Warsaw (PMN)—Lech Walesa went to court on January 8, 2010, to clear his name of accusations he once spied for the communist secret service. Walesa had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and for five years served as independent Poland's first president.

Walesa is suing Lech Kaczynski, Poland’s current president, for libel in a civil suit that began in November. He is demanding about $34,000 in damages for accusations he collaborated with the communist secret service back in the 1970s. Walesa’s supporters say it is part of a smear campaign by political rivals.

Neither Walesa nor Kaczynski has attended the court sessions in person.

The accusations before the court stem from comments made by President Kaczynski during an interview with Polish television last year, in which he accused Walesa of having been a communist agent, code-named "Bolek." Those charges are not new. They first surfaced in 1992 when Poland’s new government was delving into the files of the communist-era secret service. They found a list of agents and Lech Walesa’s name was on it. However, it was common for the secret service to falsify such documents. Polish courts have since cleared the former president of any wrong-doing.

A controversial book published in 2008 by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, a government-affiliated research institute, concluded that Walesa had indeed been a collaborator.

According to opinion polls, Lech Walesa remains very popular in Poland. But, not everybody believes Walesa should be involved in current politics or that he should be using the court system so aggressively to safeguard his reputation. In general, they say he is already a great national hero and should be content to settle for that.

Warsaw (PMN)—Scientists in southern Poland have made a discovery that suggests four-legged creatures walked the earth 18 million years, earlier than originally thought. The fossilized footprints were found in 2002 in the Swietokrzyskie mountains near the city of Kielce by geologists Grzegorz Niedzwiedzki and Piotr Szrek of the University of Warsaw and the Polish Geological Institute.

Further tests on the findings have prompted scientists to question original theories as to when sea life first began to move onto land. Niedzwiedzki told TVP [Polish Television] in early January, 2010, "The seriousness of the findings are in the fact that they are very old fossils left by animals with four paws and claws in the sediment of a shallow sea and shore." It would mean that these animals were on land nearly 20 million years earlier than previously thought.

A key part of the evolutionary theory involves a creature known as the Tiktaalik, a shallow-water fish with fins, which is often thought of as the beginning of the "missing link" between sea creatures and land-roaming vertebrates. Until now, it was widely accepted that they existed 375 million years ago. The new evidence has thrown timelines into question.

Wroclaw, Poland (PMN)—A Polish couple who met in the back of a police car on their way to a Wroclaw jail have won the right to marry behind bars after taking their case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Pawel J. can now wed Magdalena H. after the court found a decision by prison authorities barring them from marriage was not in accordance with human rights legislation.

"Prison deprives a person of freedom and certain rights and privileges. But it does not mean that a person held in custody does not have the right to marriage," stated the court in its ruling.

The two had met in 2002, and romance flourished despite them serving time in separate wings of the same institution. Letters were exchanged until Pawel finally proposed. The prison refused to allow him to marry on the grounds that he and his fiancée had communicated with each other through letters that were barred under prison regulations.

Pawel won the backing of the Helsinki Foundation, and took the prison service to court. The authorities eventually decided against contesting the Strasbourg ruling, stressing that there are in fact no regulations stopping convicts from marrying.

Warsaw (PMN)—Poland’s secret service has arrested a Russian on suspicion of spying. The man, who had lived in Poland for ten years, was detained after Poland’s internal security agency (ABW) deemed his presence a threat to national security.

"It was decided to pick him up as his operations against us were becoming increasingly hostile and damaging," said a security source, quoted by the newspaper Gazeta Prawna [Legal Gazette] on January 8, 2010. "He acted with malice and premeditation." Zbigniew Jaskolski, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office confirmed that a man was under investigation for spying.

The arrest occurred a year ago, but remained secret owing to its sensitive nature, and reports added that the suspect allegedly possessed secret equipment for transmitting information back to his handlers in Moscow, and that he had resisted arrest. While Polish authorities were quick to laud the arrest, bestowing honors on the team involved, the operation indicated that Russia has made Poland a particular target for espionage.

Last year it was revealed that Poland had expelled two Russian diplomats who allegedly worked for Russia’s military intelligence service (GRU) and had tried to unearth compromising information on Polish generals as part as a possible blackmail campaign.

Security experts believe that Poland’s decision to host the a controversial U.S. missile shield, now changed to some form of high-tech weaponry, encouraged a surge of Russian interest in the country.

Warsaw (PMN)–The stadium in Poland that will be home to the Euro 2012 football [soccer in the U.S.] championship games is being imported from Italy. More than twelve thousand tons of steel will travel over 800 miles for 14 hours from near Venice, Italy to Warsaw, Poland. The first shipments arrived on site on Monday January 4, 2010.

About 70% of the steel construction is ready. It is prefabricated by Italian company Cimolai, which was also responsible for elements of the stadium for this year’s World Cup in Johannesburg.

In order not to chip or scratch the lacquer work on any of the elements, the journey will be made on special extra-wide trucks escorted by cars with flashing signals. The trip will take place at night, so as not to wreak havoc in peak-hour Warsaw traffic, and the route is specially planned to avoid narrow streets and sharp turns.

All of the steel elements need to be in place by April, and all the steel grating has to be ready in June. This is one of the main deadlines, and Janusz Kubicki, Vice President of the National Center for Sport, says the construction consortium faces a fine of $34,000 a day for the first two weeks and $342.000 daily for every day thereafter.

Despite freezing conditions, concrete foundations are being laid and 60% of the reinforcement work is in. Tents have been put up around the building site, and heating is allowing work to continue. Basically, the stadium will be made up of a barrel-like outer construction that fundamentally will not be attached to a floating roof, an openwork aluminum net in Poland’s national colors that will rest on taut steel lines stretched across the top of the drum.

Warsaw (PMN)—Because public support for the EuroPride event in Poland has dramatically improved, Polish news headlines of last year such as "Gays To Flood Warsaw" are expected to be likely. Warsaw residents are split by this year’s equal rights parade, EuroPride 2010. A new poll for one of Poland’s leading news services showed 45% of locals support the march, while 44% are against it. That is more than twice as many supporters than two years ago.

Social observers say it reflects a mindset shift in the community and is a positive result for the gay community in Poland. When then-President of Warsaw Lech Kaczynski banned a parade in the city in 2005, only 30% of residents disapproved of the decision. Three years later, this dropped to 25%. This suggests a liberal change in the city, but as many as 91% of the people polled said they would not be attending the march.

EuroPride 2010, July 9-18, will be the first time the parade will take place in an East-Central European nation, and the organizers say it will continue the tradition of Christopher Street Day, with the motto "Freedom, Equality, Tolerance." Christopher Street refers to the site in New York where the modern gay rights movement began.

The Equality Foundation said that EuroPride 2010 will include events from the world of film, theater, science, sport and the arts. The organizers expect around 20,000 supporters from around Europe.

Warsaw (PMN)—Jacek Borcuch’s "Wszystko co kocham" ["All That I Love"] was selected for screening in the main competition of the Sundance Film Festival, held in Park City, Utah, January 21-31, 2010, as the first Polish film to be shown at the annual event.

The movie went on general release in Polish cinemas in mid-January, 2010, four months after it won the "Longest Applause" Award at the Polish Film Festival. Described by several critics as Poland’s present-day answer to "Romeo and Juliet," it is set in 1981, during the Solidarity revolution in Poland.

"All That I Love" quickly received rave reviews from Polish critics.

The film’s protagonists are four teenagers who form a punk group to express their longing for freedom and rebellion toward the grey socialist reality that surrounds them. They score a success at a music festival. One of the boys, a son of an army officer and communist party member, falls in love with a daughter of a Solidarity activist. The film demonstrates how politics interferes with the private lives of people and families.

Borcuch, 39, who is also the author of the script, started his career as an actor, appearing in several high-acclaimed films. "All That I Love" is his fourth film.

Warsaw (PMN)—A Polish court issued a warrant on January 14, 2010, for the arrest of Anders Hogstrom, the Swedish former leader of a group of right-wing extremists, suspected of involvement in the theft of the "Arbeit Macht Frei" ["Work Makes Freedom"] sign at the German-created Auschwitz concentration camp. According to the Polish news agency (PAP), the prosecutors want Hogstrom, who is believed to be in Sweden, to be arrested and taken to Krakow for questioning.

Pictures of Hogstrom, together with personal information were sent to the Krakow Police from Sweden. The pictures were then shown to two of the five suspects detained in Krakow for the theft. They are said to have identified Hogstrom and stated that he participated in the crime at the former concentration camp.

The Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter [Daily News] wrote that the Polish police also is interested in getting in contact with another Swedish citizen. However, that person is not a suspect of any crime.

Following the court decision as a basis, Hogstrom can be detained in Sweden. A European arrest warrant issued that Swedish prosecutors can consider.

Warsaw (PMN)—Responding to criticism that Poland’s financial aid to earthquake-torn Haiti was meager, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said, "$150,000, the equivalent of three four-wheel drive vehicles, is not a ridiculous sum." Sikorski also told the Polish TVN 24 station on January 15, 2010, that the bulk of Poland’s financial assistance and humanitarian aid to Haiti will be via the EU.

Meanwhile, TVP television says the Polish Consulate in Columbia is saying that a man of dual Polish and Canadian citizenship, himself an aid worker for the UN, is known to have died in the earthquake. Sikorski assured reporters that Polish tourists who had been trapped in the country were being airlifted to the Dominican Republic.

Sikorski stressed that the Polish rescue team is one of 11 worldwide that are certified by the UN to be able to carry out such a task. "We can be proud that as a country that once received assistance can now give it," he added.

Bothered by criticism that the Polish team had been slow in being deployed, he said that it was very difficult to plan and get to the affected area, as it was a nation "in chaos". Rescue teams would need the support of American troops, he said, as they will not be armed. U.S. forces were coordinating the humanitarian action.

Fifty-four Polish rescuers left for Haiti, with ten search dogs and four tons of equipment.

Warsaw (PMN)—The New Poland Express (NPE) reported on January 8, 2010, that a key witness in one of Poland’s most high-profile murder cases died in mysterious circumstances in prison, prompting immediate calls for an investigation. Artur Zirajewski was found dead in a cell of a Gdansk prison hospital after reportedly suffering a pulmonary embolism, although it was widely rumored that he may have killed himself.

Serving 15 years for an unrelated crime, Zirajewski was a prime witness in the killing of the former head of the police, General Marek Papala, who was gunned down in 1998 in a crime that bore all the hallmarks of a mafia hit. That crime remains unsolved.

Following Zirajewski’s death the Law and Justice (PiS) party called for an extraordinary meeting of parliament’s justice committee to probe what it described as the "mysterious and questionable death." the party wants an explanation as to just why such a valuable prisoner was left unsupervised despite being unwell, as well as an answer to the question whether he committed suicide or there was foul play involved.

In his testimony Zirajewski claimed that Edward Mazur, a Chicago-based, Polish-American businessman had offered another man about $40,000 to kill Papala. Experts pointed out that Zirajewski’s death came after he tried to get his sentence reduced by offering more information on Papala’s murder.

Zirajewski is the latest of a number of people linked to high-profile murder cases to die in suspicious circumstances. Three people involved in the kidnap and murder of businessman Krzysztof Olewnik have died, and a criminologist has claimed that 10 people connected to corruption cases had died from having "little accidents" or committing suicide.

London, England (PMN)—Poland injected optimism for further momentum in electronic ID (e-ID) rollouts in Europe with the recent announcement that a national e-ID project will be rolled out in early 2011. The increased application of smartcard technologies within Poland and Europe is expected to accelerate demand in other areas, generating incremental revenues for the smartcard industry.

The pl.ID project in Poland anticipates a budget of $125 million of which approximately $105.6 million will be funded by the European Union (EU). With a planned duration of four years, the groundwork is expected to be laid in time for the first issuance of a national e-ID by January 1,2011.

Unlike other countries like Spain or the Netherlands, Poland will likely issue the new electronic ID cards free of charge. Valid for ten years, the cards will store personal data, a digital photograph and personal digital signature and, possibly, additional biometric information.

The Polish Security Printing Works (PWPW) is already investing heavily in infrastructure necessary to accommodate the Information Technology (IT) overhaul for this project.

Warsaw (PMN)—A survey commissioned by Poland’s Foreign Ministry indicates most Poles think Poland should provide financial support to developing countries. The research found 83% of respondents are in favor of development aid. In fact, the idea of helping out internationally has been gaining acceptance in Poland over the last few years. In 2004, 63% of Poles supported assistance provided by Poland.

Agata Zadrozna of TNS OBOP told Polskie Radio [Polish Radio], "It seems the reason for this is the sense of growing prosperity of the country. We see that there’s more states that are worse off than us. Other countries once helped us and now that we are one of the richer states, we should help others. We feel that we can earmark some of our tax money for this assistance."

Most respondents of the survey think that giving assistance to poorer states is Poland’s moral duty. They think that the biggest challenge the world is faced with today is the struggle against AIDS and the provision of potable water to everyone, think the respondents. The continent requiring most attention is Africa, they say. Opponents of the idea, however, state that the country is not rich enough to provide such help.

Warsaw (PMN)—The town of New York is among a number of places that was wiped off the Polish map as Poland changed its calendar to 2010. The minister of internal affairs and administration made the decision to wipe off the map place names that were merely customary or unused. Among these places were New York, Homily and In The Field, the literal translations of the small Polish towns that have been forgotten. As of the new year, 365 places ceased to exist on maps.

Polish journalists and film crews looking for displaced Polish citizens in New York. They found that the town, which was all but boarded up and shut down years ago, was going to be wiped off a map it was never even on. It turned out that New York was a nickname given to the area by a former parish priest, now deceased, many years ago. For the most part, the nickname died with him. Many young New Yorkers did not even know about New York.

The background story is that the parish priest was planning his Christmas caroling one year and announced that first he would be downtown, then in "Szmacionie" at the edges of the village and finally in New York, beyond the forest, periphery. But why he called it that will remain a mystery. It may have been just an ironic remark.

Edinburgh, Scotland (PMN)—The Scotsman reported on January 26, 2010, that the Polish Catholic Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek claims Jews have stolen the tragedy of the Holocaust and exploited it as a propaganda weapon to gain "unjustified advantages." Pieronek made the remarks during an interview with the Pontifex.Roma website at http://www.pontifex.roma.it . They were published only hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Poland to take part in commemorations to mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.

While stressing that the majority of people who died in Nazi Germany’s death camps had been Jewish, Bishop Pieronek, 75, a well-known figure in Poland, criticized Jews for apparently claiming ownership of the slaughter at the exclusion of other ethnic groups and nationalities who perished.

"Undoubtedly, most of those who died in the camps were Jews, but also on the list were Poles, Gypsies, Italians and Catholics. It should not be that one group steals this tragedy and uses it for propaganda purposes," the bishop was quoted as saying. He then added that the Holocaust had been used as a "propaganda weapon" by Jews to achieve "often unjustified advantages".

In comments that could infuriate Israel still further, Pieronek went on to suggest that Jewish manipulation of the Holocaust had helped to silence international criticism of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

The Bishop went on to say, "the Jews, have a good press, because of their powerful financial resources, extremely powerful through the unconditional support of the United States. And this promotes a kind of arrogance, which I consider to be unbearable."

Although Jerusalem and Warsaw enjoy good relations, some Jews accuse Poles of having had a role in the Holocaust, and still suspect the country of harboring anti-Semitic sentiments. Many Poles find such accusations insulting. They say people who make them are ignorant of the tremendous suffering Nazi forces inflicted on Poland during the war and that thousands of Poles died helping Jews. They also point to the fact their country now has a flourishing, if small, Jewish community.

Bishop Pieronek later claimed that the internet article was written without proper permission. He said some statements were added by the journalist who conducted the interview.