Frontline Generosity: Troops give hand to Polish children’s cancer research

GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Polish soldiers assigned to Forward Operating Base Ghazni hosted “The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity”, a fundraiser to benefit the Children’s Oncology Centers in Poland, Jan 10.

The GOCC, held on the first or second Sunday of the new year, is one of the biggest non-governmental, non-profit charity organizations in Poland. Founded in 1993, its main objective is the health protection for children by providing medical equipment to public hospitals.

The event raised a FOB record of nearly $11,000.

Every year, millions of Polish citizens donate money to the foundation. Between 1993 and 2005, they have collected more than $60 million for public hospitals in Poland.

Polish and American Soldiers, civilians and Afghans residing at the FOB filled cans with donations while events such as auctions, sporting competitions and static displays entertained the attendees.

Read more:http://www.cjtf101.com/regional-command-east-news-mainmenu-401/2266-frontline-generosity-troops-give-hand-to-polish-childrens-cancer-research.html

Top German public service prize awarded to Polish premier Tusk

Aachen, Germany - Donald Tusk, prime minister of Poland, has won one of Germany's top prizes for public service, the Charlemagne Prize awarded by the city of Aachen, judges said Saturday.

The award, handed over every spring in a remnant of the Emperor Charlemagne's early medieval palace, generally goes to a European Union leader and honours efforts in favour of European unity.

Tusk, 52, was a 'patriot and a great European at the same time,' the judges said. The award will be handed to him in Aachen on May 13.

Read more: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1525936.php/Top-German-public-service-prize-awarded-to-Polish-premier-Tusk#ixzz0cnd7s5AW

Polanski 'overwhelmed' by support

French-Polish director Roman Polanski said Sunday he was overwhelmed by messages of support as he battles extradition to the United States to face a decades-old sex case involving a 13-year-old girl.

"In the darkest moments, each of their notes has been a source of comfort and hope, and they continue to be so in my current situation," wrote Polanski in a letter released online.

The 76-year-old Oscar winner made his first public statement since his arrest in September in a letter to French intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy, who has been one of his strongest supporters.

Read more: http://www.canada.com/news/Polanski+overwhelmed+support/2385344/story.html

Polish party eyes Catholic voters with charter plan

Poland's conservative opposition proposed handing sweeping powers to the president and outlawing abortion and gay marriage in a new constitution on Friday, positioning itself for elections this year and next.

Law and Justice Party (PiS) leader and former prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, whose twin brother Lech is head of state, said under the new charter the president could dissolve parliament more easily and have a say in judicial matters.

The right to hang crucifixes in public places would also be enshrined in the constitution, Kaczynski said, in a clear appeal to Catholics shocked by a recent European Court of Human Rights ruling demanding the removal of crucifixes from Italian schools.

Read more:http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=52705

Polish Civic Platform Holds 20-Point Advantage

The governing party of Poland enjoys a comfortable lead over its main contender, according to a poll by PBS DGA published in Gazeta Wyborcza. 46 per cent of respondents would vote for the Civic Platform (PO) in the next general election, unchanged since early December.

The opposition Law and Justice Party (PiS) is a distant second with 26 per cent, followed by the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) with 13 per cent, and the Peasant’s Party (PSL) with six per cent.

Read more:  http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/34863/polish_civic_platform_holds_20_point_advantage

Poland approves tapping strategic gas reserves

Poland's economy ministry allowed pipeline operator Gaz System to tap the country's strategic gas reserves in order to lower risk of delivery cut-offs, Economy Minister Waldemar Pawlak said on Friday.

"The companies were granted access to the strategic reserves," Pawlak told reporters.

Read more:http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLDE60E13420100115

Polish vice PM welcomes Customs Union of Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan

According to him, the union creates new opportunities for Poland–Belarus business cooperation.

The Customs Union of Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan will create new opportunities for the Belarus-Poland cooperation, Waldemar Pawlak, head of the Council of Ministers of Poland, said in Minsk, Interfax informs.

"The Customs Union creates new terms for trade and cooperation between our countries,” Pawlak said at the session of the joint Belarusian–Polish commission on economic cooperation.

According to him, “Polish companies demonstrate their interest in cooperation, investments, participation in privatization in Belarus”. The Polish vice PM stressed that the country saw many opportunities to apply the Polish experience in privatization in Belarus.

Rad more:http://www.charter97.org/en/news/2010/1/14/25364/

'New chapter' in Polish-German relations, official says

German Minister of State Cornelia Pieper said her trip to Warsaw on Thursday opened a new chapter in Berlin's relations with Poland, calling Warsaw as important a partner as Western European nations. "We want to treat Poland on the same principals as our partners in Western Europe," Pieper said after a meeting with Wladyslaw Bartoszewki, a PM envoy for Germany. "We want to develop the relations based on the same criteria of quality as our relations with France."

Read more:http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/303765,new-chapter-in-polish-german-relations-official-says.html

Poland seeks to arrest Swede in Auschwitz sign theft

Polish prosecutors say they have identified the Swedish mastermind of the theft from Auschwitz of the Arbeit Macht Frei sign and will seek his arrest and extradition to Poland.

Prosecutor Artur Wrona said Wednesday that Swedish prosecutors have confirmed the identity of the suspect as Anders H.

Polish prosecutors withheld the suspect's last name, as required by Polish law.Wrona said the man must be brought to Poland before charges can be filed and said prosecutors will issue a European arrest warrant.

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142399.html

Polish fiscal plan to buy govt time, delay reforms

The only serious reform in Poland's long-awaited fiscal consolidation plan this month may be a loosening of the country's most significant legal limit on public over-spending.

Faced with plummeting revenue -- even from an economy that eked out some growth last year -- the finance ministry has twice delayed the publishing of plans to reel in a budget deficit that will double this year in nominal terms.

On the surface, officials have cast this as an effort to address some of the remaining baggage from the communist era -- a structure that makes about 70 percent of budget spending set in stone and difficult to manipulate or cut.

But the immediate concern is whether a high deficit -- set to be more than 6 percent of gross domestic product this year -- will drive public debt past thresholds set at 55 and 60 percent of GDP, which under Polish law would trigger draconian cuts in spending and crush domestic demand.

Read more: http://www.forexpros.com/news/central-banks/analysis-polish-fiscal-plan-to-buy-govt-time,-delay-reforms-112558

Foxconn to develop Polish facility

Dell representatives have meet with Jerzy Kropiwnicki, Mayor of Łódź, to discuss the further development of the location and possible impacts that the acquisition by Foxconn might have on the region.

Read more: http://www.evertiq.com/news/15937

Stolen Monet Found in Poland After 10 Years

Polish police say they have found a painting by French impressionist Claude Monet that was stolen from a museum in western Poland in 2000.

Poznan police spokesman Romuald Piecuch said Wednesday that officers detained a 41-year-old man in the southern city of Olkusz after the painting, "Beach in Pourville," was found in his possession.

Rad more:http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9548217

Poland doesn't plan to cede control of Lotos now

Poland's Treasury does not plan to cede control over the No.2 refiner Lotos LTOS.WA in the near future, Treasury spokesman said on Wednesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, Puls Biznesu reported Poland may offer the controlling stake to an investor.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKWAR01130420100113

Poland stands alone in refusing swine flu vaccines

The decision seemed fraught with risk: a government refusing to import swine flu vaccines amid worldwide warnings of a spreading epidemic.

But Poland did just that, becoming the only country worldwide known to reject the vaccines over safety fears and distrust in the drug companies producing them - concerns international health experts reject as unfounded.

Now that the current outbreak appears to have peaked in much of Europe, many Poles feel their government has been vindicated: Countries with large stockpiles often saw low public interest in the vaccines and face financial loss from unused doses now set to expire. But Poland's government didn't spend a cent fighting the epidemic.

Read more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/13/AR2010011300770.html

Support for Polish ruling party down

Support for Poland’s ruling centre-right Civic Platform (PO) has fallen by nine percentage points since November to 37 percent, near its lowest point since it swept to power in 2007, a survey published yesterday showed.

The SMG/KRC Millward Brown survey, published in the daily Rzeczpospolita, showed the main opposition party, the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS), gaining four percentage points to 28 percent and the leftist SLD also up at 11 percent.

PO has generally remained well ahead of its rivals over the past two years, winning praise for steering Poland through the global financial crisis without going into recession.

Read more:http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=United+Kingdom+%26+Europe&month=January2010&file=World_News2010011395527.xml

Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG) resumed natural gas talks on Tuesday amid conflicting reports.

According to the Neft Rossii (Russian Oil) business news and analysis web portal, the talks centered on increasing gas supplies from 8 to 11 billion cubic meters per year and extending the current agreement by 15 years, through 2037.

However, Polskie Radio reported that in 2010 Gazprom will deliver 7.5 billion cubic meters less than last year.

Read more:http://en.rian.ru/business/20100112/157524526.html

Prostitute fined $820,000 for unpaid tax

Poland's tax office has levied a fine of 2.3 million zlotys ($820,000) on an unemployed woman for failing to pay tax on income worth at least 13.7 million zlotys she said she had earned as a prostitute.

Read more:http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B41J20100112?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FoddlyEnoughNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Oddly+Enough%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Polish National Stadium - Made in Italy

The Polish Government is relying on Italy to be prepared for Poland to host the Euro 2012 football championships. The stadium that will be home to the championship games is being imported from Italy.

More than twelve thousand tons of steel will travel 1.3 thousand kilometers for 14 hours from near Venice, Italy to Warsaw, Poland.

About 70 per cent of the steel construction is ready. It is prefabricated by Italian company Cimolai, which was also responsible for elements of the stadium for this year's World Cup in Johannesburg. But they'll have to work fast to get it all to Warsaw and built in time.

Read more:http://www.masterpage.com.pl/outlook/201001/warsaw-stadium.html

Europe still gripped by the big freeze

Bitterly cold conditions still hold much of Europe in a wintry grip. Seville in Spain has seen its first snowfall for half a century. Scottish rail services are still suffering widespread cancellations.

And in Poland — where at least 86 people have died from hypothermia — 70,000 households are without power and the country’s transport network is at a near standstill.

Read more: http://www.euronews.net/2010/01/11/europe-still-gripped-by-the-big-freeze/

New Polish films spark debate over youth culture

Two new films from Poland, which have won awards at international festivals, deal with teenage prostitution and examine the country's morality in a post-communist society.

The film "Piggies" by acclaimed director Robert Glinski comes to Polish theaters this month. It's about Polish call boys who ply their trade across the border in Germany. Meanwhile, Katarzyna Rosloniec's "Mall Girls" tells the story of young shoppers who will stop at nothing to get their hands on desirable fashion items.

The two productions have sparked a debate on the moral fiber of modern young Poles.

Read more:http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5101067,00.html

WWII survivors want aid

A POLISH concentration camp survivors' association urged German rail operator Deutsche Bahn Tuesday to provide humanitarian aid to people deported by its Nazi-era predecessor.

'The German railways want to enter the Polish market and make money in Poland. They already made plenty during World War II,' Stanislaw Zalewski, head of Poland's main association of former camp inmates, told AFP.

'We want them to devote part of their profits to humanitarian aid for concentration camp survivors and former forced labourers,' he said. 'Medical care and drugs cost a lot in Poland, and the majority of our members aren't well off,' Zalewski added.

Read more:http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_476452.html

Two killed, 16 injured road accident in Poland

Two people were killed and 16 injured when a tanker collided with a bus in the southwestern Polish city of Wroclaw, media reports said Tuesday.

The accident occurred on Monday night, when the tanker switched lanes and collided with an oncoming bus, police told the Polish Press Agency PAP. The two vehicles caught fire.

Read more: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1524664.php/Two-killed-16-injured-road-accident-in-Poland#ixzz0cPUtx1R0

Georgia's Yezidi Kurds heading for Poland in record numbers

ECMI says that the recent flow of mostly Yezidi Kurdish migrants from Georgia threatens this community.

Poland has seen a dramatic rise in asylum applications by Georgian citizens this year. About 4,000 Georgian Kurdish citizens requested asylum in Poland between April and November 2009, ten times more than in the previous 8 years put together.

Read more:  http://www.kurdishglobe.net/displayArticle.jsp?id=2FFB27865134785A0E55B52ADB98A8EB

Poland Sells 3 Billion-Euro Bond, Biggest in 4 Years

Poland raised 3 billion euros ($4.3 billion) in its biggest offering of euro-denominated bonds in four years as it seeks to finance a growing budget deficit, according to a banker involved in the financing.

The 15-year securities, Poland’s longest dated international bonds in euros since 2007, were priced to yield 148 basis points more than the midswap rate, said the banker, who declined to be identified before the deal is completed. The 15-year mid-swap rate, a benchmark for borrowing, was 3.9 percent today, making the yield around 5.4 percent. That compares with a yield of 4.78 percent on Poland’s euro- denominated bonds due 2022, Bloomberg data show.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-11/poland-sells-3-billion-euro-bond-biggest-in-4-years-update1-.html

Poland's largest charity raises 8.8 million euros

The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, Poland's largest aid event, raised over the weekend some 36 million zloty (8.8 million euros) for children with cancer, organizers said Monday. Some 120,000 volunteers collected money Sunday to buy equipment for diagnosing cancer for Polish hospitals in the 18th year of the annual event.

Organizers said they expected to beat last year's total of 40 million zloty once they had a final count in two weeks.

Read more: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/303060,polands-largest-charity-raises-88-million-euros.html

Hope for improvement well placed in the CEE

In 2009 the entire region fell into recession with one notable exception: Poland. Why the Polish economy has been particularly successful in resisting the global and European downturn has been already discussed in this column (The Polish miracle rolls on, Budapest Times 30 November - 6 December 2009). For now, we will only repeat the very essence of our answer: large domestic demand and effective fiscal policies.

Read more:http://www.budapesttimes.hu/content/view/13724/221/

Heavy snow knocks out power in Poland

Thousands of Poles have been left without electricity and trains have been delayed because of heavy snowfall in the country, officials say.

Poland's Government Security Center said around 110,000 homes had lost their power, concentrated in areas in the south and southwest of the country, Polish Radio reported Monday.

"The situation is slowly improving and energy services are restoring power supply," the Security Center's Jerzy Krystkiewicz told the broadcaster.

Read more:http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2010/01/11/Heavy-snow-knocks-out-power-in-Poland/UPI-94511263225133/

Poland and Ukraine were risky Euro 2012 choices - Platini

Granting Poland and Ukraine the rights to co-host the Euro 2012 soccer championship was a risky move as the two lack experience in hosting big sports events, UEFA President Michel Platini was quoted on Monday as saying.

Since being chosen to co-host the event, both countries have been criticised repeatedly for the slow progress in updating the antiquated infrastructure and delays in building stadiums.

"We should remember that the two states so far have no experience in organising such events. That's why it is a great adventure for us... a bit risky I'd say," Platini told Przeglad Sportowy in an interview.

Read more:http://in.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idINIndia-45303720100111

Canadian unveils sculpture meant to heal war wounds in Europe

A Canadian artist has unveiled a poignant, globelike sculpture near the German-Polish border made with rubble and discarded weapons from the Second World War -- a creation aimed at healing scarred relations between two cities battered by the battles of 70 years ago.

Funded by the Canadian government, the Pasewalk-Police Phoenix is meant to be "a symbol for transformation and renewal" as well as an "artistic statement against violence," said Ontario sculptor Ernest Daetwyler, who used a $20,000 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to complete the project.

The 45-year-old, Kitchener-area artist also had backing from officials in the cities of Pasewalk, Germany, and nearby Police, Poland, to incorporate remnants of destroyed buildings and damaged guns -- retrieved from war-era dump sites -- in the spherical structure erected on the outskirts of Pasewalk.

Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2426609#ixzz0cGvT5TT1
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Gunman Mehmet Ali Agca who shot Pope John Paul II seeks £3m in book deals

Outrage has greeted plans by Pope John Paul II’s would-be assassin to sign multi-million-dollar book and film deals after his release from prison this month.

But in a handwritten letter sent to The Sunday Times, the Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca insisted this weekend that there was “great interest from Japan to Canada” in film and television documentary projects.

Almost three decades after he shot the Polish Pope in St Peter’s Square, Rome, in 1981, it remains a mystery whether he acted alone or was part of a Soviet-led plot to eliminate a threat to communist rule in eastern Europe.

Read more:  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6982379.ece