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Polish President Duda re-elected in narrow race
WARSAW • Polish President Andrzej Duda has won five more years in power on a deeply conservative platform after a closely fought election that is likely to deepen the country's isolation in the European Union.
Nearly final results from Sunday's presidential election show him to have more than 51 per cent of the votes, giving him an unassailable lead over Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who won almost 49 per cent, the National Election Commission said.
Mr Duda is allied with the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, and his victory will give the government a new mandate to pursue reforms of the judiciary and media which the executive European Commission (EC) says subvert democratic standards.
"I don't want to speak on behalf of the campaign staff, but I think that this difference is large enough that we have to accept the result," said Mr Grzegorz Schetyna, former head of the opposition Civic Platform grouping that fielded Mr Trzaskowski.
Backed by PiS, Mr Duda ran an acrimonious campaign, laced with homophobic language, attacks on private media and accusations that Mr Trzaskowski served foreign interests instead of Poland's. Mr Trzaskowski dismissed the accusations.
Mr Duda's victory opens the way for new clashes between Poland and the EC, as the EU tries to deal with the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and rising nationalism across the 27-member bloc.
Before PiS and Mr Duda came to power in 2015, Poland had one of the most pro-European administrations in the bloc's former communist east. But it has become increasingly combative, with divisions focusing on climate change and migration, besides democratic norms.
Mr Trzaskowski, who has been mayor since 2018, had said he would seek a more tolerant Poland if elected. He has criticised PiS' rhetoric, vowing to abolish state news channel TVP Info, which critics say gave overt support to Mr Duda in its programming.
But to many religious conservatives in Poland, a predominantly Catholic nation, Mr Trzaskowski came to represent the threats facing traditional values when he pledged to introduce education about LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights in the city's schools.
Dr Anna Materska-Sosnowska, a political scientist at Warsaw University, said: "It's what populists do very effectively. You name the enemy and you focus on combating him. This is what was used in this campaign, the fear of others."
In the last week of campaigning, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski accused Mr Trzaskowski of being at the centre of attempts to allow minorities to "terrorise" the rest of society.
Economic policy was also at the heart of the election, with Mr Duda painting himself as a guardian of generous PiS welfare programmes that have transformed life for many poorer Poles since the party came to power in 2015.
PiS now faces the prospect of three years of uninterrupted rule, with the next parliamentary election scheduled for 2023.
Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro suggested the party could push on quickly with its conservative agenda following the vote.
REUTERS
Grindrod Shipping Holdings Ltd. Announces Fleet Update – Re-delivery of Doric Breeze
SINGAPORE, July 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grindrod Shipping Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRIN) (JSE: GSH) (“Grindrod Shipping” or "Company" or “it” or “we”), a global provider of maritime transportation services in the drybulk and product tanker sectors, announced that on July 9, 2020, the Company re-delivered the 2013-built chartered-in medium range tanker Doric Breeze to her owners at the conclusion of her charter. The vessel had been on charter to Grindrod Shipping for the past seven years. About Grindrod Shipping Holdings Ltd. Grindrod Shipping owns and operates a diversified fleet of owned and long-term and short-term chartered-in drybulk vessels and product tankers. The drybulk business, which operates under the brand “Island View Shipping” (“IVS”) includes a fleet of 17 handysize drybulk carriers and 14 supramax/ultramax drybulk carriers on the water with two chartered-in ultramax drybulk carriers under construction in Japan due be delivered between 3Q 2020 and 1Q 2021. The tanker business, which operates under the brand “Unicorn Shipping” (“Unicorn”) includes a fleet of three medium range tankers and one small tanker. The Company is based in Singapore, with offices in London, Durban, Tokyo, Cape Town and Rotterdam. Grindrod Shipping is listed on NASDAQ under the ticker “GRIN” and on
PepsiCo sees surge in snacks as soft drink sales fizzle
PepsiCo provided an upbeat start to the second-quarter earnings season on Monday.
While revenue at the food and drink giant’s North American beverage division dropped 6.6 percent, to $4.97 billion, thanks in part to restaurant shutdowns, the company saw a positive 6.6 percent surge in its snack division as consumers sheltering in place devoured more of its salty Fritos and Cheetos snacks.
In late-afternoon trading, the stock price climbed 1.3 percent higher, to $136.22.
The Joint Commission Urges CMS to Extend Regulatory Flexibilities for CRNAs Beyond the COVID-19...
PARK RIDGE, Ill., July 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), The Joint Commission called on the agency to extend several waivers it enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the removal of physician supervision for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs). According to the letter, "These waivers will allow CRNAs to function to the fullest extent of their licensure." As advanced practice nurses, CRNAs have vast experience in critical care settings and advanced education and training in anesthesiology. CRNAs provide care across all settings and in all patient populations and are the primary providers of anesthesia care in rural and underserved areas and on the battlefield in forward surgical teams. "Now more than ever it is important to optimize the nation's healthcare workforce. The AANA thanks The Joint Commission for recognizing the importance of allowing nurse anesthetists to practice to the full scope of their license and training," said AANA President Kate Jansky, MHS, CRNA, APRN, USA, LTC (ret). "By removing practice barriers, CMS expands access to care for millions of patients." In addition to CMS, several states have removed physician supervision for CRNAs. Governors of New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maine,
