tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74491045460340495612024-03-19T03:26:29.564-07:00Popular Article reviewsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-8191568196233329522014-12-15T09:08:00.000-08:002014-12-15T09:09:43.005-08:00Poland 'ghost' airports'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The European Union has given
Poland more than 100 million euros ($125 million) to build at least
three "ghost" airports in places where there are not enough passengers
to keep them in business.<br />
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_906">
The
result is gleaming new airport terminals which, even at the peak of the
holiday season, echo to the sound of empty concourses and spend
millions trying to attract airlines.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_907">
Poland is not the only country in Europe to have built airports that
struggle to attract flights. Around 80 airports in Europe attract fewer
than 1 million passengers a year, and about three-quarters of those are
in the red, according to industry body Airports Council International.
Some cost much more to build than the Polish projects. One airport in
eastern Spain, open for three years, has so far received not a single
flight.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_908">
But Poland is striking because the country received so much money for its projects from EU funds. </div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2005">
Poland received 615.7 million euros in EU support for airports between
2007 and 2013, according to figures supplied to Reuters by the European
Commission. That was almost twice as much as the next biggest recipient,
Spain, and more than a third of all member states’ money for airports.
The government declined to provide all the information on which it based
its decisions to invest in the airports, but Reuters has reviewed data
on three sites where traffic fell dramatically short of forecasts.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_909">
Poland is often touted by
Brussels as one of the most efficient users of EU aid, and there is no
suggestion the country used EU airport money corruptly. European help
has been vital in improving Poland's aviation infrastructure, only a
small share of the country’s airport spending has been on white
elephants, and passenger shortfalls may have been exacerbated by the
2008 global financial crisis. Spokespeople at some airports said the
projects could be considered a success because they were creating jobs,
bringing in tourists, and driving investment in the regional economy.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2012">
But it is clear mistakes were made in Poland, planning officials and
aviation executives say. The whole experience raises questions about how
the government will handle the next big injection of EU money, which it
expects to be 82 billion euros over the next seven years.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_910">
The problem is most striking at the recently rebuilt Lodz passenger
terminal, where passenger numbers in 2013 fell almost one million short
of forecasts, according to European Commission documents examined by
Reuters.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2032">
On a relatively busy day this
summer, just four flights arrived and four departed. In between, the
place was almost deserted. In the early afternoon a single passenger, a
woman in a blue-and-white striped T-shirt, sat in a 72-seat waiting
area. Outside on the tarmac, five sets of movable steps stood waiting
for a jet to land.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2030">
Where
there aren’t enough passengers to make an airport viable, local
governments keep them on life support through subsidies, according to a
report by CEE Bankwatch Network, a non-governmental watchdog. The
beneficiaries have often been the airlines that use them. </div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_911">
Jacek Krawczyk, the former
chairman of the board of Polish national airline LOT who sometimes
advises the European Commission on aviation policy, said Poland was no
worse than other EU countries at building airports, but the sheer volume
of EU money it was trying to absorb in a short space of time explained
some problems. The European Union has now tightened up the rules on
state aid that airports can receive.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_912">
Krawczyk, who was not directly involved in planning any of the airport
investments, said that in those Polish cases where things did go wrong,
“there was no corruption, just wrong priorities.” </div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2051">
FAULTY FORECASTS</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_913">
Between 2007 and 2013, the European Union promised funding to help
build and upgrade 12 Polish airports. Some of the projections underlying
the plans were highly ambitious.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_914">
The government declined to detail its predictions for passenger
numbers. But figures for three of the airports – Lodz, Rzeszow and
Lublin – are contained in letters on a related topic sent by the
European Commission to the Polish foreign minister. The letters show
Polish authorities projected combined passenger numbers for the airports
to be more than 3 million passengers a year. In 2013, the actual number
was just over 1.1 million.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_915">
Together, the investments in the
three airports totaled about 245 million euros. Around 105 million of
that came from the European Union. The rest came from central government
in Warsaw, local governments and the airports themselves.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2053">
The airport with the biggest projected traffic was in Lodz.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2057">
In its heyday, the city was a thriving textile manufacturing center.
Now, many of the elegant 19th-century merchant’s houses lining the main
drag, Piotrkowska Street, are crumbling.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_916">
Jerzy Kropiwnicki, mayor of Lodz between 2002 and 2010, wanted to
attract foreign investment and tourists. The city had a small airport
that handled domestic flights; but Kropiwnicki felt a big international
terminal would revive the local economy.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2060">
"I used to endlessly answer questions like: 'How do we get to you?' and 'How do we fly there?'" Kropiwnicki told Reuters.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_917">
Poland, which had joined the
European Union in 2004, was gearing up for a massive injection of EU
cash to be spent on development projects between 2007 and 2014. To get
the funds, the country had to prepare a strategic plan for civil
aviation. At the Transport Ministry, this task fell mainly to Andrzej
Korzeniowski.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2074">
He was given
three months to draft the plan and meet the EU funding deadline. “I
slept on a camping mattress under my desk," Korzeniowski, now retired,
told Reuters. "I had no time to eat."</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_918">
Looking back on the 160-page document he drafted, Korzeniowski says it
was, under the circumstances, a good program. But it had a big
shortcoming: It let local governments decide where new airports should
be built, and how big they would be. “That was the biggest mistake, for
which we’re now paying the price,” he said. “The local governments
decided, 'I’m a prince in my domain, the government doesn’t tell me what
I’m supposed to do, we do what we want.’”</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_919">
By 2005, passenger numbers in Lodz were shooting up. Wojciech
Laszkiewicz, an adviser to the mayor who went on to be deputy chief
executive of the airport, said the team decided to rebuild the terminal
entirely.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_919">
The airport commissioned a feasibility study from advisory firm Ernst
& Young (EY), published in November, 2009. EY predicted a minimum of
1.042 million passengers in 2013 for Lodz. That was less than the
government forecast but many more than the 353,633 who actually passed
through the airport last year. EY declined to comment.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2091">
Lodz’s mayor, Kropiwnicki, left
office in 2010, two years before the new terminal opened. The aim of
the airport was to help stimulate the local economy, he said, and it is
achieving that. "From my point of view, the airport wasn't supposed to
make a profit."</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2089">
“CANNIBALIZATION”</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2087">
The problem, say aviation industry officials and consultants, is that
passenger numbers for any individual airport are impossible to predict
with confidence. Even if national forecasts hold true, local factors can
pull passengers away from one airport and attract them to another.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2095">
Lodz quickly became a victim of this "cannibalization,” as the airline
industry calls it, because Warsaw airport was also upgraded, and a new
highway built which brought the capital within 50 minutes’ drive of
Lodz.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2095">
“To have an airport in Lodz from that point of view makes no sense at
all," said Krawczyk, the former airline chairman. He is now president of
the Employers’ Group of the European Economic and Social Committee, a
Brussels-based consultative body that advises on EU decision-making.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_922">
In a statement, a spokesman for
the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development said it could issue
guidelines, but could not directly influence local authorities: "A
decision on expanding or building an airport for a particular region is
the prerogative of the local authorities."</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2105">
Under EU rules, though, the initial cash for airports comes from
national governments. They are reimbursed by the EU when it approves a
scheme.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_923">
Only investments
worth over 50 million euros have to seek the Commission’s prior
approval, and many of the Polish airport investments were below that
threshold. The Commission has since said its approach to funding the
airports will undergo a radical change. In February, it introduced
stricter criteria, and said loss-making airports will be forced to wean
themselves off state aid. It did not name any countries.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2109">
PAYMENTS TO AIRLINES</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2111">
For now, the Polish airports still need help, and that can be
expensive. Senior managers in the Polish aviation industry said the cost
of running a small regional airport would be at least 3 million euros a
year. At the moment in Europe, they are often propped up through
financial injections from local authorities, which are often their
biggest shareholders.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2123">
The state also has indirect
methods of helping the airports, in particular by giving money to the
airlines – mainly low-cost carriers like Ryanair.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_924">
"In practice, these payments serve as an incentive for airlines," CEE
Bankwatch Network, the non-governmental watchdog, said in its report.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2125">
Lodz and Rzeszow airports did not respond to questions about how much
they pay airlines. A spokesman for Lublin airport said only that it was
successfully boosting communications to help the local economy.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2127">
But public records for Podkarpackie, the mountainous, forested region
where Rzeszow airport sits, show that between 2011 and 2014 its
government paid 5.7 million euros to Ryanair in exchange for
advertisements promoting the region, which appeared on Ryanair’s web
site and in its in-flight magazines. Podkarpackie spent another 3
million euros to advertise with Polish carrier Eurolot over a three-year
period.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_1956">
In all, 70 percent of the region’s 2013 promotional budget went to airlines that fly into Rzeszow airport.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_925">
These payments are problematic,
say several people involved in Polish aviation, because the airports are
at the mercy of the airlines. With so many airports to choose from,
airlines can easily shift routes.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_926">
“The relationship between the local airports and low-cost carriers is
suicidal,” said Krawczyk, the former airline chairman. For low-cost
carriers, he said, “nothing will ever be enough. ... At some point they
will say, ‘If you don’t give us more, we’ll go.’ And they go.”</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_929">
A spokesman for the region where Rzeszow is located said the deals were
good value because they allowed it to target the kind of travelers it
wants. He said tourist numbers in 2013 were double the level in 2010. A
Eurolot spokeswoman said such marketing deals were widely used in the
aviation business in Europe. She said the airline provided marketing
exposure for the region, for example by painting its jets in the
region’s colors.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_927">
Ryanair
chief executive Michael O'Leary told Reuters such advertising was a good
deal for local governments because the Ryanair website reached a huge
audience. He said Ryanair brought economic benefits to places that are
off the beaten track, in part by flying in tourists. But “if the airport
doesn’t want me, that’s fine. I’ve 80 other airports in Europe who want
the growth. We don’t force any airports" to pay.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_928">
"If Rzeszow has enough low
fares, Rzeszow can grow to 1 million visitors, 5 million visitors, 10
million visitors,” said O’Leary. “They provide – well, I don’t know what
Rzeszow is famous for, but it's famous for something."</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1418662876526_2153">
(Additional reporting by Robert Hetz in Madrid and Rene Wagner in Berlin; Edited by Sara Ledwith) (Source: http://news.yahoo.com /special-report-eu-funds-help-poland-build-ghost-082335225.html)</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-53405639835468954172014-12-12T19:15:00.001-08:002014-12-12T19:15:43.909-08:00Russia Baltic military actions 'unprecedented' - Poland<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
Poland says the level of Russian naval and air force activity in the Baltic Sea region has been "unprecedented" this week.</div>
Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said most of the activity
was in international waters and airspace and Sweden was the country most
affected. <br />
Nato partners of the Baltic states, including the UK, have
military jets on an air policing mission in the region, monitoring the
Russian planes.<br />
Fighting in Ukraine has raised tension.<br />
Mr Siemoniak said Russia was "not preparing to attack" but it
was testing Nato defences, which "does not serve to build good
relationships and trust". <br />
The three small ex-Soviet states in the Baltic - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - joined Nato in 2004.<br />
Speaking on the Polish news channel TVN24, he said there was no need to put the Polish army on a state of high alert. <br />
Nato and Ukraine accuse Russia of fomenting the conflict in
eastern Ukraine and supplying the pro-Russian rebels there with troops
and heavy weapons. Russia denies the allegations, but admits that
Russian "volunteers" are helping the rebels.<br />
<span class="cross-head">'Near miss'</span>
<br />
Several incidents have been reported in the region this week:<br />
<ul>
<li> On Tuesday the Norwegian military said one of its warplanes had
a "near miss" with a Russian fighter which had ventured too close,
north of Norway</li>
<li> The Finnish air force said that there had been "unusually intense"
Russian activity over the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland, with most
flights involving bombers, fighters and transport planes heading
between the Russian mainland and the Kaliningrad enclave, between
Lithuania and Poland</li>
<li> Nato said on Monday the alliance's jets intercepted Russian
planes repeatedly in the Baltic, and reported more than 30 types of
Russian military aircraft in the area</li>
</ul>
The spike in activity follows a study
by the London-based think tank European Leadership Network, which
detailed 40 incidents over recent months, including 11 that it said were
of a "more aggressive or unusually provocative nature, bringing a
higher level risk of escalation".<br />
In one case, an SAS civilian airliner taking off from Copenhagen narrowly avoided colliding with a Russian reconnaissance plane.<br />
Separately, Sweden conducted a massive search in October for a
suspected Russian submarine in the waters near its capital Stockholm,
but after a week-long hunt no submarine was found.(Source: http://www.bbc.com /news/world-europe-30429349)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-40766663350090893502014-11-27T22:52:00.000-08:002014-11-27T22:52:20.600-08:00Mystery of 'Vampire' Burials in Poland<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="ember-view" id="ember846">
The mystery behind several "vampire" burials in Poland has been solved.
</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember847">
People who were buried with sickles (curved, sharp farming knives) around their necks, or rocks at their jaws, to prevent their corpses from reanimating were natives to the area in which they were buried, according to a new study.
</div>
<div class="ember-view ad-location" id="ember852">
<div class="ad-container">
<div class="ad-content" data-bindattr-10="10" id="moceanTop-science-weird-science-n256841-ember852">
</div>
</div>
</div>
The fact that all the people buried as vampires were local suggests they may have been felled by a cholera epidemic that swept through the region, said study co-author Lesley Gregoricka, a bioarchaeologist at the University of South Alabama.<br />
<div class="ember-view" id="ember859">
Tales of the dead coming back to
life have truly ancient roots, going back to the ancient Egyptians,
Greeks, Babylonians and beyond, said study co-author Tracy Betsinger, a
bioarchaeologist at the State University of New York at Oneonta.
</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember860">
For all these stories of
the dead coming back to life, "the word collectively used is a
'revenance,'" Betsinger told Live Science. </div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember874">
Gregoricka and her colleagues
analyzed bone fragments from the Drawsko cemetery, a Polish site where
vampire burials were found. The cemetery dates from the 17th to the 18th
century, the researchers said. Some people at the site were buried with
sickles under their necks or rocks under their jaws, to prevent them
from reanimating. (The sickles were intended to decapitate the people if
they tried to rise from the grave, while the rocks pinned their jaws
shut so they weren't able to feed on the living, Gregoricka said.)
</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember875">
The researchers then took a closer look at 60 of the 333 burials from the site, six of which were "vampire" burials intended
to prevent a corpse from reanimating. The team analyzed the ratio of
strontium isotopes (versions of the atom with different numbers of
neutrons) in the skeletons. Because each location has a unique ratio of
these isotopes, and people's bodies naturally take the elements up from
the environment, analyzing strontium isotope ratios can reveal where a
person is from.
</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember876">
Contrary to the initial
hypothesis that the "vampires" were immigrants, the team actually
discovered that all of the vampires were locals.(Source: http://www.nbcnews.com)</div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember876">
<br /></div>
<div class="ember-view" id="ember860">
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-29724572228633626182014-11-24T10:29:00.004-08:002014-11-24T10:29:57.101-08:00Poland prepares for immigrants<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A debate took place on news channel TVN this week looking at Poland and its immigration situation.According to Joanna Tyrowicz of the National Bank of Poland’s Economic
Institute and the University of Warsaw, there are a number of factors
involved.<br />
<br />
“First of all, there is the difference in pay. Wages in Poland are
higher than many other countries and this can make it an attractive
option for employment,” she told the station. She went on to add there
was also the networking factor. “I know someone who knows someone who is
already there...”<br />
<br />
She also stated “most immigrants, when asked how long they wish to stay,
will reply ‘only a short period’. However, many end up staying longer
than this.”<br />
<br />
Piotr Arak of policy analyst news source Polityka Insight highlighted
one of the country’s neighbours as a perfect example. “Due to the
proximity of Ukraine, there are now a large number of immigrants trying
to get jobs here,” he said.<br />
<br />
“With today’s regulations, it’s quite easy to get qualifications there
and then ply your trade here. It seems to me that this trend will only
continue and it’s possible up to 2.5 million Ukrainian may eventually
emigrate here.” (Source http://www. newpolandexpress.pl)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-20068431539275691162014-11-24T10:28:00.003-08:002014-11-24T10:28:34.279-08:00US troops keep Poland, Baltic deployment for 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A ‘temporary’ deployment of US troops in Poland and the Baltic states
has been extended through 2015, a US commander in Europe said. NATO
sells its presence as a deterrent to an ‘aggressive Russia’, with Moscow
countering that it only escalates tension.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: initial;">The alliance deployed
several hundred US troops in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and
Estonia earlier this year. The move was explained by a desire to
give confidence to these NATO members after the political crisis
in Ukraine and the secession of its region of Crimea to rejoin
Russia. The alliance called it an annexation and said countries
in the region feared that Moscow would militarily attack
them.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Originally the troops were supposed to stay until the end of the
year, but now NATO wants to keep them for at least 12 months
more, said Lieutenant-General Frederick Ben Hodges, Commanding
General of US Army Europe.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"We have planned rotations out through next year. Units are
designated that will continue to do this," Hodges told
journalist in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"There are going to be US Army forces here in Lithuania, as
well as Estonia and Latvia and Poland, for as long as is required
to deter Russian aggression and to assure our allies," he
said as cited by Reuters.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A 1997 Russia-NATO agreement forbids the alliance from having
troops permanently stationed in the Baltic States, so the
deployment remains a temporary mission. However, it’s not
immediately clear when, if ever, NATO would consider the
perceived threat of a Russian aggression no longer valid and
withdraw the troops.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Washington’s assurances to its eastern NATO partners were also
delivered last week through diplomatic channels.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“When NATO and the US as part of NATO took new members into
the alliance, this means that we are ready to participate in the
defense of the security of these countries, and this means that
we are ready to give our lives for the security of these
countries,” said US Assistant Secretary of State for
European and Eurasian affairs Victoria Nuland during a visit to
Latvia.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Amid the Ukrainian crisis, Poland and the Baltic states have been
among the most vocal critics of Russia. Lithuanian President
Dalia Grybauskaite went as far as branding Russia ‘a terrorist
state’ last week, prompting some Russian MPs to call for the
severing of diplomatic ties with Vilnius.
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Russia considers the build-up of NATO troops close to its borders
provocative and dangerous. Moscow’s envoy to the alliance
Aleksandr Grushko said NATO “is turning the Baltic region,
which used to be militarily calm, into an area of military
confrontation with Russia.” (Source http://rt. com/news /208227-nato-troops-poland-baltic/)
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-71125115048096167142014-11-15T00:13:00.002-08:002014-11-15T00:13:20.534-08:00Pronounced dead, 91-year-old Polish woman awakens<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A Polish doctor says she has been
in "deep shock" since learning that a 91-year-old woman she pronounced
dead woke up in a morgue several hours later.<br />
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1416039138601_1958">
The
doctor — identified in the media as Wieslawa C. — said on TVN24
television Friday that she was sure the patient was dead after finding
"no basic life functions" during a morning house call on Nov. 6.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1416039138601_877">
She
said she checked for a pulse on a forearm and neck arteries, listened
for a heartbeat and the sound of breathing, and checked the pupils for
reaction to light, but found none. "If I had had doubts, I would have
called the ambulance, done an electrocardiogram, but I was sure that the
patient is dead," the doctor said.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1416039138601_1960">
The
doctor examined the elderly woman, identified by the media as Janina
Kolkiewicz, in the eastern town of Ostrow Lubelski after relatives
noticed she was not breathing.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1416039138601_1962">
Some
two hours after she was pronounced dead the woman was taken to the
morgue. Shortly before midnight, an undertaker who brought in another
body noticed that Kolkiewicz was moving inside a bag she had been placed
in. Once it was opened, she complained of being cold and asked for hot
tea, the media said. She was then taken home.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1416039138601_880">
A
spokeswoman for the local prosecutors, Beata Syk-Jankowska, told The
Associated Press that she had never heard of such a case before, and
that prosecutors are investigating whether the patient's life and health
were endangered by the inaccurate death diagnosis.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1416039138601_878">
They
also are urging a regional court to void the death certificate that
local authorities issued, which discontinued Kolkiewicz's benefits such
as her pension.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1416039138601_1919">
"In the legal sense, the woman is dead, but in reality she is clearly alive," Syk-Jankowska said.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1416039138601_879">
She said Kolkiewicz has required no hospitalization since being removed from the morgue and is now in good health. (Source: http://news.yahoo. com/pronounced-dead-91- old-polish-woman-awakens-152547283.html)</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-73400078411466528772014-11-07T08:32:00.000-08:002014-11-07T08:32:05.759-08:00Apple blocks malicious software Wirelurker on iPhones<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Apple says it has blocked Wirelurker, the first piece of malware able to infect iOS devices and applications which have not been jailbroken.<br /><br />Identified by security researchers Palo Alto Networks on Wednesday, the malware has been spotted shipping alongside pirated copies of Chinese Mac apps, before jumping to iPhones and iPads over a USB cable.<br /><br />Apple says that it is “aware of malicious software available from a download site aimed at users in China, and we’ve blocked the identified apps to prevent them from launching.”<br /><br />The company did not elaborate on how it is carrying out the blocking, but did emphasise that “as always, we recommend that users download and install software from trusted sources”.<br /><br />The infected apps were discovered on the Maiyadi App Store, a third-party application store based in China which is largely filled with pirated and unauthorised copies of major apps, such as Dropbox, Spideroak and Autodesk.<br /><br />Wirelurker works by abusing capabilities in Apple’s operating systems designed to enable large enterprises to install their own applications on employees’ devices. That enables the malware to not only scrape data from affected users’ iOS devices, but even go so far as to install third-party applications on those devices, and infect installed applications.<br /><br />It is the first in-the-wild malware family that can do this, and only the second ever that attacks iOS devices through OS X via USB.<br /><br />A second Apple vulnerability disclosed this week, known as Rootpipe, remains unpatched. The researcher who discovered it has not revealed how the vulnerability, which lets attackers gain root privileges without entering a password, can be abused, and says he is waiting for Apple to issue a patch.(Source: http://www.theguardian. com/)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-62780463003134672832014-11-07T08:29:00.002-08:002014-11-07T08:29:28.534-08:00Poland rejects IPCC target of zero emissions by 2100<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Poland and other eastern Europe countries have categorically rejected the target put forward by the world’s top climate scientists to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2100 to avoid dangerous global warming, leaked documents show.<br /><br />On Sunday, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that fossil fuels must be entirely phased out by the end of the century to keep temperatures from rising as high as 5C above pre-industrial levels, a level that would have catastrophic impacts worldwide.<br /><br />On 28 October, a few days before the IPCC synthesis report was published, EU environment and energy ministers meeting in Brussels were presented with a proposal by states including Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany to incorporate the IPCC target into EU policy.<br /><br />However, it was judged not to have “sufficient support” because of opposition from Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Latvia who “categorically rejected” it, according to a internal briefing note seen by the Guardian.<br /><br />Poland has vetoed past EU attempts to set climate objectives, and invested political capital in positioning itself as a leader of the Visegrad countries in the run up to the EU’s decision on climate targets for 2030.<br /><br />The European commission (EC), represented by the outgoing climate commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, gave only lukewarm support to the zero emissions idea, saying it was “all in favour of having a direction in which we should be going but it might be a bit premature to state it so directly – not all member states will probably be ready to do so”.<br /><br />Detlef van Vuuren, a lead author on the IPCC report, told the Guardian: “I’m quite surprised that this would be an important thing for the Visegrad countries to be worried about, because for them the question has been more about near-term reductions.”<br /><br />“To reach the 2C target, being at or below zero emissions is a requirement,” he added. “It is not possible to have any form of stabilisation of the climate by 2100 without that.”<br /><br />“I really find this a disgrace,” the Dutch Green MEP Bas Eickhout said. “After the IPCC report, everyone again said it was shocking, the science is clear, we should no longer delay action. And then as soon as it comes to political decisions, they step back from that. It just seems to be empty words every time. This is one of the key reasons why people don’t trust politics anymore.”<br /><br />Ministers at the summit, which was attended by the UK energy secretary, Ed Davey, also agreed not to insist on an assessment of countries’ carbon-cutting pledges ahead of next year’s climate summit in Paris, after opposition from France, Poland and the Czech Republic.<br /><br />An assessment had been supported by powerful EU players including the UK, Germany and the EC, mindful of failure at the Copenhagen summit in 2009, when climate pledges were not telegraphed beforehand. But the final text said only that contributions would be “properly considered and analysed in advance of the Paris conference”.<br /><br />The EU ministers also agreed to leave the question of binding resource efficiency targets off a review agenda for the rest of the decade, after opposition from around half of the bloc’s nations.<br /><br />The argument that waste recycling, management and prevention goals would ‘dilute’ Europe’s focus on other 2020 targets was made by countries such as Britain, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania.<br /><br />Poland led other states arguing that it would be premature to adopt such goals without a more robust set of indicators.<br /><br />The outgoing environment commissioner Janez Potocnik responded that far from being premature, “we were already too late and needed to catch up; the world has changed since the Europe 2020 targets were set in 2010”.<br /><br />A consensus was finally reached to ask the commission to integrate resource efficiency into the EU’s 2020 strategy by “the introduction of an EU non-binding aspirational target”. (Source: http://www.theguardian. com )<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-77150000677066555132014-11-07T08:16:00.001-08:002014-11-07T08:16:45.836-08:00Poland unveils its new national defense strategy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Polish
President Bronislaw Komorowski on Wednesday signed into law a new
national defense strategy aimed at addressing threats to regional
security caused by two factors: the fighting in Ukraine and Russia's
'intensifying policy of confrontation.'</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">The
57-page strategy document replaces a plan drawn up in 2007 and involves
defense, political and economy structures on all levels, including
everything from local firefighters and reservists to professional armed
forces and intelligence. It calls for greater protection of national
borders, the economy and finance, art and electronic data.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">However,
the document contains few details about what will change in each
sector, apart from the fact that they will be better operated,
coordinated and equipped. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Komorowski
told a news conference in Warsaw that details concerning Poland's
military defense forces will be included in separate, classified
documents that are still being written.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">He
did not discuss what Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak had told The
Associated Press last month that Poland is planning a major
reinforcement of its military structure in the east because of the
conflict in Ukraine. Siemoniak provided no figures, but the move could
involve thousands of troops.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Komorowski
said the new strategy document, which was approved by the government
last month and made public Wednesday, is a reaction to the things that
have 'changed for the worse to the east of Poland's borders, where an
area of instability has emerged.' Poland, once part of the Soviet bloc,
borders Russia and Ukraine, where Russian-backed insurgents are fighting
government forces.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">The
president said that by strengthening its defenses, Poland is
contributing to the defense capabilities of NATO, which it joined in
1999.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">The
document says negative factors for the region's security involve
Russia's 'rebuilding of its power status at the expense of its
surrounding' and its 'intensifying policy of confrontation' as shown in
its seizure of the Crimea Peninsula from Ukraine. (Source: http://www.dailymail. co.uk)</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-36847146132008758512014-10-30T08:25:00.002-07:002014-10-30T08:25:42.934-07:00Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="main-body-content">
The Android tablet space is choc-a-bloc with too many devices and
brands. So many that it is hard to find more than a handful of devices
that stand apart thanks to performance or innovation. There is, however,
a new entrant to this list… one that could spoil the party for a lot of
others. Meet the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2.<br />
<strong>Specs:</strong> 8-inch 1920 x 1200 IPS display | Intel Atom
Z3745 quad-core 1.86GHz processor | 2GB RAM | 16GB internal storage
expandable up to 64GB | 8MP rear camera + 1.6MP front | Li-Ion 6400 mAh
battery | Android 4.4.2 Kitkat<br />
<strong>Price:</strong> Rs 20,990<br />
<strong>Design</strong><br />
Without a doubt this tablet has the most innovative design at the
moment. This 8-inch tablet, and rest of the series, introduces the
kickstand which the simple prop that it is lets you use the tablet in
three different modes. With the stand turned outwards, you can make the
tablet stand for content consumption, lie down for when you want to
write or hang from a wall if you are glancing at it during work. And
adding a little hinge on one end makes it easier to hold too, like Sony
showed us with the Tablet S a few years back.<br />
The only issue that when you start out it’s hard to figure out how to
open the kickstand. It seems Lenovo figured this out too and there is a
sticker to explain the simple twist. Behind the stand is the flap that
holds the SD card and micro-SIM. At one end of its hinge is the power
button and on other the power port, the design couldn’t have been
better. My only issue is that there is just one micro USB port on the
entire device and that could be a bit limiting for some users.<br />
<strong>Display and Sound</strong><br />
It is not always that you get a full HD display at this price point. The
display is sharp and bright and great for consuming videos, even from a
distance. And with Dolby Audio on JBL speakers this tablet has the best
audio quality and volume in town. It can be as loud as a television if
needed.<br />
<strong>Performance</strong><br />
The tablet is powered by a 1.86GHz Intel Atom Z3745 Quad Core processor
and is a great work horse. Multi-tasking is smooth and there is
absolutely no lag when using the apps or even browsing with multiple
tabs on. However, I experienced some heating issues, especially while
streaming videos on YouTube and that is rare on Atom tablets.<br />
<strong>Software</strong><br />
This is the tricky bit. I am not sure all of us will be happy with
Lenovo’s tweaked UI for Android KItkat. It is ideal for tablet use and
it not run off the mill smartphone UI, but the new icons need getting
used too. It is a bit like Color OS, either you like it or you just hate
it. But there are some really good pre-loaded apps in the mix.<br />
<strong>Camera</strong><br />
The rear camera is decent, but not great in low light or for shooting
indoors. The rear lens is also on the hinge and you will have to flip
the tablet every time you want to shoot with it as the natural tendency
is to have the heavier side facing down. But I still think the camera is
just an appendage for the tablet that should be used only for video
calls. I am sure a lot of you don’t agree and would still use it to
shoot the Taj.<br />
<strong>Connectivity</strong><br />
The Yoga Tablet 2 is a 3G/Wi-Fi device and offers great mobility. No issues on this front.<br />
<strong>Battery</strong><br />
This is another plus point for this tablet. Lenovo is promising 18 hours
and given its track record with smartphones I am more than inclined to
believe it. Anyway, I could use it for a full day on a 3G network on
full charge. That should be enough for most users.<br />
<strong>Verdict</strong><br />
Given the price point of Rs 20,990, the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 is one of
the best value for money Android tablets in the market at the moment. It
gives you great functionality, a FullHD screen, good battery life and
an overall experience that is better than what you have paid for(http://indianexpress. com/).<br />
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-74637781929611758732014-10-30T08:07:00.000-07:002014-10-30T08:07:27.846-07:00Full ban for junk food<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Poland’s Lower House of Parliament (Sejm) voted this week to ban what
it refers to as ‘junk food’ from all the nation’s schools and
nurseries.<br />According to TVN, it has not yet been established
what food falls into the bracket of ‘junk food’, and this will be
decided by the Ministry of Health. It is understood that the vote was
almost unanimous (426 deputies in favour) with only Przemyslaw Wipler of
the New Right Congress (KNP) voting against. (http://www.newpolandexpress. pl/)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-12438395621537005902014-10-30T08:05:00.000-07:002014-10-30T08:05:08.279-07:00Sikorski slammed for interview <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Radoslaw Sikorski was on the end of a ticking off from PM Ewa Kopacz
this week after a US article attributed a controversial comment to him
in which he claimed that Vladimir Putin had proposed Poland and Russia
divide Ukraine between them.</b><br /><br />The comment was picked up by the
international press and Mr. Sikorski found himself at the centre of a
media storm which intensified in Poland when he claimed that he had been
misrepresented in the article. <br />
<br />
The article which appeared on the US website Politico.com
on Monday claimed Mr. Sikorski had told them that in Moscow in 2008
Vladimir Putin had proposed to then Prime Minister Donald Tusk that
Russia and Poland divide Ukraine between them. Mr. Tusk was reported to
have remained silent partly because, so the article claimed, he was
aware the conversation was being recorded.<br />
<br />
Mr. Sikorski admitted that he had not been at the meeting between Mr.
Putin and Mr. Tusk but that he had become aware of the offer. Mr.
Sikorski said that the comments he had made to journalist Ben Judah had
been ‘over-inflated’. The situation was clearly not helped when Mr.
Sikorski appeared before journalists in the Sejm the following day and
ducked questions on the Politico article instead referring journalists
to an interview he had then given to Wyborcza.pl.<br />
<br />
In that Mr. Sikorski told Wyborcza’s Renata Grochal that the problem had
come from the journalist’s failure to ‘authorise’ the article with him
before publishing. “I spoke on the phone with Ben Judah. I do not blame
the lack of authorisation (of the article by Mr. Sikorski – ed), because
there is no such culture in the Anglo-Saxon culture. Ben Judah is a
reliable journalist, but as it turns out, some things could have been
clarified in the authorisation’. <br />
<br />
Opponents of Mr. Sikorski pounced on the opportunity to criticise the
man who is widely respected for the way he fulfilled his role as Foreign
Minister for the last seven years. A spokesman for the Democratic Left
Alliance (SLD) said that his party were considering proposing a motion
to have Mr. Sikorski dismissed as Speaker of the Sejm.<br />
<br />
Donald Tusk, who was criticised for not speaking publically on the issue
before appearing before reporters on Friday, said that the conversation
had not happened and that he had not even met Mr. Putin privately in
Moscow in 2008. He went onto defend his former colleague however, saying
Mr. Sikorski’s actions should be considered against the job he had
performed throughout his time as Foreign Minister. “I am convinced that
the balance of his achievements is absolutely positive. He is considered
an outstanding politician in Poland and Europe and extremely talented”
Mr. Tusk said noting that he considered the episode now closed.<br />
<br />
Mr. Tusk’s successor Ewa Kopacz was not as generous with her opinion
however. She told reporters that she didn’t think Mr. Sikorski had
handled the situation at all well and that she had warned him about his
future dealings with the press. (Source: http://www.newpolandexpress. pl /polish_news_story-6923-sikorski_slammed_for_interview_.php)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-89828403991180932512014-10-26T05:25:00.005-07:002014-10-26T05:25:52.748-07:00US to sell missiles to Poland amid Russia tensions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="firstPar">
The United States is to sell medium-range cruise missiles to Poland as the
eastern European country continues to bolster its defences in the wake of
the Ukraine crisis.
</div>
<div class="secondPar">
The sale of 40 air-launched AGM 158-missiles to Warsaw was approved by the US
State Department on Monday.
</div>
<div class="thirdPar">
The weapons can strike targets up to 250 miles away, further than the distance
from Poland to Russia’s western border, and will be used as a “deterrent to
regional threats”, the US State Department said. There was no immediate
comment from the Kremlin.
</div>
<div class="fourthPar">
It is the first time the Polish air force will have the fire power to strike
Russia from within their own border. Poland's missiles are currently limited
to a maximum range of 43 miles.
</div>
<div class="fifthPar">
Air launched, the new projectiles have a low-radar profile and can carry a
1,000-pound warhead.<br />
<div class="body">
The US State Department added that the sale “would contribute to the foreign
policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to
improve the security of a Nato ally.
<br />
“Poland continues to be an important force for political stability and
economic progress in Central Europe,” it said.
<br />
The deal forms part of a £306 million package that also includes upgrades to
Poland’s fleet of 48 F-16 jets.
<br />
In a separate development, the Polish government also announced it is prepared
to sell arms to Ukraine, if its neighbour asks for them.
<br />
“I confirm that the Polish defence industry is interested in taking this
direction,” Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s defence minister, said on Monday.
<br />
“There are several products that may be interesting for Ukraine.”
<br />
So far Nato has rebuffed pleas for weapons to help Ukraine in its struggle
against Russian-backed forces fighting in its eastern territories.
<br />
Valery Heletey, Ukraine’s defence minister, claimed earlier this month that he
had discussed weapons deliveries in bilateral meetings with Nato defence
ministers during the alliance’s summit in Wales on September 4-5.
<br />
"We reached agreements in closed talks, without media, about ... those weapons
that we currently need," he said. However, no Nato member confirmed this.
<br />
The Ukraine crisis has galvanised Polish concerns over national security and
added significant impetus to a 10-year programme aimed at overhauling and
modernising the country’s armed forces.
<br />
The government has since accelerated the purchase of 30 attack helicopters by
two years, saying the events in Ukraine had led to a “speeding up” of
modernisation programmes.
<br />
Poland is also in the market for new training aircraft, air-defence missile
systems and has committed itself to increasing defence spending to Nato’s
desired benchmark of 2 per cent of GDP.
<br />
Dmitry Rogozin, a Russian deputy prime minister, also said on Monday it would
be unlawful if France went through with a threat to cancel delivery of
several Mistral helicopter carrier ships to Russia.
<br />
The stern of one Mistral ship was made at the Baltic Shipyard in St.
Petersburg, he said, adding: “That is why if they want to keep the ship, we
will have to tear away its stern section and get it back to use it in other
ships.”
<br />
France said at the beginning of this month that it was suspending the $1.7bn
(GBP1bn) contract signed in 2011 to supply Russia with four Mistrals over
the Ukraine crisis. Last week, Francois Hollande, the president of France,
said the first ship could be delivered, "if the process of peace settlement
[of the Ukraine crisis] is completed”.(Source: http://www.telegraph. co.uk/)</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-6570685424764072492014-10-26T05:23:00.003-07:002014-10-26T05:23:53.044-07:00Poland’s new prime minister is matter-of-fact to a fault<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
AS A chain-smoking doctor, Ewa Kopacz clearly has a certain appetite
for personal risk. In her case, it also seems to exhaust any appetite
for risk. But as she prepares to take over as prime minister of Poland,
following Donald Tusk’s elevation to the presidency of the European
Council, her central message is one of safety. Her main promise to
voters is that she will not make any radical changes before next year’s
parliamentary elections.<br />
In foreign policy that means dropping the confrontational approach to
Russia favoured by Mr Tusk and Radek Sikorski, his foreign minister. In
domestic policy Ms Kopacz promises more nursery schools, more
old-people’s homes, help for students wanting to study abroad and
measures to reduce youth unemployment.<br />
“I don’t suspect she has any vision,” says Jacek Zakowski, a Polish
journalist. Ms Kopacz is a pragmatic centrist, he says, with perhaps a
bit more of a natural sensitivity than Mr Tusk.<br />
Although she sets out to present a motherly public persona, Ms Kopacz
occasionally displays flashes of Thatcherite steel. When she was health
minister in 2009, she refused to be browbeaten into mandating an
untested swine-flu vaccine, despite fears of a global epidemic. After
the crash of a government plane in 2010 in Russia, which killed 96
people, including Poland’s president, Ms Kopacz went to Moscow to take
part in the stomach-churning work of identifying the dead.<br />
Ms Kopacz has promised similar toughness during this week’s European
Union talks on the reduction of carbon emissions, resisted by Poland,
which relies heavily on coal for its power. She has promised her public
cheap electricity prices and even threatened to veto the climate
negotiations if they do not go her way.<br />
The new prime minister has done a good job of seizing control of the
ruling Civic Platform party (PO). Some feared the party was about to
destroy itself. But Ms Kopacz has carried along her biggest rivals,
including Grzegorz Schetyna, who is now foreign minister, and Cezary
Grabarczyk, who took the justice portfolio. As a result, PO is firmly
under her control.<br />
Jacek Rostowski, the former finance minister, on the other hand, has
been sidelined by Ms Kopacz, who refused to make him chief of her team
of economic advisers. Mr Sikorski was kicked upstairs to be speaker of
parliament, but he is already in trouble with the new prime minister.
She berated him this week after he was forced to make a humiliating
retreat, first telling an American political-news website that Vladimir
Putin had suggested to Mr Tusk that Poland and Russia carve up Ukraine
between them. He later admitted that Mr Tusk had not met one-on-one with
Mr Putin during his trip in February 2008 to Moscow. “My memory failed
me,” he said.<br />
Poles seem to be taking to Ms Kopacz. They had grown tired of Mr Tusk
who came to power in 2007. Ms Kopacz’s early flashes of competence have
easily surpassed the low bar set for her. A new poll shows PO at 34%
compared with 30% for its main rival, the right-wing Law and Justice
party (PiS). (PO was trailing PiS in polls in the last year of the Tusk
government.)<br />
Ms Kopacz will lead her party into local elections in November before
the national elections next year. Party activists have become more
optimistic about PO’s chances of winning both. If Ms Kopacz is still
prime minister in 2016, she will need to define some form of a vision
for Poland. “Will it be a deregulation agenda or a lightly social one? I
don’t know,” says Ryszard Petru, president of the Association of Polish
Economists; “there are a lot of questions and not many answers.” (Source: http://www.economist. com)<br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-37561046922048362962014-10-23T00:07:00.003-07:002014-10-23T00:08:14.009-07:00Polish politician facing storm over claims that Putin wanted to divide Ukraine with Poland<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="firstPar" style="text-align: justify;">
The career of one of Poland's most high profile politicians is under threat
following a storm of controversy over his claims that Vladimir Putin wanted
Russia and Poland carve up Ukraine.
</div>
<div class="secondPar" style="text-align: justify;">
Radek Sikorski, speaker of the Polish parliament and onetime foreign minister,
is facing calls for his dismissal over his allegations concerning Mr Putin.
</div>
<div class="thirdPar" style="text-align: justify;">
Mr Sikorski's handling of the subsequent controversy has also led to criticism.
</div>
<div class="fourthPar" style="text-align: justify;">
The affair has come as an acute embarrassment to Poland's centre-right
government, and prompted speculation in the Polish press that Mr Sikorski
could either be sacked or asked to resign.
</div>
<div class="fifthPar" style="text-align: justify;">
In a magazine interview published this week, Mr Sikorski said that Mr Putin
made the offer to partition Ukraine to Donald Tusk, then Poland's prime
minister, during a meeting in Moscow in 2008.<br />
"Putin wants Poland to commit troops to Ukraine," he told reportedly
told US magazine Politico. "These were the signals they sent us…we have
known how they think for years."
<br />
The Oxford-educated minister rose to prominence as a passionate and articulate
critic of Mr Putin's Russia.
<br />
His magazine allegations have fuelled Western suspicions and fears over the
Russian leader's designs for Ukraine, and prompted questions in Poland as to
why such information was kept secret.
<br />
But Mr Sikorski has since said he got confused.
<br />
"My memory failed me," he said late on Tuesday night. "After
checking, there was no bi-lateral meeting between Prime Minister Tusk and
President Putin." He added that Mr Putin's "offer" may have
been a "joke" made during meetings with Western leaders in
Bucharest earlier in 2008.
<br />
Mr Sikorski also apologised to Mr Tusk and Ewa Kopacz, Poland's current prime
minister.
<br />
"Sometimes a man can overstep the mark, and this is what happened in this
case," he explained. "I'm especially sorry for putting Mr Tusk and
my predecessor in an awkward position."
<br />
Compounding Mr Sikorski's woes was his performance at a press conference on
Tuesday during which he was evasive and appeared to cut proceedings short
when faced with a barrage of questions over the allegations.
<br />
His behaviour prompted Ewa Kopacz to round on the parliamentary speaker saying
she "would not tolerate such standards of behaviour".
<br />
The newspaper Rzeczpospolita claimed Mrs Kopacz has spoken with Mr Tusk, who
is soon to start work as president of the European Council, over whether to
dismiss Mr Sikorski from the position of speaker – a post he has held for
just a few weeks.(Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk)</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-66564539668320689332014-10-10T09:47:00.000-07:002014-10-10T09:56:43.106-07:00Big online marketing competition in India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
The great Indian e-tail sale this festive season is set to
continue with a host of companies like Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon,
others looking to woo consumers with big discounts. Both Snapdeal and
Amazon plan to expand their offerings in coming weeks including a host
of products that are top on Indian consumers' list, while Flipkart
itself is looking at a bigger version of its day long sale with a
week-long offering starting this weekend.
<br />
“This festive season would be lot different from others as
e-tailers have stolen the limelight with aggressive promotion and
advertising campaigns,” said an official of leading retail consultancy
firm who did not wish to be named.
<br />
The ongoing sale will get bigger in coming weeks. While Amazon
which also ran a 3-day discount campaign, Mission to Mars between
October 4-6, is planning next big sale, Diwali Dhamaka, between October
10-16, Flipkart is also planning a week-long programme during the same
period. Snapdeal is expected to continue its ongoing scheme where
discounts would be on offer on top of the line pedicts on each day
running up to Diwali.
<br />
Flipkart's 'Big Billion Day' sale helped the company to achieve
record single day sales of Rs 600 crore on Monday, and its competitor
Snapdeal too increased its daily average sale with company claiming to
have reached sales of Rs 1 crore per minute, adding up to Rs 600 crore
for it too.
<br />
But both these companies, particularly Flipkart, were also
flooded with complaints on the social media of products disappearing
after being shown on the screen and site crashing frequently preventing
sale from being completed. Complaints ranged from technical errors, to
comments on pricing scams, to lack of product variety.
<br />
The silent winner on the sale day appeared to be Amazon which
strengthened its pool of offerings after leaning from the mistakes of
others - but there were no sales figures released by Amazon.
<br />
Although e-commerce accounts for less than 1% of the total retail
market in India, it is by far the fastest growing retail channel as has
been reflected in the online buying frenzy for past few days.
E-commerce is estimated to grow to as much as $22 billion (excluding
travel) in five years from $ 3.1 billion currently, according to a
November 2013 report by CLSA.(Source http://www.financialexpress .com)<br />
<br />
To counter Flipkart’s ‘Big Billion Day’, Amazon India is ready with an
entire week of sale named as ‘Diwali Dhamaka Week’ where the e-commerce
portal is offering up to 50 per cent discount on selected Diwali
products.<br />
<br />
<br />
The sale has started from 7AM on Friday and will be go on till October 17, 2014 (Friday of next week).<br />
<br />
In
initial stage, there is 55 per cent discount available on handbags and
satchels while customers can buy watches on discounts up to 50 per cent.<br />
There were many phones available on the Flipkart on price of Rs. 1 but, on Amazon, till so far, we did not see such deal.<br />
<br />
On
few phones like Nokia 1020, Flipkart has offered more than 60 per cent
discount but such mesmerizing rate tags are still missing from the
Amazon website. However, the e-commerce site will offer Nokia Lumia 625
in just Rs 8,999 which is 49 per cent discount on the main price. <br />
<br />
Chetan Bhagat's latest release 'Half Girlfriend' is available in just Rs 99, cheaper than the offered price at Flipkart.<br />
<br />
Till so far, unlike Flipkart, no pendrive or screen guard of mobiles are available in Rs 1 on Amazon.<br />
<br />
According to the company, more deals will be revealed very soon. (Source http:// www. abplive.in/)<br />
<br />
The blockbuster Big Billion Day sale on Flipkart that
gave it $100 million in revenue in only 10 hours has clearly backfired
on the poster boy of Indian e-commerce. Flipkart is now facing
government scrutiny, following complaints from traders over undercutting
prices and adversely affecting competition. A probe by the Competition
Commission of India (CCI) is not ruled out.<br />
<br />
This comes soon after Flipkart failed to please millions of Indians on
the much-advertised 'Big Billion Day', though co-founders Sachin Bansal
and Binny Bansal were quick to send an apology to buyers, who were angry
over technical glitches and price anomalies.<br />
<br />
But the apology of the Bansals (not related to each other) might not be enough, as Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has
indicated the government is watching. "We have received many inputs.
Lots of concerns have been expressed. We will look into it," Sitharaman
told the media. She added the government would soon make it clear, after
studying the matter, whether a separate policy or clarification was
required for e-commerce.<br />
<br />
Indeed, an e-commerce policy
has been in the making for long, even as the sector, pegged at around
Rs 18,000 crore, has been growing at a rapid pace and is expected to
touch Rs 50,000 crore by 2016. The only clarity that has been provided
by the government on the sector is that foreign direct investment is not
permitted. However, e-commerce players have taken advantage of the
regulatory silence on marketplace (a format of hosting retailers on a
technology platform) to attract foreign investment. Even international
e-commerce leaders like Amazon and eBay have used the marketplace route
to enter India.<br />
<br />
Asked to respond to Sitharaman's observation and traders' concerns, a
Flipkart spokesperson said: "We are an e-marketplace, where sellers
decide the price, and only they can change the prices in the system.
They sell directly to buyers without stepping out of their workplace."<br />
<br />
Though it is Flipkart and its 'Big Billion Day' that seem to be under
the lens, other e-commerce players like Amazon, Snapdeal and Myntra (now
acquired by Flipkart), too, are on a discount spree, at times offering
products at prices that even dealers cannot afford.<br />
<br />
The scrutiny on Flipkart, and perhaps some other e-commerce players, has
been triggered by traders who are prominent in brick-and-mortar
retailing.<br />
<br />
Future Group Chief Executive Kishore Biyani has attacked e-commerce
players for selling products below manufacturing prices. The
undercutting of prices was meant to destroy competition, Biyani said.<br />
<br />
Others, including the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and the
newly formed Online Vendors Association of India (OVAI), want a
regulator to look into the matter of price undercutting by e-commerce
players in the festive season. Traders are a large supporter base for
the ruling National Democratic Alliance government.<br />
<br />
OVAI Convenor Rahul Suri told Business Standard: "They (e-commerce
players) should not use their funding for undercutting prices." They
should focus on offering convenience to buyers and not killing
competition, he added.<br />
<br />
Even as there are suggestions that CCI should
take up the matter as it deals with undercutting and predatory pricing,
there is no decision yet on that. CCI Chairman Ashok Chawla said the
commission would take up the matter if and when there was a complaint
linked to predatory pricing.<br />
<br />
The objective of CCI is to promote competition and it gets into the
picture only when there is a complaint on predatory pricing. But it is
learnt that in the past, CCI could not proceed in a similar case related
to e-commerce company, Snapdeal, as it was not a seller itself but was
only providing a platform where the seller and the buyer could meet.<br />
<br />
Flipkart, which was conventionally an inventory-based company, has now shifted to marketplace, the same model as Snapdeal.(Source http://www. business-standard.com) </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-91594972529709701592014-09-24T09:50:00.001-07:002014-09-24T09:50:21.414-07:00India scripts history, becomes the first country to send Mars Orbiter in first attempt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
India created history with its maiden Mars mission – Mangalyaan or MOM
(Mars Orbiter Mission) successfully injected into the Martian orbit on
Wednesday. ISRO became the fourth space agency in the world and first in
Asia to successfully launch and execute an interplanetary mission to
Mars after the Soviets, NASA and the European Space Agency.<br /><br />Launched
on November 5, 2013 onboard PSLV-C25 from Satish Dhawan Space Center,
SHAR, Sriharikota in costal Andhra Pradesh. The spacecraft entered the
red planet’s orbit on September 24, 2014. The insertion was conducted by
the Spacecraft Control Centre at the agency’s Telemetry, Tracking and
Command Network (ISTRAC) based in Peenya, Bengaluru with support from
Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennae at Byalalu.<br />
‘Mangalyaan’, India's first Mars-bound spacecraft, on Wednesday
morning scripted history when it entered successfully into the orbit of
the Red Plant.<br />
The insertion operation of the spacecraft was performed at 07 hours 17 minutes and 32 seconds.<br />
A team of 200 space scientists was busy round the clock to make the mission a success.<br />
Scientists
fired the 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) engine, the main engine
of the spacecraft, along with eight smaller liquid engines for about 24
minutes.<br />
The confirmation about its insertion into the orbit was received at 8.15 am.<br />
The
insertion was carried out automatically by commands loaded onto the
spacecraft after its velocity was slowed down from 22.1 km per second to
4.4 km per second to be captured by the Martian orbit. At the time of
MOM's orbital insertion, its signals took about 12 minutes and 28
seconds to travel to Earth for reception by NASA's Deep Space Network
Stations in Canberra and Goldstone that relayed the data in real time to
ISRO's station here.<br />
The first sign of success in the final
moments came when ISRO announced that burn of engines on India's Mars
orbiter had been confirmed. "All engines of Mars orbiter are going
strong. Burn confirmed," said ISRO signalling that history was in the
making.<br />
The orbiter will keep moving in an elliptical path at
least for six months with its instruments sending their gleanings back
home.<br />
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also witnessed the crucial Mars
Orbiter Insertion at the Spacecraft Control Centre, Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bangalore.<br />
"MOM has met Mangal,"
Modi said announcing the mission's success, after nerve-wracking final
moments at the command centre of ISRO.<br />
On Monday afternoon,
scientist at the ISRO came one step closer to its cherished dream of
landing on Mars when they successfully test-fired the LAM engine --
which was in sleep mode for the last 300 days.<br />
With the success of
Rs 450 crore mission, India has now become the first country to enter
the Mars orbit on a maiden mission. India has also become the first
Asian country and ISRO the fourth space agency to send a satellite to
the Red Planet. European, US and Russian probes have managed to orbit or
land on the planet, but after several attempts.<br />
The 1.3-tonne
Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was launched on November 5, 2013 by India’s
workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the spaceport of
Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.<br />
On a 666 million km journey, the spacecraft escaped the earth gravity pull on December 1, 2013.<br />
It
should be noted that probes to Mars have a high failure rate. Of the 51
missions so far, only 21 have succeeded. In November 2011, a Russian
mission carrying the Chinese satellite, Yinghuo-1, to Mars failed. Japan
also failed in a similar effort in 1998.<br />
The success of Mars Orbiter Mission will indeed boost India's global standing in Space.(Source http://www.indiatvnews .com)<br />
<br />
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully entered the orbit of <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/india-successfully-test-fires-mars-orbiter-engine-as-mission-enters-red-planets-sphere/" target="_blank" title="Key engine on board Mars Orbiter test-fired, spacecraft enters last stretch">Mars</a>
on Wednesday morning after a liquid motor engine fired effectively for a
little over 24 minutes to impart a little over the required velocity of
1098 metres per second at 1099 metres per sec.<br />
The $ 71 million <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/nasas-maven-explorer-arrives-at-mars-after-year/" target="_blank" title="NASA’s Maven explorer arrives at Mars after year">mission,</a> one of the cheapest undertaken by any space faring nation, puts <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/nasa-launches-usd-20000-mars-challenge/" target="_blank" title="NASA launches USD 20,000 Mars challenge">ISRO</a>
among an elite league of three other space agencies to undertake a
successful voyage to the Red Planet. The successful entry of the MOS
into the orbit of Mars (further data is still awaited on the exact orbit
achieved) makes India the first country to make it to Mars on its first
attempt.<br />
- See more at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/india-succeeds-putting-spacecraft-in-martian-orbit/#sthash.5l5vxpGX.dpuf<br />
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully entered the orbit of <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/india-successfully-test-fires-mars-orbiter-engine-as-mission-enters-red-planets-sphere/" target="_blank" title="Key engine on board Mars Orbiter test-fired, spacecraft enters last stretch">Mars</a>
on Wednesday morning after a liquid motor engine fired effectively for a
little over 24 minutes to impart a little over the required velocity of
1098 metres per second at 1099 metres per sec.<br />
The $ 71 million <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/nasas-maven-explorer-arrives-at-mars-after-year/" target="_blank" title="NASA’s Maven explorer arrives at Mars after year">mission,</a> one of the cheapest undertaken by any space faring nation, puts <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/nasa-launches-usd-20000-mars-challenge/" target="_blank" title="NASA launches USD 20,000 Mars challenge">ISRO</a>
among an elite league of three other space agencies to undertake a
successful voyage to the Red Planet. The successful entry of the MOS
into the orbit of Mars (further data is still awaited on the exact orbit
achieved) makes India the first country to make it to Mars on its first
attempt.<br />
- See more at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/india-succeeds-putting-spacecraft-in-martian-orbit/#sthash.5l5vxpGX.dpuf<br />
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully entered the orbit of <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/india-successfully-test-fires-mars-orbiter-engine-as-mission-enters-red-planets-sphere/" target="_blank" title="Key engine on board Mars Orbiter test-fired, spacecraft enters last stretch">Mars</a>
on Wednesday morning after a liquid motor engine fired effectively for a
little over 24 minutes to impart a little over the required velocity of
1098 metres per second at 1099 metres per sec.<br />
The $ 71 million <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/nasas-maven-explorer-arrives-at-mars-after-year/" target="_blank" title="NASA’s Maven explorer arrives at Mars after year">mission,</a> one of the cheapest undertaken by any space faring nation, puts <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/nasa-launches-usd-20000-mars-challenge/" target="_blank" title="NASA launches USD 20,000 Mars challenge">ISRO</a>
among an elite league of three other space agencies to undertake a
successful voyage to the Red Planet. The successful entry of the MOS
into the orbit of Mars (further data is still awaited on the exact orbit
achieved) makes India the first country to make it to Mars on its first
attempt.<br />
- See more at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/india-succeeds-putting-spacecraft-in-martian-orbit/#sthash.5l5vxpGX.dpufIndia created history with its maiden Mars mission – Mangalyaan or MOM
(Mars Orbiter Mission) successfully injected into the Martian orbit on
Wednesday. ISRO became the fourth space agency in the world and first in
Asia to successfully launch and execute an interplanetary mission to
Mars after the Soviets, NASA and the European Space Agency.<br />
<br />
Launched
on November 5, 2013 onboard PSLV-C25 from Satish Dhawan Space Center,
SHAR, Sriharikota in costal Andhra Pradesh. The spacecraft entered the
red planet’s orbit on September 24, 2014. The insertion was conducted by
the Spacecraft Control Centre at the agency’s Telemetry, Tracking and
Command Network (ISTRAC) based in Peenya, Bengaluru with support from
Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennae at Byalalu.India created history with its maiden Mars mission – Mangalyaan or MOM
(Mars Orbiter Mission) successfully injected into the Martian orbit on
Wednesday. ISRO became the fourth space agency in the world and first in
Asia to successfully launch and execute an interplanetary mission to
Mars after the Soviets, NASA and the European Space Agency.<br />
<br />
Launched
on November 5, 2013 onboard PSLV-C25 from Satish Dhawan Space Center,
SHAR, Sriharikota in costal Andhra Pradesh. The spacecraft entered the
red planet’s orbit on September 24, 2014. The insertion was conducted by
the Spacecraft Control Centre at the agency’s Telemetry, Tracking and
Command Network (ISTRAC) based in Peenya, Bengaluru with support from
Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennae at Byalalu.</div>
</div>
</div>
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully entered the orbit of <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/india-successfully-test-fires-mars-orbiter-engine-as-mission-enters-red-planets-sphere/" target="_blank" title="Key engine on board Mars Orbiter test-fired, spacecraft enters last stretch">Mars</a>
on Wednesday morning after a liquid motor engine fired effectively for a
little over 24 minutes to impart a little over the required velocity of
1098 metres per second at 1099 metres per sec.<br />
The $ 71 million <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/nasas-maven-explorer-arrives-at-mars-after-year/" target="_blank" title="NASA’s Maven explorer arrives at Mars after year">mission,</a> one of the cheapest undertaken by any space faring nation, puts <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/nasa-launches-usd-20000-mars-challenge/" target="_blank" title="NASA launches USD 20,000 Mars challenge">ISRO</a>
among an elite league of three other space agencies to undertake a
successful voyage to the Red Planet. The successful entry of the MOS
into the orbit of Mars (further data is still awaited on the exact orbit
achieved) makes India the first country to make it to Mars on its first
attempt.<br />
- See more at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/india-succeeds-putting-spacecraft-in-martian-orbit/#sthash.5l5vxpGX.dpuf</div>
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully entered the orbit of <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/india-successfully-test-fires-mars-orbiter-engine-as-mission-enters-red-planets-sphere/" target="_blank" title="Key engine on board Mars Orbiter test-fired, spacecraft enters last stretch">Mars</a>
on Wednesday morning after a liquid motor engine fired effectively for a
little over 24 minutes to impart a little over the required velocity of
1098 metres per second at 1099 metres per sec.<br />
The $ 71 million <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/nasas-maven-explorer-arrives-at-mars-after-year/" target="_blank" title="NASA’s Maven explorer arrives at Mars after year">mission,</a> one of the cheapest undertaken by any space faring nation, puts <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/nasa-launches-usd-20000-mars-challenge/" target="_blank" title="NASA launches USD 20,000 Mars challenge">ISRO</a>
among an elite league of three other space agencies to undertake a
successful voyage to the Red Planet. The successful entry of the MOS
into the orbit of Mars (further data is still awaited on the exact orbit
achieved) makes India the first country to make it to Mars on its first
attempt.<br />
- See more at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/india-succeeds-putting-spacecraft-in-martian-orbit/#sthash.5l5vxpGX.dpuf<br />
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully entered the orbit of <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/india-successfully-test-fires-mars-orbiter-engine-as-mission-enters-red-planets-sphere/" target="_blank" title="Key engine on board Mars Orbiter test-fired, spacecraft enters last stretch">Mars</a>
on Wednesday morning after a liquid motor engine fired effectively for a
little over 24 minutes to impart a little over the required velocity of
1098 metres per second at 1099 metres per sec.<br />
The $ 71 million <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/nasas-maven-explorer-arrives-at-mars-after-year/" target="_blank" title="NASA’s Maven explorer arrives at Mars after year">mission,</a> one of the cheapest undertaken by any space faring nation, puts <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/nasa-launches-usd-20000-mars-challenge/" target="_blank" title="NASA launches USD 20,000 Mars challenge">ISRO</a>
among an elite league of three other space agencies to undertake a
successful voyage to the Red Planet. The successful entry of the MOS
into the orbit of Mars (further data is still awaited on the exact orbit
achieved) makes India the first country to make it to Mars on its first
attempt.<br />
- See more at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/india-succeeds-putting-spacecraft-in-martian-orbit/#sthash.5l5vxpGX.dpuf</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-44710523091609733112014-09-24T09:39:00.002-07:002014-09-24T09:39:44.978-07:00Poland tests border protection in major exercise<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="paragraph-0"></span><br />
Poland launched a major military exercise
with international allies on Wednesday to test joint response to
security threats at a time of armed conflict in neighboring Ukraine.<br />
<span class="paragraph-1">Defense Minister
Tomasz Siemoniak said the original plan for the biannual Anakonda
exercise was to involve only Polish command officers.</span>
<br />
But because of the Ukraine-Russia crisis and
general fears that the conflict could spread to bordering countries, he
decided it should have wider participation and should test collective
defense readiness in accordance with NATO guidelines.<br />
The Anakonda-14 exercise involves 12,500 troops,
including about 750 from the U.S., Canada, Britain, the Netherlands, the
Czech Republic and Hungary, as well as Lithuania and Estonia, which
border Russia.<br />
"Poland's biggest military exercise, Anakonda,
has acquired special significance due to the events in Ukraine,"
Siemoniak said during the opening ceremony at the National Defense
Academy.<br />
"This is the first exercise on this scale since the conflict began" in mid-April, Siemoniak said.<br />
Many Poles and people in Baltic countries are
nervous that Russian aggression could spread beyond Ukraine. Despite a
Sept. 5 cease-fire agreement between Ukraine and pro-Russia rebels,
shelling continues in areas of Donetsk, an eastern Ukrainian city.<br />
The scenario for the 10-day exercise calls for
the protection of borders and will be held at four test ranges in
northern Poland and on the Baltic Sea.<br />
The exercise will use some 120 armored vehicles,
more than 50 anti-aircraft units, and 15 missile launchers. A submarine
and a missile frigate will be among the 17 warships training in the
Baltic, while the air force will use 25 aircraft, including F-126
fighters, helicopters and Hercules transport planes.(Source; http://www.newsadvance .com)<br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-25838769330756407822014-09-20T19:36:00.003-07:002014-09-20T19:36:25.779-07:00Leak of Hacked Celebrity Nude Pictures<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Nude celebrity photos, purportedly including reality star Kim
Kardashian, circulated social media Saturday, in what appeared to be the
second massive hacking-related leak in less than a month, US media
reported.<br /><br />The pictures, which also included nude shots of actress
Vanessa Hudgens and US soccer star Hope Solo, appeared briefly on 4chan
and Reddit, before being removed, celebrity gossip site TMZ reported.<br />
BuzzFeed said that personal videos and photos belonging to actresses Aubrey Plaza, Mary-Kate Olsen, <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_2" style="height: 16px;">Hayden Panettiere</span> and Leelee Sobieski were posted, in addition to previously unseen pictures of Jennifer Lawrence.<br /><br />Hackers first released a trove of nude starlets' photos on September 1, after snatching them from <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_3" style="height: 16px;">Apple</span>'s iCloud in what the tech giant has called a "targeted attack."<br /><br />The company has denied its <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_4" style="height: 16px;">cloud storage</span>
system was breached, suggesting that the celebrities had their accounts
hacked by using easy-to-guess passwords, or by giving up their personal
data to cybercriminals posing as Apple, a technique known as
"phishing."<br /><br />In addition to Lawrence, celebrities whose pictures
were allegedly stolen and posted online in early September included
model Kate Upton, singer Avril Lavigne and actress Gabrielle Union.(Source http://www.ndtv .com)<br />
<span class="storyTop ">Photos showing an apparently nude Kim Kardashian
are among a group of images that have appeared online in what appears
to be a second leak of hacked personal pictures of celebrities, weeks after stars including Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton were targeted.</span> <br />
The actresses Vanessa Hudges and Aubrey Plaza, designer and former child star Mary-Kate Olsen, and US soccer <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_2" style="height: 16px;">player</span> Hope Solo are reportedly also among those apparently hacked.<br />
In the self-shot pictures being shared on online message board 4chan, Reddit and <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_3" style="height: 16px;">Twitter</span>, the woman pertaining to be Kardashian is not wearing a wedding ring and it is unclear when the photos were taken.<br />
Photographs of <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_4" style="height: 16px;">Hayden Panettiere</span> and <em>Eyes Wide Shut</em> actress Leelee Sobieski also feature in the latest cache, according to Buzzfeed. Further pictures of Lawrence are also reportedly circulating.<br />
Earlier this month over 100 household names were the target of online thieves, who stole scores of naked photographs and intimate videos and posted them on the website 4Chan.<br />
Several of the images – in particular, two of<em> Hunger Games</em> star Lawrence – quickly circulated on Twitter.<br />
The original list had also included Kardashian, Olsen and Hudgens, as well as Ariana Grande, Jessica Brown Findlay, Mary E Winstead, <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_5" style="height: 16px;">Rihanna</span>, Mary E Winstead, Cara Delevingne, Kate Bosworth, Selena Gomez, Kate Upton, Kirsten Dunst and Kaley Cuoco.<br />
<br />
The FBI and Apple are both conducting investigations into the apparent widespread invasion of <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_6" style="height: 16px;">personal accounts</span> thought to be connected to the iCloud service.(Source http://www. independent .co.uk)<br />
Kim Kardashian, Vanessa Hudgens and U.S. soccer goalie Hope Solo
appear to be the latest victims of the celebrity nude photo hacking
ring. <br />
Early Saturday morning alleged <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_6" style="height: 15px;">nude photos</span> of the stars leaked on 4chan and started trending on <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_5" style="height: 15px;">Twitter</span>. According to Uproxx, the photos were quickly removed as part of 4chan's new policy on copyright infringement. <br />
This latest leak is likely the work of the same hackers who released nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Victoria Justice, and an underage McKayla Maroney that the FBI is already investigating. <br />
Hudgens,
sadly, is no stranger to having her privacy grossly invaded. If these
are in fact photos of the 25-year-old actress, this will mark the third
time nude photos of Hudgens have been released to the public without her
consent.<br />
Meanwhile, a rep for Kardashian declined to comment, but the 33-year-old reality star weighed in on the hackings earlier this month,
telling E! News, "I think it's a wake-up call for people to make sure
they have every privacy setting. It seems like there are a lot of people
that love to spend their time hacking peoples' information and that's
just a scary thing."<br />
Request for comment made to Hudgens' rep has yet to be returned at this time. <br />
UPDATE: More
stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence and "Big Bang Theory" star Kaley
Cuoco were released on Saturday along with alleged photos of Avril
Lavigne, Lake Bell, former Disney stars Aly and AJ Michalka, as well as
Mary-Kate Olsen, Aubrey Plaza and <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_7" style="height: 15px;">Hayden Panettiere</span>.(Source huffingtonpost .com)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-33935537747978386512014-09-20T19:26:00.000-07:002014-09-20T19:26:22.545-07:00Nazi gas chamber site unearthed in Poland<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Polish and Israeli Holocaust <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_2" style="font-weight: bold; height: 17px;">researchers</span>
say they have discovered the exact location of the building that housed
gas chambers at Sobibor, one of the death camps operated by Nazi
Germany in occupied Poland.<br />
Israel's Yad Vashem and the Majdanek
State Museum in Poland, which oversees Sobibor, announced the finding
Wednesday, calling it an important discovery in the field of Holocaust
research.<br />
Historians already knew that the Germans operated the
gas chambers at Sobibor from April 1942 to October 1943, killing an
estimated 250,000 Jews brought from across Europe. But they have many
unanswered questions about the operation of the site because there were
very few survivors and most of the site was dismantled during the war by
the Germans.<br />
"Any small piece of information we can add to our knowledge is a
great thing," said Yoram Haimi, an Israeli archaeologist who has spent
the past eight years digging at the site. The team that found the
remains of the building also includes a Polish and a Dutch
archaeologist.<br />
Photos released by the researchers show a sizeable
rectangular structure with brick walls that was divided into four
chambers. Haimi said they have found a number of personal items nearby,
including gold teeth and jewelry.<br />
David Silberklang, a historian
with Yad Vashem, said the finding will shed light on "what the Jews went
through until they were murdered" and could lead to a <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_1" style="font-weight: bold; height: 17px;">more</span> precise estimate of the numbers killed.<br />
The
Germans closed the camp after a prisoner revolt on Oct. 14, 1943, when
about 300 of the young inmates killed several German officers and guards
with axes and knives. Many of the prisoners fled the camp, but all
except 52 of them were killed by guards or died in water ditches and
mine fields surrounding the camp.(Source http://www.cbsnews .com)<br />
<br />
Archaeologists working at the site of the Nazi concentration camp at
Sobibor, in eastern Poland, say they have uncovered previously hidden
gas chambers in which an estimated quarter of a million Jews were
killed.<br />
German forces tried to erase all traces of the camp when
they closed it down after an uprising there on 14 October 1943. The
Nazis demolished the gas chambers and an asphalt road was later built
over the top.<br />
Archaeologists excavated beneath the road and found
lines of bricks, laid four deep, where they believe the walls of the gas
chambers used to stand.<br />
They have been able to establish how big
the chambers were, information they said would help build up a more
precise picture of how many people were murdered at the camp.<br />
"Finally,
we have reached our goal – the discovery of the gas chambers. We were
amazed at the size of the building and the well-preserved condition of
the chamber walls," said Yoram Haimi, one of the archaeologists.<br />
Haimi
said two of his own uncles, who had been living in Paris during the war
and were rounded up by the Germans, were among those killed at Sobibor.<br />
The
archaeologists said that among the personal items they had found buried
near the gas chambers was a wedding ring which carried the inscription,
in Hebrew: "Behold, you are consecrated unto me."<br />
Historians say that because the Germans razed the camp, and because
so few of those detained there came out alive to give testimony, there
is less information about how Sobibor operated and the scale of the
killing than there is for some other concentration camps.<br />
The
Polish archaeologist Wojciech Mazurek, who has also been involved in
uncovering the site, said the excavations revealed there were eight gas
chambers.<br />
"The extermination of people took place there; murder by smoke from an <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_3" style="font-weight: bold; height: 14px;">engine</span> that killed everyone within 15 minutes in these gas chambers, in torment, shouting," he told Reuters Television.<br />
"It
is said that … the Nazis even bred geese in order to drown out these
shouts so that prisoners could not have heard these shouts, these
torments."<br />
According to Israel's Yad Vashem International Institute for Holocaust <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_4" style="font-weight: bold; height: 14px;">Research</span>,
the 1943 uprising was organised by Jewish civilians at the camp and
Jewish officers in the Soviet army who had been taken prisoner and sent
to Sobibor.<br />
About 300 people escaped, but most were caught and
killed. Those who did not take part in the breakout were also killed. At
the end of the <span class="ry1kute20" id="ry1kute20_11" style="font-weight: bold; height: 14px;">second world war</span>, about 50 escapees were left alive.<br />
The
research project at Sobibor is being carried out in coordination with
the Yad Vashem institute, the German-Polish Foundation, and the Majdanek
State Museum, near the Polish city of Lublin. (Source http://www.theguardian .com)<br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-46460992837337066252014-09-18T22:09:00.002-07:002014-09-18T22:15:34.930-07:00Gdansk theatre reveals Poland's ties to Shakespeare<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span dir="ltr" lang="en">It's taken almost a quarter of a century to become a reality but the Shakespeare Theatre in Gdansk is finally opening its doors to the public. You may be wondering why the Polish Baltic port city would build a theatre dedicated to England's Bard. "The idea of having a Shakespearean theatre in Gdansk is not out of the blue, it has strong historical backing," the theatre's director, Jerzy Limon explains. The 64 year-old Shakespearean scholar came up with the project 25 years ago. "English actors first came to Gdansk in 1601. They kept coming for over half a century and Shakespeare's plays were performed here during</span>.<br />
<h2 class="story-heading" itemprop="headline" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Poland Says Russian Veto Should Be Limited at U.N.</span></h2>
<h1 class="story-heading" itemprop="headline">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Frustrated by the United Nations’ passive response to
Russian aggression in Ukraine, President Bronislaw Komorowski of Poland has
said he intends to call on the organization to change its rules to prevent
Moscow from vetoing Security Council actions on the region.“My main message
will be that perhaps the United Nations should be reformed to make the
institution capable of addressing the threats that really exist today,” Mr.
Komorowski said in an interview this week at the presidential palace here in
advance of his visit to the United Nations in New York next week. “I think blocking the
Security Council on Ukraine
is a token, a symptom, of the general weakness of the U.N.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Like the other permanent members of the United Nations
Security Council — Britain, China, France
and the United States — Russia has the
power to veto any of the Council’s actions. But actually removing Russia’s veto
on the Council is nearly impossible. Under Article 108 of the organization’s
charter, removing the right to veto would require both a vote of two-thirds of
the General Assembly and ratification by whatever constitutional process is in
place in two-thirds of the member nations, including all five permanent Council
members. more at http://www.nytimes. com/2014/09/19/world/europe
/poland-wants-united-nations-to-limit-russias-influence.html?_r=0</span></span></div>
</h1>
<h1 class="story-heading" itemprop="headline">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></h1>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-39340479773014955162014-09-16T07:04:00.001-07:002014-09-16T07:06:27.745-07:00Poland News in few days<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<![endif]--><b>Aug. 31, 2014</b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: list .5in;">
European Union leaders name Poland's
Prime Min Donald Tusk to replace Herman Van Rompuy as the president of the
European Council; represents first time bloc has nominated an Eastern European
to the post. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: list .5in;">
<b>Aug. 26, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Warsaw journal; most popular Polish <b>sports</b> tend to
avoid physical contact, but football team Warsaw Eagles are cultivating a crowd
that enjoys the rougher stuff; Polish American Football League is network of
more than 70 teams in 36 cities across Poland drawing tens of thousands of
fans. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Jul. 25, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
European Court of Human Rights rules that Poland violated rights of terrorism suspects Abu
Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri by allowing their transfer to secret
Central Intelligence Agency in Poland,
where they were tortured. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Jun. 26, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Polish Parliament votes to retain embattled government of
Prime Min Donald Tusk, despite an embarrassing scandal involving several top
officials whose private, often profane conversations in upscale Warsaw restaurants had
been bugged for more than a year. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Jun. 24, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Polish Prime Min Donald Tusk says that he will not dismiss
any of the ministers whose bluntly politically and occasionally profane
conversations were caught on tape, unless they are caught engaging in illegal
behavior; Tusk says government will focus on uncovering who had made the
recordings. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Jun. 23, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: list .5in;">
Polish Foreign Min Radoslaw
Sikorski is heard in secretly recorded conversation describing his country's
security relationship with United
States as 'worth nothing' and 'even
harmful,' along with more vulgar terms; deepening scandal over leaked
conversations has threatened survival of Prime Min Donal Tusk's center-right
government. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: list .5in;">
<b>Jun. 20, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Polish Prime Min Donald Tusk warns he might be forced to
call early <b>elections</b> if scandal over secretly taped conversations of
senior government officials continues to escalate. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Jun. 17, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: list .5in;">
Tapes of high-level Polish
officials discussing what seem to be unsavory deals are threatening careers of
some of country's most prominent leaders and perhaps even survival of current
government; transcripts of recordings were published by newspaper Wprost; Prime
Min Donald Tusk criticizes recordings, describing them as attempt at coup
d'etat. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: list .5in;">
<b>Jun. 11, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: list .5in;">
Foreign ministers of Russia, Poland
and Germany signal progress
toward a cease-fire in Ukraine,
even as up to 40 separatists are reported to have been killed in fierce battle
in the east of the country. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: list .5in;">
<b>Jun. 4, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: list .5in;">
Pres Obama flies to Poland to unveil $1 billion security plan
intended to demonstrate the United States'
commitment to stand with Central and Eastern <b>Europe</b> against Russian
aggression; visit arrives at tense time in region, with nerves still rattled by
crisis in neighboring Ukraine.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: list .5in;">
<b>Jun. 3, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pres Obama will find in his visit to Poland that the intensity of its love affair
with the United States has
diminished; Poland
has shifted from a Washington-centric focus to an increasingly vigorous
engagement in the European Union, although it is still a warm haven of
pro-American sentiments. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Jun. 2, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pres Obama leaves for trip to Poland, Belgium and France
cautiously optimistic that Ukraine's election of pro-European Pres Petro O
Poroshenko and Russia's pullback of troops from border may have begun to
diffuse crisis there; analysts warn that Russia is still vying for power in
region, suggestion that looms over possibility of unplanned meeting between
Obama and Russian Pres Vladimir V Putin in Europe. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>May. 31, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Polish Pres Bronislaw Komorowski, former Pres Aleksander
Kwasniewski and former Pres Lech Walesa attend funeral mass for Gen Wojciech
Jaruzelski, one of the most polarizing figures in modern Polish history. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Apr. 19, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
United States plans to carry out small ground-force exercises
in Poland and <b>Estonia</b>; exercises are an attempt to reassure NATO's
Eastern European members worried about Russia's military operations in and near
Ukraine. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Mar. 30, 2014</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Illegal mining continues in Poland's Lower Silesia region
despite fact that mines were shuttered in the late 1990s because they had
become dangerous and unprofitable; activists estimate that as many as 3,000
miners continue to dig illegally and by night, despite perilous conditions,
driven by high demand on the black market in country that continues to derive
more than 88 percent of its electricity from coal power. (http://topics.nytimes.com)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-16565703452093366842014-09-04T08:41:00.001-07:002014-09-04T08:41:13.270-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk to Become
President of European Council</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Mr Tusk will succeed Herman Van Rompuy, leaving Poland’s governing Civic Platform party (PO) to choose a new leader ahead of next year’s general
election.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Mr Tusk said that disciplined economic growth
would be among his priorities as EC president. He is also expected to take a
reformist role, addressing the concerns of the UK
and some EU MPs, who fear that Europe is
moving too much towards federalism.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Addressing the external challenges facing the EU,
such as the Ukraine crisis,
and conflict in Syria,
Mr Tusk said European solidarity was vital.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He added: “We can help Ukraine, we will help our
neighbours in the south, only when we are able to build a common, unambiguous
point of view. We need to be both courageous and responsible, using imagination
and common sense together.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Opposition leader Jarosław Kaczyński (Law and
Justice – PiS) said that the election of Mr Tusk would give Poland a more prominent position in
the EU. (Source: http://inside-poland.com)</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Silly Season: Poland, Home of the Longest Sausage
in the World</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The kaszanka, a mix of buckwheat, wobbly bits,
and, yes, blood, flavoured with a selection of mild herbs, was created in
Radomyśl Wielki in Podkarpackie, south-eastern Poland.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It measured 226 metres, and weighed 335 kg, and
was devoured by locals once the world record had been approved.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The previous holder – according to TheNews.pl,
which first reported the story – was Burgos in Spain. But
their attempt measured just 175 metres.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So famed is kaszanka in Poland, that it
even has its own version of the European Football Champions League theme:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">nd, in English</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Silly Season: Poland,
Home of the Longest Sausage in the World</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">July 21, 2014 · by Inside Poland · in Latest news</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Hold the silly season front page – Poland now holds the world record
for the longest blood sausage in the world.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The kaszanka, a mix of buckwheat, wobbly bits, and, yes, blood, flavoured
with a selection of mild herbs, was created in Radomyśl Wielki in Podkarpackie,
south-eastern Poland.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It measured 226 metres, and weighed 335 kg, and was devoured by locals
once the world record had been approved.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The previous holder – according to TheNews.pl, which first reported the
story – was Burgos in Spain. But their attempt measured
just 175 metres.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So famed is kaszanka in Poland,
that it even has its own version of the European Football Champions League
theme:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Summer
seems a good time for breaking culinary records in Poland. In August 2010, the world’s
longest pizza (1,100 metres) was created in the city of Kraków.</span> (Source:
http://inside-poland.com)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Politics without Tusk</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
DONALD TUSK’s elevation to president of the
European Council, the most prestigious job for a Pole since Karol Wojtyla
became John Paul II, has left a gaping hole at the heart of Polish politics.
How will it be filled? The answer will determine whether the ruling Civic
Platform (PO) party can hang on to power and win a third parliamentary term
next year.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Mr Tusk has dominated Poland’s political scene ever since
he became prime minister in 2007. In his long years in power he has stamped his
authority on PO, and winnowed out any unruly
barons who threatened his rule. Underneath the shy demeanour, and the winning
smile that charmed fellow European leaders, is a tough political player.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The two men who co-founded PO
with him in 2001 have long since been pushed aside. Rivals who dared challenge
him, among them Grzegorz Schetyna, a former deputy prime minister and interior
minister and once one of Mr Tusk's closest friends, have been consigned to the
back benches of parliament or ejected from the party.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That leaves Mr Tusk with the decisive voice in
choosing a successor. He takes up his new post in Brussels in December. Once he resigns,
Bronislaw Komorowski, the president and a Tusk ally, will have to appoint a new
prime minister, who will then have two weeks to win the confidence of
parliament. That should not be much of a challenge, as PO
and their junior coalition partners from the Polish People's Party have a slim
majority in the legislature.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The likeliest candidate to replace Mr Tusk is Ewa
Kopacz, the speaker of parliament and former health minister who has become one
of Mr Tusk's closest allies.“Ewa Kopacz owes her advance in the political
hierarchy to Donald Tusk and to her loyalty to him,” writes Wojciech Szacki of
Polityka Insight, a researcher . He adds that if she becomes prime minister
then Mr Tusk will maintain influence over the new government, which will be
likely to stick to most of his administration's policies.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Other possible candidates include Tomasz
Siemoniak, the defence minister, and Elzbieta Bienkowska, the deputy prime
minister in charge of spending the flood of EU funds pouring into
Poland—although she may get the nod to take up Poland's slot as a European
commissioner.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Although Mr Tusk's name had been bandied about
for months as a possible European Council president, the prime minister had
been reluctant to go, worried that his party could splinter without his
presence in Warsaw.
PO has sagged in opinion polls over the past
year, overtaken by the right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) of Jaroslaw
Kaczynski, a long-time foe of Mr Tusk. The prime minister has been further
damaged by the “Waitergate” scandal, in which several senior ministers were
recorded (apparently by waiters) having embarrassing conversations in fancy Warsaw restaurants. He
was facing the prospect of a gruelling election campaign next year, followed by
a best-case outcome of a very wobbly coalition of everybody but PiS.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Mr Tusk’s decision to go to Brussels seems to be giving his dispirited
party a lift, at least in the short term. As he departs, PO
feels it has a decent chance of winning November's local elections and is more
optimistic about next year's parliamentary vote. When Mr Tusk appeared on
a television interview programme earlier this week, he was even serenaded by
the studio audience, thrilled by their country's achievement in securing such a
prominent post. (Source: http://www.economist.com)</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Mars Challenge in Poland!</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Europe’s first competition of
Mars rovers will be held in Poland
in September 2014. It’s a mark of recognition for Polish students who have shot
to fame as constructors of the world’s best robotic vehicles.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
From 5 to 7 September 2014, Poland will host a highly interesting event: the
European Rover Challenge, modelled on the annual University Rover Challenge in
the US.
The US-based event attracts scores of students from technical universities
around the world, people who spend their free time putting together amazing
robotic vehicles. The best robot stands a chance of taking part in a real
mission to Mars. Magma White, one of the awarded Polish robots which was
constructed by students from Torun,
is currently taking part in equipment tests in the run-up to the ExoMars
mission that will fly to the Red Planet in 2018. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
It’s the first time a Mars rovers
competition will be organised outside the United States. Thanks to efforts by
Mars Society Polska, the European competition of robotic vehicles will be
regularly taking place in Poland.
A local branch of the Mars Society and the initiator of the event in Poland, Mars
Society Polska is involved in global preparations for the manned mission to
Mars.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The racetrack will be charted on
the grounds of the Regional Science and Technology Centre in Chęciny,
Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Located in the Świętokrzyskie
Mountains near a medieval royal
castle, this picturesque venue will see a race of Mars rovers constructed by
students from all over Europe. The event will
be accompanied by a science picnic and an international conference hosted by
Mars Society Polska. The conference will be addressed by Robert Zubrin, the
famous founder of the Mars Society. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“The Mars rover rally will be
organised in Poland
because of the great interest the event has met with among Polish students,”
Mars Society Polska’s Robert Lubański tells poland.gov.pl. “No other place in Europe can beat Polish universities when it comes to the
number of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>robotic vehicles being
constructed. Space industry is still a novelty here, and the fascination with
space re-emerged in Poland
in 2012 when our country joined the European Space Agency. This also explains
why so many people are enthusiastic about the rally."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So far, Polish students have been
taking their machines to the US
competition, where they have been very successful. They have been climbing the
winners’ podium since 2010; in 2013 the Polish teams from the universities of
technology in Bialystok and Wroclaw pulled off a spectacular coup,
finishing first and second.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Although many more students
volunteered for the contest, travel costs to the United States – oftentimes bigger
than the actual cost of building a robot – proved a major obstacle. That is why
the competition will now be held in Poland, which should also make it
easier for students from our part of the world to participate in the event.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“We already have applications
from Egypt, India, Germany
and Colombia.
Among the registered teams are three teams from Poland, too,” says Robert Lubański.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Organisers have already started
plotting an obstacle course for rovers, which is supposed to simulate Martian
conditions. Robots will have to collect soil samples, examine them for traces
of life, and help a stranded astronaut.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The event is organised by Mars
Society Polska in cooperation with ABM Space Education, the Austrian Space
Forum, the Regional Science and Technology Centre in Chęciny, and the Marshal
Office of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. (Source: http://en.polska.pl)</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-80345420800947148812014-08-28T18:46:00.003-07:002014-08-28T18:46:57.264-07:00Polish premier Tusk seriously considering top EU job<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="focusParagraph">
</span>
<span id="midArticle_0"></span>
<span class="focusParagraph">
</span><br />
<span class="articleLocation">WARSAW/BRUSSELS/PARIS</span>
(Reuters) - Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is seriously considering a
proposal that he take the post of president of the European Council, a
Warsaw government spokeswoman said on Thursday, linking his decision to
the crisis in neighboring Ukraine.<br />
<span id="midArticle_1"></span>
<span class="focusParagraph">
Earlier several sources familiar with the selection process
said Tusk, a center-right pro-European, is clear favorite for the top
job when European Union leaders meet for a special summit on Saturday.<br />
</span>
<span id="midArticle_2"></span>
<span class="focusParagraph">
"European leaders are increasingly strongly persuading Donald
Tusk to assume the post of president of the European Council," Polish
government spokeswoman Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska told Reuters. "The
prime minister is treating this proposal very seriously, analyzing its
consequences for Poland, its security, especially in light of the
Ukraine crisis."<br />
</span>
<span id="midArticle_3"></span>
<span class="focusParagraph">
If confirmed, his appointment to chair and steer policymaking
meetings of EU leaders would be a victory for the 10 ex-communist
central and eastern European countries that joined the EU a decade ago.
They have demanded that one of the top jobs go to a candidate from their
region. It would also consecrate Poland's rise as a major player in the
28-nation bloc alongside EU founders France and Germany. <br />
</span>
<span id="midArticle_4"></span>
<span class="focusParagraph">
Tusk's government has been among the most hawkish in Europe
over Ukraine, pressing for tougher sanctions against Russia over its
annexation of Crimea and involvement in an uprising by pro-Moscow
separatists in the east of the former Soviet republic. <br />
</span>
<span id="midArticle_5"></span>
<span class="focusParagraph">
The Kremlin's retaliatory measures have hurt Polish food
exporters but Warsaw has demanded that NATO beef up its military
presence in Europe in the face of resistance from other European allies.<br />
</span>
<span id="midArticle_6"></span>
<span class="focusParagraph">
Two Brussels sources said current council president Herman Van
Rompuy, who chairs and prepares EU summits, is consulting fellow leaders
on a package deal in a round of telephone calls on Thursday and Friday.<br />
</span>
<span id="midArticle_7"></span>
<span class="focusParagraph">
"Van Rompuy is to call EU leaders today and if no one is
opposed to Tusk there is a deal," a person involved in the process said,
speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the
consultations.http://ca.reuters. com</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7449104546034049561.post-78261496287214425952014-08-25T05:48:00.004-07:002014-08-25T05:48:35.900-07:00Poland PM warns of possible Russian direct intervention in Ukraine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warns the threat of a direct intervention by
Russia's military in Ukraine has risen over the last couple of day.
</span></span></h2>
<div class="firstPar">
<strong>Polish</strong>
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday that he believed there was a "growing
threat of direct Russian intervention" in eastern <strong>Ukraine</strong>. </div>
<div class="secondPar">
Tusk said on Wednesday that his assessment was based on information received
in the previous dozen hours or so, but gave no details.
</div>
<div class="thirdPar">
"The threat of direct Russian intervention is certainly greater than it
was a few days ago," he said.
</div>
<div class="fourthPar">
Air strikes and artillery fire between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian
troops in Donetsk have brought the violence closer than ever to the city
centre, as Kiev's forces move in on the rebel stronghold.
</div>
<div class="fifthPar">
As the rebels struggle to push back Kiev's forces, the wild card will be
whether Russia will come to their rescue.<br />
Russian President Vladimir Putin has faced increasing pressure from Russian
nationalists urging him to send in the army to back the insurgency, and
Western leaders have accused Russia of building up troops along the border
with Ukraine in what some fear may preface an intervention.
<br />
The Russian Defence Ministry on Tuesday also shrugged off US warnings that an
air force exercise in southern Russia this week was adding to tensions,
saying that the drills were being conducted hundreds of kilometres away from
the Ukrainian border.
<i>Source: APTN(http://www.telegraph .co.uk)</i><br />
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04040609894764373786noreply@blogger.com0