Expats

Protesters gather across Europe to voice anger at treaty they see as Internet freedom threat [Feb 11, 2012] By Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press WARSAW, Poland - Protesters took to the freezing cold streets of Berlin, Helsinki and many other European cities Saturday to voice anger at an international copyright ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Poland lowers growth forecast in 2012 budget [Dec 06, 2011] VANESSA GERA The Associated Press WARSAW, Poland Polish leaders unveiled a 2012 budget on Tuesday that lowers earlier predictions of economic growth ? an acknowledgment that Europe's debt crisis is impacting the country. The budget, which also aims to lower the country's deficit, assumes 2.5 percent growth. A plan announced in September had assumed 4 percent growth and was criticized by some ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Poland reopens investigation into Auschwitz crimes [Oct 27, 2011] VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland Polish authorities have reopened an investigation into World War II crimes committed at Auschwitz and its satellite camps that was closed in the 1980s because of the country's isolation behind the Iron Curtain. One aim of the new probe is to track down any living Nazi perpetrators, according to an announcement Thursday by the Institute of National ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Polish Catholics see miracle in communion wafer [Oct 02, 2011] VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland Roman Catholics in Poland gathered Sunday for a special Mass celebrating what they see as a miracle: the appearance on a communion wafer of a dark spot that they are convinced is part of the heart of Jesus. The communion wafer in question developed a brown spot in 2008 after falling on the floor during a Mass in the eastern Polish town of Sokolka. Two ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Polish church and state leaders pray for the EU [Sep 25, 2011] VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland Bailouts, crisis meetings, and now divine intervention. With the European Union deep in crisis, Poland's church leaders held a special Mass on Sunday to pray for European unity and the country's success as it holds the EU presidency. The service in Warsaw, attended by Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski and other political leaders, came after Polish ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Poland fires 2 for role in exposing Belarusian [Aug 17, 2011] VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland Poland's prosecutor general announced the dismissal Tuesday of two officials who played a role in giving Belarus financial data about a leading human rights activist ? information that resulted in his arrest. In a huge embarrassment for Poland, prosecutors gave Belarusian police banking data on Ales Belyatsky, a prominent activist in the authoritarian ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Poland fires 2 for role in exposing Belarusian [Aug 16, 2011] VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland Poland's prosecutor general announced the dismissal Tuesday of two officials who played a role in giving Belarus financial data about a leading human rights activist ? information that resulted in his arrest. In a huge embarrassment for Poland, prosecutors gave Belarusian police banking data on Ales Belyatsky, a prominent activist in the authoritarian ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Polish populist Andrzej Lepper found dead at 57 [Aug 06, 2011] VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland Andrzej Lepper, a pig farmer-turned-firebrand populist who was briefly deputy prime minister in a shaky government and who was later disgraced by bribery and sex scandals, has died in what police suspected to be a suicide. He was 57. Lepper's body was found in his party office in Warsaw on Friday afternoon, police said. "Everything indicates that he ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Polish populist Andrzej Lepper found dead at 57 [Aug 06, 2011] VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland Andrzej Lepper, a pig farmer-turned-firebrand populist who was briefly deputy prime minister in a shaky government and who was later disgraced by bribery and sex scandals, has died in what police suspected to be a suicide. He was 57. Lepper's body was found in his party office in Warsaw on Friday afternoon, police said. "Everything indicates that he ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Obama visit to Poland chance to add vigor to ties [May 27, 2011] VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland President Barack Obama's last stop on his European tour brings him to Poland for the first time, giving him the chance to inject new vigor in a relationship with an ally that has sometimes felt slighted by Washington. Obama had planned to attend the funeral last year for President Lech Kaczynski, who was killed in a plane crash, but an ash cloud from ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Poles joyful over beatification of John Paul II [Apr 28, 2011] VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland Poles are already calling him John Paul the Great. Across the heavily Roman Catholic country, the faithful are voicing joy and pride as Sunday's beatification of Polish-born Pope John Paul II draws closer. Many pilgrims are boarding buses and trains for the roughly 30-hour journey to Rome for the ceremony, while many more are expected to fill squares ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Restored Renaissance synagogue to reopen in Poland [Apr 03, 2011] VANESSA GERA Associated Press ZAMOSC, Poland Seventy-two years after the Nazis arrived, the Polish town of Zamosc is getting its synagogue back. One of the most important surviving synagogues in Poland, a Renaissance gem looted by the Nazis and suffering from decades of neglect, is reopening this week after a meticulous restoration, part of an effort to reclaim the country's decimated Jewish ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Restored Renaissance synagogue to reopen in Poland [Apr 03, 2011] VANESSA GERA Associated Press ZAMOSC, Poland Seventy-two years after the Nazis arrived, the Polish town of Zamosc is getting its synagogue back. One of the most important surviving synagogues in Poland, a Renaissance gem looted by the Nazis and suffering from decades of neglect, is reopening this week after a meticulous restoration, part of an effort to reclaim the country's decimated Jewish ... [via YahooNews] More >>

Chimp remark strains Russian-Polish relationship [Feb 18, 2011] VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland Poles are fuming over a Russian aviation official's remark that even if a chimpanzee had been running the control tower the day their president's plane crashed in Russia the disaster would still be entirely their fault. Media and officials widely condemned Oleg Smirnov's remarks, broadcast live in Poland to a public still hurting over the April death ... [via YahooNews] More >>