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The answer was under their noses all the time

Irish police have been trying, in vain, to catch a Polish man who had seemingly racked up 50 traffic violations, providing 50 different addresses, and who somehow managed to escape capture at every traffic stop. But the mystery has been solved.

Have a look at this Polish driving license. If you were an Irish police officer, what name would you be inclined to write down? Polish driving license here If you said "Prawo Jazdy," then go stand over there with the Irish police.

Prawo Jazdy is indeed the man they have been looking for. But "Prawo Jazdy" in Polish means, "Driving License."

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Thomson Financial News reports

Poland will sell a majority stake in the Warsaw bourse to a single investor, putting on hold plans to float the eastern Europe's biggest stock exchange operator, a deputy treasury minister said on Friday.

'This will be a privatisation, in which funds, either from the Arab or other countries, will play a key role,' Michal Chyczewski told business news channel TVN CNBC in an interview. 'We will reveal more details in January.'

The head of Polish state investment agency said earlier this week Gulf state investment arms were interested in the purchase of a stake in the Warsaw Stock Exchange and the privatisaion of the country's chemical sector.

The government has initially wanted to sell up to two thirds of the $154 billion bourse by selling shares to institutional investors and in a public share offer as early as this year.

But the ministry was forced to revise its plans after the president blocked the legislation allowing the sale and the share market sell-off, which has cut index levels by half.

'One can expect that there will be one dominant investor in the bourse,' Chyczewski said. 'We are in talks with an investor, who is already an investor in other bourses.'

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guardian.co.uk reports

The Uefa president, Michel Platini, has said that Poland could host the 2012 European Championship alone if construction problems persist in Ukraine.

In an interview with the Daily Dziennik newspaper in Poland, Platini sought to dampen speculation that the tournament could be moved to Germany, which hosted Euro 2008, but revealed continuing concerns over the pace of work on the Kiev Stadium.

Asked about Germany, Platini said: "Only if the bulldozers are still working at the National Stadium in Warsaw in June 2012, but I doubt that."

"Kiev is another matter," he said. "If there are late with the stadium, then there is a possibility that Euro 2012 will be hosted only by Poland."

The 2012 tournament has been dogged by speculation that work on preparing facilities is not progressing quickly enough, mainly in Ukraine. In October, the newly elected Polish football federation chief, Grzegorz Lato, said that Poland would look to co-host the tournament with Germany if Ukraine failed to meet deadlines.

That sparked an angry reaction in Ukraine and relations were only repaired this week when Poland's minister of sports and tourism, Miroslaw Drzewiecki, backed Ukraine's preparations while on an official trip to the country.

"The Olympic Stadium in Kiev is being built," Drzewiecki said. "Despite the very difficult conditions, we saw a lot of people doing construction work and lots of work going on throughout the city. This mutual understanding [between Poland and Ukraine] is good for us."

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The Associated Press reports,

GDANSK, Poland -- Poland has given French President Nicolas Sarkozy a gift on his name day and blown-glass Christmas tree decorations to take home to his wife.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that on Saturday, St. Nicholas Day, Sarkozy was offered "something to eat, something to drink and something to invest." Tusk refused to offer further details _ other than to say that one was tinged with gold.

He says that the French first lady Carla Bruni was offered a "set of really, the most beautiful ... in the world" traditional bulb-shaped Christmas tree decorations from blown glass _called "bombki."

Sarkozy was in Poland to honor former President Lech Walesa on the 25th anniversary of his Nobel Peace Prize.

Bruni did not accompany Sarkozy.

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The Warsaw Voice reports

Polish prosecutors investigating whether Gen. Władysław Sikorski, the prime minister of the Polish government in exile, was assassinated during World War II say after exhuming his remains that they are closer to establishing the cause of his death.

Experts say they found that Sikorski, who died in mysterious circumstances in a 1943 plane crash in Gibraltar, sustained multiple fractures of the legs and cranial injuries.

The National Remembrance Institute division in Katowice started investigating Sikorski's death Sept. 3, having decided there were reasons to suspect the general had been murdered. More than a dozen people have been questioned in the proceedings so far.

The remains of Sikorski were exhumed from the cellar of Wawel Cathedral in Cracow Nov. 25 and brought to the Forensics Institute in Cracow, where the casket was opened. As previously planned, forensics experts searched for fractures and signs of other bone damage and internal injuries. Other scheduled procedures included a DNA analysis and histopathology and toxicology tests. The remains were then taken to the Radiology Department at the Collegium Medicum of Jagiellonian University, where they underwent a CT scan.

Prosecutor Ewa Koj, the head of the investigation department of the National Remembrance Institute in Katowice, says the tests have verified several hypotheses on Sikorski's injuries, but the findings will only be made public in a report to be prepared over the next few weeks. Koj adds that chances are good the experts will be able to determine what killed Sikorski and how. According to Koj, tests conducted so far have revealed different types of injuries than those described by a doctor who examined the body in 1943. "We are closer to learning the truth about the general's death," Koj said. "Every test brings us closer to this goal, especially because no such tests have been performed since 1943. The operation went undisturbed and now we will spend several weeks studying the samples we have taken. The National Remembrance Institute will keep [the public] updated about the findings."

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By W.Ż.

Polish reaction to the election of Barack Obama as U.S. president has been largely positive, but some have voiced fears that the strong relations built up between Warsaw and Republican administrations may suffer once the Democrats take over.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk Nov. 5 sent a congratulatory letter to the president elect, wished him success and invited him to Poland. Tusk said in his letter that Obama's election victory was good for America, for Poland and for the future of the planet. He stressed that Poland and the United States had close ties of friendship deeply rooted in the past.

"Relations between our countries have developed especially intensively in recent years and have been based on our cooperation in Iraq and Afghanistan," Tusk wrote. He also expressed hope that relations between the two countries would be further strengthened thanks to full commitment by both sides to plans adopted to date. In his letter, Tusk also pointed out that over 1 million Poles live in Illinois, the state Obama has represented in the Senate, most of whom live in Chicago. According to Tusk, "the democratic world needs the United States as a strong country open to joint work with those who want peace and security."

Radosław Sikorski, Polish foreign minister, also expects Polish-American relations to gain a new dynamism after Obama's election victory. In a special statement, Sikorski said relations between Poland and the United States were developing favorably. "We expect that the new administration under President Obama will bring a new dynamism to our mutual relations, something which will contribute to strengthening and expanding our cooperation in all spheres which are of interest to us. We have solid foundations to develop bilateral relations. We expect that the new administration will undertake the effort to turn these basic guidelines into specific cooperation programs and projects," Sikorski wrote. He congratulated Obama on his election victory and wished him success in pursuing his foreign policy plans, "which will allow the leadership role of the United States among democratic nations to be strengthened."

Sikorski also wished Obama success in strengthening trans-Atlantic relations and relations within NATO, something Obama had vowed to do during his election campaign. "We expect that the policy of the new president of the United States and his administration will stimulate dialogue among the allies and help us search for effective solutions with regard to issues important for the interests we share," Sikorski added.