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Society

Is There Anything Eating Pickles Can't Cure?

Fermented foods — from sauerkraut to kimchi to yogurt — are known to protect intestinal health, improve mental health and even help prevent cancer. But scientists say we need to be careful about overstating the benefits.

WARSAW — They include sauerkraut, dill pickles, pickled beets, and kimchi … but also kefir and sourdough bread. These foods — traditional to Polish, Korean, and West African cuisines — are trending across the world thanks to their diverse health benefits.

Pickles, or fermented foods, are technically defined as "food or beverages produced by the controlled growth of microorganisms and the transformation of food ingredients by enzymatic action." Aside from the traditional pickled vegetables found in jars, the benefits of fermented foods can also be found in any foods which are made using lactic acid fermentation — even bread made on a fermented base, such as sourdough.

Research shows that fermented foods can not only strengthen gut health but also boost mental health and well-being, improve mood, and help foster a healthy immune response.

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The Changing Destiny Of Chicago's Polish Diaspora

Based on conversations with author and psychotherapist Gregorz Dzedzić, who is part of the Polish diaspora in Chicago, as well as the diary entries of generations of Polish immigrants, journalist Joanna Dzikowska has crafted a narrative that characterizes the history of the community, from its beginnings to its modern-day assimilation.

“There were instances when people came here from Polish villages, in traditional shoes and clothing, and, the next day, everything was burned, and I no longer recognized the people who came up to me, dressed and shaved in the American fashion. The newly-dressed girls quickly found husbands, who in turn had to cover all of their new wives’ expenses. There were quite a lot of weddings here, because there were many single men, so every woman — lame, hunchbacked or one-eyed — if only a woman, found a husband right away."

- From the diary of Marcel Siedlecki, written from 1878 to 1936

CHICAGO — To my father, Poland was always a country with a deep faith in God and the strength of Polish honor. When he spoke about Poland, his voice turned into a reverent whisper.

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Beyond Musk: Is The Right-Wing Shift Of Tech Spreading Worldwide?

The culture of Silicon Valley was once associated with social liberalism and tolerance. However, the tech community worldwide, from moguls such as Elon Musk or Peter Thiel, to IT professionals in Poland, and self-described OSINT users in India, is showing signs of a noted right-wing shift.

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Protests Derailed: A History Of Polish Railways Getting Political

Polish state railways have been accused of deliberately keeping protestors from reaching the capital for an anti-government protest march. This is not the first controversy the railways have faced.

Last June, Polish opposition leader and former President of the EU Commission Donald Tusk called on Polish citizens to protest against the “authoritarian” steps taken by the ruling party, PiS. Estimates by state organizers approximate that 500,000 participants marched in Warsaw, with smaller marches occurring in other Polish cities.

“Do you have enough of [PiS’s] lies, theft and corruption?” Tusk asked in a video published on his Facebook page. "Then come to Warsaw on the 4th of June… we will show them our might”.

In the days leading up to the protest and on the day of the event itself, passengers and groups of demonstrators blamed state railways for delayed train permits, inaccessibility for those with disabilities and a deficit in the train's ability to transport participants to the capital.

“This is how rail functions in Poland,” an anonymous passenger told Gazeta Wyborcza, “It is impossible to get to Warsaw for the March at 12 p.m. from Szczecin.” The same passenger told Wyborcza they were “speechless” at the realization, adding that “it’s an outright exclusion of rail communication”.

This is not the first time that the state-run rail lines have come under fire for allegedly political acts.

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Society
Valeria Berghinz

Roe v Wade To Mexican Supreme Court: What's Driving Abortion Rights Around The World

A landmark decision Wednesday by the Mexican Supreme Court is part of a push in Latin America to expand abortion access. But as seen by the U.S. overturning Roe v. Wade last year, the issue is moving in different directions around the world.

Updated on September 8, 2023

PARIS — It has been 14 months and 15 days since the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ruling that safe access to abortion is no longer a Constitutional right for American women.

For women in the rest of the world, the ruling reverberated on the weight of the U.S. judicial and cultural influence, with fears that it could have repercussions in their own courtrooms, parliaments and medical clinics.

Yet in what is perhaps the most momentous decision since Roe’s overturning, the U.S.’s southern neighbor, Mexico saw its own Supreme Court unanimously decree that abortion would be decriminalized nationwide, and inflicting any penalty on the medical procedure was “unconstitutional … and a violation of the human rights of women and those capable of being pregnant.”

Mexico is the latest (and most populous) Latin American country to expand reproductive rights, even as their northern neighbor continues to take steps backward on the issue.

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Society
Bartłomiej Kuraś

Bears! The Issue Sneaking Up On Slovakia's Campaign Trail

Slovakian elections set for later this month have been shifting towards an unexpected issue. Bears have been threatening people living near the Tatra Mountains, and how to respond has been dividing politicians.

BRATISLAVA — Slovaks will be going to the polls to select a new parliament on September 30. Among other issues, they will be deciding the fate of the country’s bear populations, which have recently become one of their major political topics. A portion of these animals live along the Polish-Slovakian border.

The growing population of bears in Slovakia and worries about potential attacks on humans have now been addressed by senior politicians. These include not only parliamentarians from across the political spectrum, but also members of the government and even the Slovakian President, Zuzana Czaputova. Czaputova, a well-known environmentalist, has been especially outspoken on the matter.

When a female bear jumped out of a thick bush at a man near the village of Sučany in northern Slovakia while he was out walking his dog, he began to fear for his life. Using a legally held gun, he shot at the bear several times, which killed her. In a second publicized incident that day, a jogger near Liptovsky Hradok reported a bear attack, and had to be hospitalized with an injured shoulder and an open wound on his calf. A few hours later, a forest worker fell victim to a bear attack near the south Slovak village of Drienovo, and was forced to defend himself with a weapon held in his hand.

More incidents involving bear attacks took place in just these 24 hours in mid-July than in the entire year, bringing the total number of bear attacks in Slovakia to eight. This caused widespread public outcry, with social media being almost immediately flooded with videos and photos depicting bear encounters not only in the rural wilderness, but also in villages and cities. The bears are typically unafraid of humans while they forage for food, reports Zprawy Aktualne, and they can often be seen in residents’ backyards. Last year, a bear even made its way into a hotel in the High Tatras, a known tourist destination.

“The situation is serious,” said Environment Minister Milan Chrenko.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War
Piotr Szymański

With Ukraine's International Legion, On The Front Lines Of The Counteroffensive

What draws foreigners to fight in Ukraine? Is it bravery, gall, money — or something else? On the ground with the International Legion, Patryk Szymański investigates for Gazeta Wyborcza.

KYIV — Today, the International Legion selects soldiers more carefully than ever before. To get into the unit, it is not enough just to show up in Ukraine and hope to get into the action.

“If something spills out, hold it," Antoni said, opening his bag and handing me a gun. “Your elbow must be straight; you look into the sight and look for the red dot. This is how you take out the magazine. This is how you insert the next one. You have to push it with your hand. There is no safety — this weapon is always cocked."

I looked at the steppes stretching to the horizon, the towns visible in the distance and the single-lane route stretching in a straight line from Zhytomyr to Kyiv, which is paralyzed by air raid sirens several times a day. I looked at the gun in my hand, then at the Polish soldier next to me. What am I even doing here?

Lee didn't hesitate for a moment. He set out from Liverpool, landed in Poland, then crossed into Ukraine by land. As millions fled from danger, he walked towards it.

He arrived in Kyiv in March, two months before I did. The northern half of the city was still under siege, and massacres were ongoing in Bucha and Hostomel. The rest of the world wouldn’t hear about them for another few weeks.

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In The News
Anne-Sophie Goninet, Laure Gautherin, Valeria Berghinz and Michelle Courtois.

Kim-Putin Arms Talks, Gay Marriage Progress In Hong Kong, Pirate Olaf

👋 *مرحبا

Welcome to Tuesday, where reports say Kim Jong-un plans to meet Vladimir Putin to discuss supplying Moscow with weapons, Hong Kong's top court moves to recognize same-sex civil unions, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz keeps his sense of humor after a bad tumble. Meanwhile, we look at the questionable “dark tourism” industry already in business in war-torn Ukraine.

[*Marhaba - Arabic]

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In The News
Emma Albright, Laure Gautherin, Valeria Berghinz and Anne-Sophie Goninet

Gabon Coup Leader Sworn In, Escaping Burning Man, Google Turns 25

👋 Ǹdéèwō!*

Welcome to Monday, where Gabon’s coup leader is sworn in as “transitional president” after President Ali Bongo was ousted last week, Russia launches an attack on one of Ukraine’s biggest grain ports and the most-used search engine celebrates its 25th birthday. Meanwhile, in Les Echos, Basile Dekonink reports from the small Balkan nation of Albania, where incessant waves of emigration have decimated demographics.

[*Igbo - Nigeria]

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Society
Judyta Watoła

Free Ozempic: Poland's Doctors Brace For "Onslaught" Of Weight Loss Patients For Discounted Drug

The Polish government released a list of medications last week that will now be reimbursed for people older than 65 and under 18. On the list is Ozempic, a drug initially intended for diabetes that has taken the world by storm due to its effectiveness for weight loss.

WARSAW — The Polish Health Ministry published a list of medications last week that will be free to Poles above the age of 65 and under 18. Seniors will be able to get 3,800 different medications for free, and minors will have access to 1,800.

The list of medications to be covered is wide in its scope, especially compared to past Polish health policy. When the current government introduced a list of free medicines for seniors aged 75+ in 2016, it was relatively modest, and contained just a few dozen substances, which were financed by the state budget.

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In The News
Yannick Champion-Osselin, Marine Béguin, Valeria Berghinz.

More Ukraine Drones On Russia, Idalia Fallout, G20’s Monkey-Men

👋 Ia Orana!*

Welcome to Friday, where Ukrainian drones keep hitting targets in Russia, the leader of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots is sentenced to 17 years, and New Delhi is not monkeying around ahead of the G20 summit. Meanwhile, for French economic daily Les Echos, Pierre de Gasquet looks at how a Kremlin takeover of the Wagner Group, post-Prigozhin, could help Russia strengthen its presence in Africa.

[*Tahiti]

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Society
Katarzyna Skiba

The Four-Day School Week, More New Experiments Around The World

As a new school year begins, educators from Poland to Australia to the U.S. are implementing four-day weeks, in a variety of ways. Will this be a short-lived fad, or the beginning of a new approach to education that can reduce stress for students, help recruit teachers and rethink learning altogether?

Beginning this year, students in Wodzisław Śląski, a city of 50,000 in southern Poland, will only have four days of traditional school classes per week. The reduced schedule — which comes along with fewer tests and new assessment criteria — were an initiative that came from the citizen grassroots level and ultimately was approved by municipal authorities, reports Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza.

The experimental four-day school week, for students in grades one through three, as well as certain older classes, will be instituted in all 13 public elementary schools within the city. Beginning in September, students will devote one day a week to carrying out non-traditional educational projects, such as going to science centers, learning craftsmanship, or taking walks through the local forests. The measure has been widened from a smaller pilot program tested last year, which included only a few of the city’s public schools.

Joanna Kulińska, principal of Primary School No. 2 in Wodzisław Śląski, explained that classes in select subjects will be combined into blocks, during which students can carry out a thematic project, go to a science center or take part in a non-traditional nature lesson. “This is a fantastic idea that allows us to transmit knowledge in an interesting and modern way – through experience and practice”, Kulińska added.

The new policy in Poland is part of an expanding interest in the four-day school week, with similar experiments in the United States, Australia, and France, with some instituting one full day of “non-traditional” learning, or simply an extra day off, as a means of reducing student stress and increasing engagement in class time. Some also see it as a way to reduce costs at a time of economic constraints.

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