Local superintendent may change face of educational ... - Krakow Post

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4 The Krakow Post P O L A N D DECEMBER 13-DECEMBER 19, 2007 R E G I O N A L N E W S Suspect in dance master’s death appears before court A man accused of murdering well-known Russian dance master Dmitri Bryantsev was remanded in custody by a Czech court late last week following a brief appearance, commercial broadcaster TV Nova reported. Police have not identified the man thought to be behind the murder of the artistic director of Moscow’s Stanislavsky Ballet but said he was a foreign citizen. Bryantsev, 57, disappeared on a short trip to the Czech Republic in June 2004 and a nationwide search was launched when he failed to return home. His remains were only discovered in woods near the central Czech town of Jicin in June this year. Police said they charged a man with murder in connection with the case on Friday. They believe an argument erupted over a financial deal between the two men as they drove together. The younger man then shot his companion several times and hid the body. The suspect faces a jail sentence of up to 15 years if found guilty. (AFP) Officials dismiss idea of Belarus-Russia union Russian officials dismissed late last week talk of an impending deal with Belarus to make President Vladimir Putin head of a “union state” comprising the two countries, Echo of Moscow radio reported. The reports came ahead of a visit by Putin to neighboring Belarus today for talks with his counterpart Alexander Lukashenko. “This absolutely doesn’t accord with reality,” a Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said when asked if the two sides would sign an act of union. Earlier Echo of Moscow cited unnamed sources in Lukashenko’s administration as saying the two leaders would sign a “constitutional act on the creation of a union state of Russia and Belarus” and that Putin would head the new entity after his term as Russian president ends next year. Under the scenario, Lukashenko would become speaker of the “united parliament,” the station reported. Lukashenko’s spokesman Pavel Lyogky rejected the reports, telling AFP they had prompted “surprise in Belarus.” “We don’t confirm the information that Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin in the near future will sign in Minsk a constitutional act and share powers in a union state,” he said. Speculation is mounting over possible scenarios by which Putin could retain power after the end of his second term in May, when he is constitutionally obliged to stand down. While Belarus and Russia have close ties – Putin regularly refers to the neighboring state as “fraternal” Belarus – there are also strains. When Putin was named at a meeting of his United Russia party to stand at recent parliamentary polls, Lukashenko commented that watching the meeting on television he had “wanted to vomit.” Lukashenko, who has been branded a dictator by the West, was on a visit to Venezuela on Friday. (AFP) Police bust Vietnamese prostitution ring Czech police broke up a suspected prostitution ring with raids on houses and brothels Saturday night during which 11 Vietnamese were detained, the news web site Novinky.cz reported late last week. Police from a special squad to combat organized crime carried out searches of the Vietnamese’s homes in Prague and the western city of Domazlice, and also swooped on one brothel in the western Czech border town of Cheb and three others in the capital, the news web site said. The raids followed several months of preparations for the operation. Jail sentences of a maximum 15 years could be imposed, it added. The Czech Republic’s Vietnamese community, fostered during the Communist era when Vietnamese were brought over to work in factories in the former Czechoslovkia, represents one of the biggest groups of foreign migrants in the country. (AFP) Greenpeace members end Czech power plant protest Greenpeace activists late last week ended a two-day protest on top of the chimney of the biggest thermal power plant in the Czech Republic, which they say is the country’s biggest polluter. “We succeeded in attracting attention about the links between the biggest Czech thermal plant which emits the most carbon dioxide, the company CEZ, carbon extraction and the Czech position on climate change,” spokesman Jan Pinos said. The Prunerov II plant in the north of the country near the German border is considered to be the country’s biggest polluter, spewing out 8.9 mln tons of carbon dioxide annually. Eleven activists from Britain, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic scaled the 150 meter chimney in the morning. Five came down that evening. The demonstration coincided with the international climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, where world leaders will try to chart out the next steps to curb the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. The protesters are due to meet Czech Green party leader and environmental leader Martin Bursik on Saturday before he departs for the Bali summit. Bursik has attacked CEZ for not investing in the latest clean technology and spending its profits on an acquisitions spree in other European countries. (AFP) Tusk focuses on improving foreign policy PM Donald Tusk. the krakow post Poland’s new Prime Minister Donald Tusk is focusing on improving his nation’s foreign policy. He says the former government’s policy was damaging Poland’s relations with, for example, Germany and Russia. In recent days he has visited Italy, Belgium and Germany to discuss key issues. Together with his Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Tusk says he intends to work hard to make Polish foreign policy more open for compromise and cooperation. During his meeting with European the krakow post Ombudsman Jan Kochanowski has sued the Constitutional Tribunal over regulations governing the retirement age of women and men. Currently, retirement age in Poland for men is 65 and for woman 60. In the ombudsman’s opinion, it should be 65 for both sexes. Kochanowski thinks that different retirement ages are unjust and discriminatory, because women’s shorter work lives mean lower government pensions. “A woman retiring at the age of 60 will be given a payment of 66 percent of a man’s pension. If she would work until age 65, the percentage would be 88.7,” Kochanowski said at a press conference. In addition to this, Kochanowski said, an earlier retirement age for women increases their risk of being fired after they qualify for pensions. The real drama will start in 2009 when the pension reform act of 1999 takes full effect. Savings will be taken into consideration, and women may be penalized with lower pensions. In addition, Polish women on average have five times lower salaries than men. If women cannot earn more, perhaps they can work longer. Currently women stop working earlier because it has very little effect on their pensions. Ombudsman Kochanowski believes that the age of retirement should be flexible, so that women will not be forced to work until age 65 if they do not want to. Commissioner Jose Manuel Barroso, Tusk showed significant differences with his predecessor, Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Tusk emphasized there was no conflict between the interests of Poland and those of the EU. Barroso and Tusk agreed the mutual relationships should be based on trust. Nevertheless the new prime minister is not going to bow to every EU demand but rather make the relations based on solid negotiations and a rapid resolution of any conflict. “It’s important to stand up for your nation, to defend the crucial interest of your nation,” Tusk told the EU commissioner. The ombudsman says that the equalization of retirement age is a European trend. The equal retirement age is mandatory in Denmark (65 years), Germany (65), Spain (65), Ireland (65), Holland (65) and France (60). A very interesting rule was introduced in the Czech Republic: The more children reared by a woman, the lower the retirement age. Jolanta Fedk, minister of labor and social policy, also approves of equal retirement ages, but she says that Poland is not prepared for such a change and should wait for the Constitutional Tribunal verdict. Fedk also is considering a so-called marriage pension where the pension would be inherited by the surviving spouse when the other spouse died. According to a survey by the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, 56 percent of those polled said they want no retirement changes, and 30 percent said they want to equalize the retirement age of men and women. In Kochanowski’s opinion, equalizing the retirement age is not all that should be done. “Raising the retirement age is needed” for both sexes, he added. Retirement and pensions will become a more urgent issue in coming years. In 30 years, up to 45 percent of Poles will be over 50 years old. Currrently, 29 percent of Polish people are 50 and over. In 2060 it is estimated that each working person will be supporting three nonworking persons. “This tough defense, if you will, of your interest in the EU also means the ability to cooperate, the ability to show mutual respect. As a representative of the Polish government alongside with others who have fought for the EU, I will stand up and defend the European interest as well but always in the spirit of mutual trust and cooperation.” Foreign Minister Sikorski met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Brussels for the highest level talks between the two countries in over a year. Diplomats said the meetings would have a symbolic dimension since Tusk, a centerright liberal, had promised in the election campaign and in his inaugural speech to put Poland back in the EU mainstream and to end verbal hostilities with Russia. Poland’s relationship with Russia, after a year of tensions between the two countries, was also at the top of the agenda in talks dominated by EU issues during Tusk’s meeting with his Italian counterpart, Roman Prodi, in Rome on Dec. 7. The Italian prime minister complimented Tusk on Poland’s efforts to improve relations with Russia. This follows a previous Polish government stance to block talks on a new EU- Russia agreement after Russia imposed a ban on imports of Polish meat products. Another very important issue of Tusk’s foreign policy is Poland’s second big neighbor, Germany. As Germany and Poland are looking to repair their bilateral relations, first Sokorski and then Tusk visited Berlin. Relations between the two countries have been strained because of the previous Polish government’s stance on certain EU issues and discussions about a proposal for a controversial Center for Displaced Persons in Germany by an association concerned with the fate of Germans expelled from Eastern Europe after World War II. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier assured Poland that the German government didn’t support the controversial property claims by some Germans organized into the Association for Displaced Persons against Poland. “I am glad that we are also able to talk about the difficult subjects, and I can call them that, in a very open and trustworthy atmosphere,” Steinmeier said. And indeed the atmosphere seemed more friendly. Sikorski and Steinmeier were even on first-name terms. The meeting brought forth mutual assurances that the political relations between Germany and Poland would improve. Poles seek equal retirement age for men, women Polish police seek Santa agence france-presse Polish police were searching late last week for a suspect who robbed a village grocery disguised as Santa Claus. Witnesses of the hold-up Thursday in Ploty, northwest Poland, found it difficult to describe the robber who wore a Santa costume with a plastic face mask and long white beard, police said. The thief gave his best wishes to the saleswoman before brandishing an item resembling a handgun and making off in a getaway car with several thousand zloty (several hundred euro, dollars). The robber chose November 6 for the heist, celebrated as the feast of St. Nicholas in Poland. Wanted: Santa. Retired couple window shopping in Krakow. Andrzej Kowalski
DECEMBER 13-DECEMBER 19, 2007 P O L A N D The Krakow Post 5 Stolen British tractors turn up in Poland: police agence france-presse Two hi-tech tractors stolen in southern England by a suspected vehicle trafficking gang and apparently bound for Ukraine have turned up in Poland, police said late last week . “They are luxury-end John Deere and New Holland tractors,” said Tadeusz Kaczmarek, a police spokesman in the central Polish city of Radom. The tractors, which were snatched in the southern English county of Hampshire, were discovered by Radom police in a sealed truck which was traveling from Britain to Ukraine. A third tractor found in the truck had had its chassis number filed off, preventing police from immediately identifying from where it had been stolen. Three individuals were arrested, Kaczmarek told AFP. Police later discovered a fourth New Holland tractor without a chassis number at a site related to the suspected thieves. Such tractors are the farm world’s equivalent of a luxury car, boasting features such satellite navigation, air conditioning and even the latest in-vehicle sound systems. “We estimate the price of the vehicles we have recovered at around a mln zloty (280,000 euro, $400,000),” Kaczmarek said. “There are more arrests on the horizon. It looks like we’re dealing with a whole theft and trafficking network,” he said. Poland busts Romanian gang that used fake British cards cc:sa: Solipsist Poland stands behind capital punishment the krakow post The Tusk government has reversed Poland’s refusal to go along with a European Day Against Capital Punishment – a stand that had prevented the Council of Europe from establishing the day throughout Europe. Joyful European ministers reacted to Tusk’s decision by immediately moving to establish the day. Much of the rest of Europe had resented Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s refusal to accept such a day. Poland was the only country out of 47 in the Council of Europe to refuse to go along with the designation. That refusal was tantamount to a veto because council rules require a unanimous vote of member countries before a special day can be established. The Kaczynski government’s stand not only rankled other Europeans but also contradicted Poland’s own position on capital punishment. The government stopped executing criminals 19 years ago and outlawed the death penalty 10 years ago. Kaczynski had maintained that because no court with jurisdiction over all of Europe had outlawed the death penalty, there was no reason to have a European Day Against Capital Punishment. Tusk’s decision to reverse Poland’s opposition to an anti-death-penalty day has already improved relations with the rest of Europe, according to Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration Grzegorz Schetyna. “Everything has changed in Poland,” he said. “The government has changed, Poland has changed and the decision has changed.” Non-governmental organizations opposed to the death penalty designated October 10 an International Day Against Capital Punishment some years ago. The Council of Europe decided in September to establish a Europe-wide anti-death penalty day on October 10 as well. In the last few weeks of his administration, Kaczynski refused to go along with the day. That killed the day for this year. Kaczynski’s refusal prompted European leaders to describe Poland as being backward. A leading European socialist, Martin Schulz of Germany, asked how long the rest of Europe would swallow Poland’s effort to block the day. EU leaders should do everything they could to show how out of touch Poland was on the issue, Schulz said. Tusk’s new Minister of Justice Zbigniew Cwiakalski contends that “there was no reason to object to establishing the European Day Against Capital Punishment. I am surprised that Poland came out against it. Poland engaged in capital punishment for the last time in 1988, and it has been eliminated from the penal code for over 10 years.” Klaus Buchman, a well-known German political scientist and journalist, said officials might be able to justify capital punishment in countries with no well-established legal and penal systems – as was the case in America’s Wild West territories. Many territories lacked secure prisons, so there was a real threat of a dangerous criminal continuing to roam free, he suggested. Thus territorial governments often imposed the death penalty to threaten criminals by severity of punishment. In Europe, however, legal and penal institutions are so strong that the death penalty has been abolished on human-rights grounds, Buchman said. Nowadays, at least in Europe, capital punishment looks like a relic of the past. Some compare its abolition, in terms of moral force, to the abolition of slavery. agence france-presse Polish police said late last week they had arrested around 20 Romanians who were using forged British credit cards to withdraw cash. “Five groups of three to four Romanian citizens have been arrested in the space of the past five months,” Polish national police spokesman Zbigniew Urbanski told AFP. The gang created cards with magnetic strips thanks to reading devices stashed in cashpoints in Britain, and used hidden cameras to record personal identification numbers (PINs) typed into the keypad by genuine card holder. Polish police believe that identity thieves try to take advantage of differences between Britain and Poland’s cashpoint systems, which make it easier to pass off fake cards as the genuine article. Unlike their British equivalents, few Polish cashpoints require a card to have a microchip, which provides additional protection against fraud. Criminal gangs around the world often produce fakes encoded with genuine, stolen credit card details, in order to make payments and cash withdrawals at the expense of victims of data theft. Encoding data into a magnetic strip is cheaper and easier than trying to fake a microchip. In March, Polish police arrested three British citizens who were using 85 separate forged cards to withdraw cash in Warsaw. Last month, police in Spain said they had bust a credit card gang largely made up of Romanians, arresting 44 people. New bird flu case, minister reports agence france-presse Poland was hit by a fourth case of deadly H5N1 bird flu late last week when the disease was discovered at a poultry farm, the Agriculture Ministry confirmed. “The new case was discovered in the village of Saldowo, near to Biezun, (central Poland) close to other recent cases,” Farms Minister Marek Sawicki told reporters in Warsaw. “Just as in the previous cases all the chickens will be culled,” Agriculture Ministry spokeswoman Malgorzata Ksiazyk. Three previous cases of H5N1-type bird flu, which is fatal to humans, were discovered earlier this month at chicken and turkey farms 120 kilometers (72 miles) northwest of Warsaw. Veterinary authorities ordered a cull of 110,000 chickens in the area on Sunday. A 30-kilometer isolation zone was established Monday around the farm where the newest case was discovered. Smaller zones were created around the three other contaminated farms in nearby villages. The cases of H5N1 are the first to be recorded in Poland among domestic fowl. Last year the disease was discovered only among wild birds. AGENCJA NIERUCHOMOSCI www.property-krakow.com NEW IDEA OF BEAUTY Cosmetic cabinet & SPA EGO offers: - Wide range of face & body care - Dermatology & dermabrasion - Relaxing & healthcare massages - Circumstantial makeup - Home healthcare cosmetics - Atmosphere of relax & recreation We guarantee satisfaction every minute in our office. cosmetics & spa OPEN: Mon-Fri 9.00-20.00 Sat. 9:00-15.00 ul. Wielopole 15 Tel. 012/ 429-6556 www.ego.zaprasza.net NOCLEGI W APARTAMENTACH www.aaakrakow.com office@aaakrakow.com CALL IN AND SEE US! ul. Napoleona Cybulskiego 2
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Local superintendent may change face of educational ... - Krakow Post

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