The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says the Polish government must begin actively preventing rising inflation. It has advised Poland that interest rate increases alone will not suffice to stop growing prices. According to OECD estimates, if the Polish zloty exchange and unemployment rates remain at levels similar to those at the end of 2007, the rate of inflation in Poland could be up to 8.4% in 2009.

Cable consortium A&E has launched a new Polish version of its popular History Channel in Poland, marking the beginning of what the network indicated will be a rapid rollout across the fast-growing Eastern European market. The History Channel is going out as both a high and standard definition service.

"Plac Wilsona" [Wilson Square], a subway station in the Warsaw district of Zoliborz was selected in April as the most beautiful in the world. The verdict was reached by architects participating in the MetroRail 2008 conference in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. Warsaw’s only subway line consists of 17 stations and travels 12 miles. The Plac Wilsona station opened in 2005.

Russia’s Duma [Parliament] stated on April 10, 2008, that Polish President Lech Kaczynski’s combination of EU-Russia negotiations with Georgia and Ukraine's accession to NATO was "scandalous and unreasonable." Commenting on a recent statement made by Kaczynski, Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee noted that there was no legal base for bundling together EU-Russia talks and relations between Russia and NATO. Kosachyov said he was sure that other EU members would not support Poland on the issue.

Justice Minister Zbigniew Cwiakalski revealed on April 11, 2008, that Poland has been hit again by a major soccer corruption scandal, involving at least 29 Polish football teams. A Polish legislator who attended a parliamentary hearing, linked Polish soccer, called football in Europe, to "organized crime," adding that hundreds of football officials, coaches and players were allegedly involved in the widening scandal. Poland’s Interior Minister, Grzegorz Schetyna, urged the board of directors of the Polish Football Federation (PZPN) to resign.

Poland will assign about $11.5 million for a non-governmental assistance program as part of its "Foreign Assistance 2008" program. The foreign ministry announced on April 11, 2008, that the money will be assigned for 98 projects, to be carried out in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa to support systemic infrastructure, improve human rights observance and development of the poorest regions. Included is support for independent information in Belarus, access to potable water in Kapisa province in Afghanistan and setting up a model center for professional training in Sudan.

Polish legislators have honored the memory of the more than 200 young Jewish fighters who led the Warsaw Ghetto uprising against Nazi soldiers in 1943. In a resolution on April 11, 2008, the Sejm [lower house of parliament] said the ghetto fighters were defending human dignity. A national observance of the 65th anniversary of the event was held on April 15, attended by international dignitaries, including Israeli President Shimon Peres. Marek Edelman, the last surviving leader of the uprising, placed flowers at the Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto on April 19, the anniversary of the start of the uprising.

A Polish digital TV channel is broadcasting old series of the British version of Big Brother, including the year the reality show first featured Jade Goody, as educational programming for viewers wanting to learn English as a "living language." Urszula Majewska, the chief executive of the Polish TVN Lingua channel, admitted that she ‘wouldn’t recommend it for teenagers". Goody makes an unlikely educational role model, having become a media star after appearing on Big Brother in 2002, mangling her sentences and failing to answer simple general knowledge questions.

According to Polish Health Minister Ewa Kopacz, public hospitals will receive PLN $775 million in extra funding from the National Health Fund (NFZ) when their contracts are renegotiated later this year. However, she stressed there would be no easy bailouts for indebted hospitals and that the ministry would promote and support those hospitals which have instituted sound financial management. The NFZ accumulated substantial reserve funds last year because of unexpectedly higher premium contributions and unutilized contracts.

On April 5, 2008, nearly seventy people presented their collections to an audience of over 1,500 audience at the Krakow Fashion Awards, a ceremony held annually to present awards to those young designers with the most outstanding work. The show is organized by Szkola Artystycznego Projektowania Ubioru [Krakow School of Art and Fashion Design] and has become one of major fashion events in Poland. The rewards included significant cash prizes and internships with leading designers and companies, as well as promotion in numerous fashion magazines.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and his wife attended a premiere of Andrzej Wajda’s new film "Katyn," during the Days of Polish cinema in mid-April. Yushchenko expressed gratitude to Wajda and all his Polish colleagues for filming a part of Ukraine’s history and presented the director with an Order of Yaroslav the Wise.

In an interview with Israel’s Haaretz newspaper before his trip to Israel in early April, Prime Minister Donald Tusk noted that in certain cases, the treatment Poland gets from Israel is even better than what it gets from its most important ally, the United States. Tusk was referring to the big contract the Polish Defense Ministry signed in 2004 with the Rafael Armament Development Authority, whereby Rafael will supply Spike anti-tank missiles to the Polish army. The value of the deal is about $250 million.

According to currently binding regulations, direct distribution of drugs, i.e., from a manufacturer to a pharmacy, is not legal in Poland. Marcin Kolakowski, director of the Department of Supervision at the Main Pharmaceutical Inspectorate (GIF), stated that opinion at the conference Pharma Logistics in Warsaw on April 10-11, 2008. In his opinion, regulations state that pharmacies may buy drugs only from pharmaceutical wholesalers. Moreover, marketing authorization holders are authorized to provide pharmaceuticals only for wholesale trade or research and development, as well as to medical facilities. He said drug stores do not fall into any of those categories.

Poland has announced it will begin regulating online gambling this year in a move that seems to be following a positive trend for the industry. Poland’s Deputy Finance Minister said on April 16, 2008, that the best way to control online betting and gambling is to tax and regulate the sector. The decision follows the favorable ruling for online poker and online gambling in a case heard by the European Court of Justice. The courts ruled that Italy cannot use criminal law to ban gaming companies licensed in another European Union (EU) nation from taking bets in Italy.

A conference devoted to the Polish language was held at Indiana State University in mid-April. The highlight of the academic meeting was the granting of the Found In Translation award to Professor Bill Johnston for his translation of Tadeusz Rozewicz’s poems. Johnston is a lecturer at Indiana and has a number of translations of Polish authors to his credit including famous classic and contemporary poets, playwrights and novelists such as Adam Mickiewicz, Witold Gombrowicz, Magdalena Tula and Andrzej Stasiuk. The Found In Translation award is granted by the Book Institute and Institutes of Polish Culture in London and New York for the best English language translations of Polish literature.

A group of 22 professional Iranian graphic designers are scheduled to compete at the 21st International Poster Biennial in Warsaw in late April. The posters will be presented in Warsaw’s Poster Museum and the Orangerie of the Wilanow Palace and will be judged by an international jury on June 4 and 5, 2008. The International Poster Biennial, endorsed by the International Council of Graphic Design Association, is the most important and prestigious artistic event of its type in world.

The Polonia Votes 2008 campaign intends to give Polonia in the United States a voice in local and national affairs through political mobilization. It hopes to demonstrate Polish American strength by voting in large numbers to demonstrate to politicians that Polonian votes can make or break their campaigns. U.S. citizens can go to <http://www.poloniavotes2008.com> and declare their intent to vote in the 2008 elections. Those not registered to vote you can register through http://www.rockthevote.com .

Novosti [News] reported on April 23, 2008, that Russia has not yet seen readiness from Poland and the Czech Republic to accept new U.S. proposals to admit Russian military personnel to missile shield locations. The Pentagon’s plans to deploy missile defense elements in the two Central European countries, stated the Russian newspaper, continues to be a major bone of contention in relations between the U.S. and Russia, which considers the project a threat to its security.

At their joint press conference on April 23, 2008, Polish President Lech Kaczynski and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen revealed that their conversation dealt with the recent NATO summit meeting in Bucharest. Rasmussen said the two countries often had identical views on many issues. They also discussed the climate change issue and the forthcoming international conferences on the subject scheduled for Poznan and Copenhagen. Rasmussen also said Georgia’s sovereignty and inviolability of its borders should be absolutely respected.

The thoughts of Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) has inspired the founding of an interdisciplinary academy that seeks to bring about a deeper understanding of the human person in all of his facets. Under the sponsorship of the Holy See, the Academy of Human and Social Sciences was inaugurated in Rome on April 17, 2008. It seeks to foster interdisciplinary dialogue between the social and the religious sciences, with a view to establishing a deeper understanding between the world of technology and science, the human and social sciences, as well as between different cultures and religions.

Vincent Polimeni, a developer based in Mineola, N.Y., is said to have been to Hel and back. His Poland operation, now a 40-person team, is expanding from retail to residential projects, and its first stop is on the Hel peninsula, the site of what Polimeni calls "the Hamptons of Poland." He said upon returning to the U.S. on April 22, 2008, that European Union money is flowing in to Poland, supporting new infrastructure and a growing consumer class. "It's almost the reverse of what’s happening here," he contends. "The economy is growing in leaps and bounds."

During the Summer Festival On The Water in June, 2008, The Opera in Wroclaw will present Giuseppe Verdi’s Opera "Othello" in a great, open-air performance. "The Summer Stage On The Water" will be built over the surface of the Odra river near Piaskowa Island. The project does not anticipate a stage, but Othello’s castle fortress will be built. It will not block the original panorama of the town and will be linked with the land by a bridge that, according to particular scenes, will change its structure and color.

A Polish convoy came under fire on April 18, 2008, in the Wardak province on the road to Kabul, Afghanistan. A spokesman for the Polish contingent said that Taliban forces are more active and coalition troops are threatened with attacks. This time the attack took place during a visit by Poland’s Defense Minister, Bogdan Klich,

Twenty women with their children began a protest in Walbrzych, Poland, on April 16, 2008, because water, gas and electricity were cut in their homes. The city authorities had decided on the action on the grounds that the mothers are illegally inhabiting the apartments. After initial talks, the authorities agreed to restore water and electricity in three apartments, but nothing had been decided by late April as to the remaining seventeen. The authorities insist that they cannot tolerate squatters, who now amount to over 300 in the city.

European broadcasters and media experts took part in a conference in Warsaw on April 23, 2008, on the role and importance of public media. Media experts, representatives of Polish public media, the Polish National Broadcasting Council (KKRiT), as well as guests from Denmark, Latvia, France and the UK, took part in the meeting. One of the major topics discussed was the mode of funding public media and attempts to free broadcasters from political influences. Many of those from outside Poland said that the media cannot remain impartial if financed from the state budget.

The English language Warsaw Voice, published in Poland, reported that a court in Lodz ordered on April 18, 2008, that former Deputy Health Minister Jaroslaw Pinkas, who is suspected of corruption, should be detained for three months. Prosecutors asked that he be detained because they feared an obstruction of justice and because Pinkas faces a prison term of 10 years if convicted. Charges against Pinkas concern his time as Warsaw’s Cardiology Institute deputy director for clinical and organizational affairs in 2003-2005, prior to his term as Deputy Minister in 2005-2007. They are linked to a nationwide investigation into irregularities in offers for the delivery of medical equipment, as well as tenders for outsourcing services for public health care providers.

The security of stadiums was discussed at a conference in Warsaw in late April, especially looking at preparations to the Euro 2012. The participants, among them sports journalists, club representatives, as well as football players, discussed the recently growing phenomenon of aggression on Polish stadiums. Statistics indicate that football matches have become a field for pathological situations where pseudo-fans grasp the opportunity to manifest their frustration and hatred. The discussion concentrated on the effectiveness of present methods of combating hooliganism and what can be done to improve the situation.

Polish film-maker Jerzy Skolimowski returns to the Cannes in May with his first feature in almost 20 years, joining other East European directors picked for the prestigious Directors Fortnight. The Fortnight, held at the same time as the official Cannes Film Festival, May 14-25, arose from France’s 1968 student and workers’ protests by angry filmmakers, who believed the official festival had lost its feel for film and become a flag-based national contest dictated by diplomats.

New documents concerning the attempt against the late pope, John Paul II, are being revealed in a new book by John O. Kohler, an American journalist and writer. The book, entitled "It's About the Pope. Spies in the Vatican," was released in Poland on April 28, 2008, by ZNAK Publishing House, known for its publications about the late Pope.

The Warsaw Business Journal reported in early April that American car giant Ford has signed a deal to move the assembly of its Ka model to Fiat's Tychy, Poland, plant with the help of a $8 million government subsidy. Ford expects that local enterprises will gain a turnover of over $310 million and 1,000 new jobs will be created as a result of moving production of the Ford Ka to Poland and using local suppliers. The annual Ka output from the Fiat factory in Tychy will stand at 120,000. Some 25 domestic automotive parts suppliers will sign contracts with Ford to match its planned $148 investment in Poland.