Suarez, Isabel Infantes, Johan Lundgren, Lundgren, Sarah Young, Joanna Plucinska, Sachin Ravikumar, William James, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Airbus, Adolfo Suarez Madrid, Barajas Airport, REUTERS, Reuters IMPACT, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Madrid, Spain, London

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's central bank lowered its interest rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday despite the country's double-digit inflation rate. The National Bank of Poland's monetary policy council announced that it was cutting the reference rate from 6.75% to 6%, and other interest rates by the same amount. Economists had been expecting a rate cut, but not such a large one. In conditions of high inflation, central banks tend to raise interest rates, a move that can help bring down inflation over time by discouraging consumption. Interest rate cuts, on the other hand, make financing cheaper and tends to encourage consumers and businesses to spend more.

Persons: Adam Glapinski, Marek Tatala, “, Ryszard Petru, ” Petru Organizations: National Bank of, Law, Justice, Freedom Foundation, Twitter Locations: WARSAW, Poland, National Bank of Poland, Warsaw, Ukraine

☆ Polish central bank stuns with 75 bps rate cut, zloty plunges
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Anna Koper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WARSAW, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Poland's central bank cut its main interest rate by 75 basis points to 6.00% on Wednesday, in a shock decision ahead of October elections that sent the zloty currency tumbling against the euro. The National Bank of Poland (NBP) said it took the decision because it expects inflation to return to target faster than originally expected. It said that the adjustment to interest rates would be "conducive to meeting the NBP inflation target in the medium term". NBP Governor Adam Glapinski had previously signalled that a rate cut could come in September if inflation fell to single digits. "We have already said that it is too early for a rate cut, and certainly such an aggressive rate cut, when the prospects (of a slowdown) in inflation are still distant," said Piotr Bielski, director of the economic analysis department of Santander Bank Polska.

Persons: Adam Glapinski, Piotr Bielski, J.P, Morgan, Wojciech Paczos, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Anna Koper, Pawel Florkiewicz, Alan Charlish, Anna Wlodarczak, Karol Badohal, Marc Jones, Justyna Pawlak, Nick Macfie, Sharon Singleton, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Reuters, National Bank of Poland, Santander Bank Polska, Cardiff University, Justice, Thomson Locations: WARSAW, NBP, Poland, Pawel

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Just one new case of Legionnaires’ disease was reported Tuesday in southeast Poland in an area close to the Ukraine border, an indication the spread of the disease has been curbed following chlorine disinfection of the water system. The latest fatality was registered on Friday, bringing to 19 the death toll since the outbreak in July. It's a key transit hub for international military support for Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion last year. Fatalities from the disease were among elderly people who also suffered from other health issues like cancer, authorities said. Political Cartoons View All 1142 ImagesLegionnaires’ disease is a lung infection that comes from inhaling infected water spray.

Persons: — Organizations: Health Locations: WARSAW, Poland, Ukraine, Rzeszow

☆ Poland's PGE reverses decision to bring forward carbon neutrality target
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA FollowWARSAW, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Polish utility PGE (PGE.WA) said on Monday it was reversing a decision to bring forward its carbon-neutrality target to 2040 from 2050, changing course less than a week after the announcement of a strategy that caused political fallout. PGE is one of a few state-controlled energy firms that is seeking to move away from coal-fired plants in a coordinated overhaul of the country's energy sector. "The Management Board of PGE S.A. repealed the resolution adopting the update of the PGE Group Strategy," PGE said in a statement. "The decision is due to the need to complete the process of establishing the National Energy Security Agency (NABE)." Reporting by Alan Charlish and Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: PGE's, Jacek Sasin, Alan Charlish, Marek Strzelecki, Alexander Smith Organizations: PGE Polska Grupa, WARSAW, PGE, Poland, State, PGE S.A, National Energy Security Agency, Thomson Locations: PGE, Poland, Warsaw

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