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Long queues formed at the Hong Kong international airport's check-in counters for flights to mainland cities including Beijing, Tianjin and Xiamen. Hong Kong media outlets estimated that thousands were crossing. Beijing has quotas on the number of people who can travel between Hong Kong and China each day. I'm thrilled, I can't believe it’s happening,” said a businesswoman surnamed Shen, 55, who flew in from Hong Kong. The World Health Organisation said on Wednesday that China's COVID data underrepresents the number of hospitalisations and deaths from the disease.

☆ Ukrainians mark Orthodox Christmas in Poland with a prayer to return home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WARSAW, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Victoria, a Ukrainian refugee, is celebrating Orthodox Christmas in Poland with a simple prayer - that next year she will be back at home. "The important thing is that it's still a family holiday... We hope to celebrate next Christmas with our family back home," Victoria said. "Many of our brothers who have found themselves in Poland because of the war cannot return to their homeland. Many Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, but the Russian Orthodox Church's backing for Moscow's war in Ukraine has angered many Ukrainian Orthodox believers and splintered the worldwide Orthodox Church. This year, some Ukrainians chose to celebrate Christmas with Catholics on Dec. 25 in protest at Russian aggression.

☆ Europe starts 2023 with historic winter heatwave; snow shortage forces ski resorts to close
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Poland's capital of Warsaw recorded temperatures of 18.9 degrees Celsius on Jan. 1; more than 5 degrees Celsius above the previous record set 30 years ago. A winter heatwave smashed several national temperature records across Europe over the New Year's weekend, prompting meteorologists to sound the alarm, while some ski resorts were forced to close due to an absence of snow. January temperatures reached an all-time high in several European states, with national records set in at least seven countries. Polish capital Warsaw recorded temperatures of 18.9 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit) on Jan. 1 — more than 5 degrees Celsius above the previous record set 30 years ago. Warm weather and low snowfall forced some low-altitude ski resorts in the northern Alps and French Pyrenees to close a few weeks after opening.

☆ Poland says Germany refused talks on World War Two reparations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Germany has rebuffed the latest push by Poland's nationalist government for vast reparations over World War Two, saying in response to a diplomatic note that the issue was closed, the foreign ministry in Warsaw said on Tuesday. Poland estimates its World War Two losses caused by Germany at 6.2 trillion zlotys ($1.4 trillion) and has demanded reparations, but Berlin has repeatedly said all financial claims related to the war have been settled. "Germany does not pursue a friendly policy towards Poland, they want to build their sphere of influence here and treat Poland as a vassal state." In 1953, Poland's then-communist rulers relinquished all claims to war reparations under pressure from the Soviet Union, which wanted to free East Germany, also a Soviet satellite, from any liabilities. In a joint press conference with Polish foreign minister Zbigniew Rau last October, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said the pain caused by Germany during World War Two was "passed on through generations" in Poland but that the issue of reparations was closed.

☆ Polish regulator accuses T-Mobile of misleading advertising
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Polish regulator UOKiK has accused the Polish unit of T-Mobile of misleading advertising relating to a free mobile data offer, with the company potentially facing a fine of 10% of annual revenue. "After reading the advertisement, the consumer should have a general, but realistic, idea of the presented offer," the head of UOKiK Tomasz Chrostny said in a statement. "The T-Mobile promotional slogan may suggest receiving a one-time data package of 1200 GB, and not a dozen or so smaller packages, provided that the fee is paid periodically." T-Mobile Polska did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment. ($1 = 4.3822 zlotys)Reporting by Alan Charlish, Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Romanian court agrees to extend detention of divisive internet personality Andrew Tate by 30 days
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WARSAW, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Romanian court said on Friday that Andrew Tate, a former kickboxer, who was arrested together with his brother Tristan on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group, will remain in prison for another 30 days. Reporting by Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Poland ready for Russian oil ban, says minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Group of Seven (G7) nations and allies including Poland this month agreed a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude. In response, President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a decree that bans the supply of crude oil and oil products from Feb. 1 for five months to nations abiding by the cap. Poland has been gradually reducing its intake of Russian oil, and after the start of the war in Ukraine stopped buying seaborne Russian oil, top refiner PKN Orlen said. "We are prepared to process all types of crude oil, this is our advantage," Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa told a news conference. Moskwa also said that she believed the next EU sanctions package would include a decision on banning Russian oil.

Below are the events, trends and topics investors expect to shape the outlook for emerging markets next year. "The economic downturns along with the aggressive monetary tightening and geopolitical and commodity shocks that induce them will be temporarily painful in financial and emerging markets," said David Folkerts-Landau, group chief economist at Deutsche Bank. Globally, the war has transformed energy markets and inflation pressures, food security and geopolitical risk perception - factors that are often more keenly felt in emerging economies. "There's not actually a lot of debt maturing next year," said Carmen Altenkirch, emerging markets sovereign analyst at Aviva Investors. 6/ TURKEY ELECTIONSPresident Tayyip Erdogan could face the biggest political challenge of his two decades in power as Turks head to the ballot box in the most high-profile vote in emerging markets.

☆ France to sell 2 observation satellites to Poland -minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, Dec 27 (Reuters) - France and Poland have signed a deal for the sale of two French observation satellites to Poland, French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Twitter. "This major contract reflects Poland's trust in our technology and industry," Lecornu said after meeting with his Polish counterpart in Warsaw. The Polish Armament Agency said the net value of the deal is around 575 million euros ($611.69 million) and that the launch into space of the Polish satellites produced by Airbus Defence & Space (AIR.PA) is to be completed by 2027. ($1 = 0.9400 euros)Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Additional reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw; editing by David Evans and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ How a Swedish fighter jet managed to catch the un-catchable SR-71 spy plane
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Peter Suciu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Only one aircraft even has the distinction of achieving radar lock on the legendary spy plane. It wasn't a Soviet interceptor such as the MiG-25 however, but rather the Swedish-made Saab J37 Viggen fighter that successfully achieved a missile lock and visual contact with the speedy spy plane. The Saab J37 and the Baltic ExpressA Swedish Air Force Saab Viggen arrives at RAF Fairford in July 1993. Andrew Surma/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesThe United States Air Force pilots likely believed the same about the Saab J37 Viggen too. Swedish pilot Per-Olof Eldh scrambled in his Saab J37 Viggen fighter and started the head-on attack protocol.

Barbara Skrobol at the grave of her sister in law, Izabela Sajbor, in southern Poland last month. Under communism, Poland had been a destination for women seeking abortions from more conservative Western European countries where it had been illegal. The ruling worked: Almost overnight, the number of legal abortions in Poland decreased by 90%, according to abortion rights advocacy groups. Mo Abbas / NBC NewsLike women living in anti-abortion U.S. states, Poles can travel to seek an abortion. Beneath her sister-in-law’s name on her headstone, the family has etched the words “Not One More” — a slogan that’s been widely used by protesters and Poland’s abortion rights movement.

☆ Google tells employees more of them will be at risk for low performance ratings next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

CEO of Alphabet and Google Sundar Pichai during press conference at the Chancellery in Warsaw, Poland on March 29, 2022. More Google employees will be at risk for low performance ratings and fewer are expected to reach high marks under a new performance review system that starts next year, according to internal communications obtained by CNBC. In a recent Google all-hands meeting and in a separate presentation last week, executives presented more details of its new performance review process. Under the new system, Google estimates 6% of full-time employees will fall into a low-ranking category that puts them at higher risk for corrective action, versus 2% before. Some employees believe new performance review system might be a way for the company to reduce headcount.

☆ 'There's no place like home': Ukraine's refugees face their first Christmas away
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Ukrainian refugees near 8 millionPrylutska is one of more than 7.8 million Ukrainians — around one-fifth of the population — who have fled the country for Europe since Russia's invasion. I work with refugees, and I continue to do my work, but I am now a refugee, too. Kateryna Shukh, center, says she has found solace in supporting other Ukrainian refugees by hosting art therapy sessions from her new home in Warsaw, Poland. Kateryna ShukhIn Poland, for example, Ukrainian refugees have the legal right to remain for 18 months, with the possibility of applying for a three-year temporary residence permit. "Maybe 20% have gone back (to Ukraine) already," Shukh said of the refugees she works with.

Off-budget spending, where the cost of activities deemed to have special characteristics is not included in the official budget, is widely used across the world. In Poland, it was initially deployed for spending to weather the pandemic but now encompasses a surge in military and other expenditures. "Budget funds are becoming less and less transparent," Supreme Audit Office President Marian Banas told Reuters. Importantly, they note that the off-budget spending still gets captured under European accounting rules. In recent years, Poland's off-budget spending has gone from insubstantial amounts to several percentage points' worth of GDP, based on spending tracked by economists and rating agencies.

Ukraine has shared a list with European countries of some 10,000 items it urgently needs to maintain power. Since early October, Russian forces have targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, causing blackouts and forcing millions of people to endure sub-zero temperatures with little or no heating. As stockpiles of state-owned European power grids dwindle, Lorkowski expected the private sector to become more important in meeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure needs. A first tranche of U.S. power equipment worth $13 million has been shipped to Ukraine, officials said, and two more planeloads were due to leave shortly. Olena Osmolovska, director of the reform support team at Ukraine's energy ministry, said it would cost tens of billions of dollars to fully restore the energy system.

☆ Russia's Transneft receives Polish and German requests for oil
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The EU has pledged to stop buying Russian oil via maritime routes from Dec. 5, with Western nations also imposing price caps on Russian crude oil, but the Druzhba pipeline remains exempt from sanctions. And now we have received requests from Polish consumers: give us 3 million tonnes next year, and 360,000 tonnes for December, and Germany has already submitted a request for the first quarter," Transneft head Nikolay Tokarev said on Tuesday. Transneft, which handles more than 80% of total oil produced in Russia, has cranked up oil exports by a fifth this year, he added. Tokarev also said that oil supplies via the southern spur of Druzhba, which transports oil through Ukraine to Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will remain unchanged next year thanks to a ssanctions exception. Exports via the far eastern port of Kozmino are expected to total 42 million tonnes this year, exceeding usual annual capacity of 30 million tonnes, Tokarev said.

From almost nothing five years ago, the institutional residential property market has grown to the point where investors say housing is starting to challenge office buildings as a focus for their cash. And higher yields and scope for growth are spurring new projects, market players say. "We are currently surprised ourselves by the speed of the change and how the market is changing," he told Reuters. "Many institutional investors are looking to gain the first mover advantage and moving in," Wysokińska-Kuzdra told Reuters. The war in Ukraine has also created uncertainty, so that some investors are focused only on finishing current projects.

An image of new Twitter owner Elon Musk is seen surrounded by Twitter logos in this photo illustration in Warsaw, Poland on 08 November, 2022. On Sunday, Twitter's new owner and CEO Elon Musk posted an informal poll of users of the social media platform asking if he should step down as head of the company. In court in November, Musk said, "I expect to reduce my time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter over time." "The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive," he wrote. Tesla's largest retail shareholder, Leo Koguan, wrote in a tweet on Dec. 14, that "Elon abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO."

☆ Poland’s top cop accidentally set off grenade launcher gifted by Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Poland’s top police official told a radio broadcaster that a grenade launcher that was a present from Ukrainian officials accidentally exploded while he was moving it in his office last week. Gen. Jarosław Szymczyk gave his first comments after the unusual incident to Poland’s Radio RMF FM, which reported them on Saturday. Szymczyk confirmed reports in Polish media that the gift had been a grenade launcher. RMF FM, citing police officials, said Szymczyk received two used anti-tank grenade launchers as presents during a recent visit to Ukraine. “When I was moving the used grenade launchers, which were gifts from the Ukrainians, there was an explosion,” Szymczyk told the broadcaster.

☆ Polish PM and ruling party boss send mixed signals on court reform
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

However, on Saturday ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, widely seen as Poland's de facto ruler, was quoted as saying the bill containing the amendments could be "extremely destructive". "The dispute with the European Commission must be ended, because the real conflict is taking place east of Poland today," Morawiecki wrote in a Facebook post. The comments by PiS leader Kaczynski added to uncertainty over the bill's passage. Judges would also not face disciplinary action for questioning the independence of colleagues appointed by organs that critics say are politicised. ($1 = 0.9450 euros)Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Helen Popper and David HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exploding grenade launcher a gift from Ukraine, Polish police chief says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Poland's top policeman said that an explosion in his office was caused by a grenade launcher, telling private broadcaster RMF FM that he had received two of the weapons as a gift from Ukraine. Poland's interior ministry and prosecutor's office had not previously confirmed media reports that the explosion on Wednesday, at police headquarters in Warsaw, was caused by a grenade launcher. Prosecutors said they were investigating the blast, which resulted in Police Commander in Chief Jaroslaw Szymczyk being taken to hospital. "When I was moving the used grenade launchers, which were gifts from the Ukrainians, there was an explosion," Szymczyk told RMF FM. RMF cited a source from a Polish delegation that visited Ukraine as saying Szymczyk had received two launchers from officials as presents during visits to the police and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

☆ Polish ruling party boss says judicial reform may be 'destructive'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Dec 17 (Reuters) - A draft law aimed at unlocking billions of euros in frozen EU funding could be "extremely destructive", Poland's ruling party leader was quoted as saying on Saturday, casting further doubt on the legislation's future. But after President Andrzej Duda struck a cautious tone about the bill, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party said it would be taken off the agenda of a parliamentary sitting on Thursday, leaving the reform proposals in limbo. The bill has split the ruling camp, with United Poland, a junior partner in government, saying it will vote against it on the grounds that it damages Poland's sovereignty. Under the new bill, judges would not face disciplinary action for questioning the independence of colleagues appointed by state bodies that critics say are politicised. United Poland says that could cause chaos by allowing a large number of verdicts to be called into question.

☆ Poland holds up EU deal on minimum corporate tax, aid for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Poland was on Thursday holding up the European Union's formal adoption of a minimum corporate tax for large companies and, by extension, also blocking a whole package of other deals, including financing for Ukraine in 2023, diplomats said. The minimum tax, along with 18 billion euros ($19 billion)for Ukraine next year, the approval of Hungary's recovery plan and the suspension of some EU budget funds for Budapest were all part of a complex deal reached by EU governments on Monday night. "It's the whole package that is held up over Polish issues with the global tax that no one understands," one EU diplomat said. The minimum tax is to apply to companies with an annual turnover of at least 750 million euros and each EU country will have to adopt it into national law by the end of 2023. Large firms will have to pay the minimum rate from the start of 2024.

REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File PhotoDec 13 (Reuters) - For the energy industry, 2022 will be remembered as the year Russia's invasion of Ukraine accelerated a global energy crisis. The world's top energy companies beat a hasty retreat from Russia and wrote off tens of billions of dollars in assets. WHY IT MATTERSRussia's invasion of Ukraine caused European countries to re-evaluate their relationship with that nation, long the continent's primary supplier of natural gas. "We are seeing nothing less than the termination of a successful 50-year partnership on gas between Russia and Europe," said Michael Stoppard, special adviser and global gas analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insights. As the year comes to a close, costs for natural gas and heating fuel have ebbed as economic activity declines.

☆ Mercedes-Benz Vans plans first electric-only plant in Jawor
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) Vans will invest more than 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion) to build its first electric-only vans plant in Jawor, Poland, pending approval of conditions such as the sign-off of subsidies for its investment, the company said on Monday. The van maker, a division of Mercedes-Benz, has signed a declaration of intent with the Polish government and other partners to add the van factory to its Jawor site where it makes combustion engines and batteries for Mercedes-Benz Cars. The plant will be the fourth in Mercedes-Benz´s European van production network, which it is reorganising towards producing only fully-electric vans built on the VAN.EA platform. A possible expansion of the plant through a joint venture with U.S. electric van maker Rivian (RIVN.O) would no longer take place because the U.S. firm had reprioritised its planned projects, the statement said, confirming a statement by Rivian. ($1 = 0.9482 euros)Reporting by Tristan Chabba in Gdansk and Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw, Victoria Waldersee in Berlin, editing by Rachel More and Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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