The Know Daily - Monday 16 October

_{Read in 5m 24s ∙ Listening to Arlo Parks}

The oldest student newspaper in Europe, Edinburgh University’s The Student, has been saved from closure thanks to an online fundraiser which has raised over £5,000. After the loss of a major advertiser earlier this year, the free newspaper’s future was uncertain - but now, thanks to a flurry of donations, the 186-year-old publication will live on.

🇵🇱 Poland at the polls

Opposition leader Donald Tusk has claimed victory in Poland’s parliamentary election, based on the results of an exit poll.

Tell me more.
The Ipsos exit poll put Tusk’s Civic Coalition on fewer votes than the governing right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) party. However, it is expected to ally with other opposition parties to form a government, which would mean an end to eight years of PiS rule under leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

“Democracy has won. Poland has won,” Tusk, the former Polish prime minister and European Council president, told his supporters on Sunday night.

What were the parties campaigning on?
The opposition parties ran on separate tickets but with “the same promises of seeking to oust Law and Justice and restore good ties with the European Union”, said Sky News. Tusk had vowed to unlock billions of euros in EU funding, which was frozen in a row over PiS judicial reforms.

“PiS [...] has turned public television into a propaganda arm of the government, restricted abortion rights and demonised LGBTQ+ people, migrants and refugees,” said The Guardian.

Why is the election a big deal?
“Many Poles feel it is the most important election since 1989 when a new democracy was born after decades of communism,” reported Sky News.

Election officials have since estimated that turnout was around 72.9% - the highest since the fall of communism - while Ipsos said that a larger proportion of 18-29 year-olds turned out to vote than over-60s.

What happens next?
If official results confirm the exit poll, Tusk and his opposition allies may have to wait some time before getting the opportunity to form a government.