21 Killed in Polish Homeless Shelter Fire

PM calls it 'most tragic rail disaster' in years

(NEWSER) - At least 16 people are dead and 58 injured in a head-on train crash in Poland late last night, the AP reports. A train traveling south from Warsaw to Krakow was accidentally put on the wrong track; train maintenance was being carried out on one of the tracks in the area at the time, notes the Guardian . "It is more dramatic than the pictures show. This is our most tragic rail disaster for many years," says Prime Minister Donald Tusk. "There are several dozen wounded and this may increase. People have been killed—this is the most tragic information." One American is among the dead. More»

Voters seek new EU relations, troop withdrawal from Iraq

(NEWSER) - Poles ousted the conservative Kaczynski twins today and voted in a center-right party that vows better relations with the EU. The highest turnout in nearly 20 years backed Civic Platform by 44% over Law and Justice's 30%, setting up opposition leader Donald Tusk to guide parliament against President Lech Kaczynski. Opposition parties won enough seats to top Kaczynski's veto power, Reuters reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Poles headed to the polls today in larger numbers than usual, potentially ending the reign of the conservative Kaczynski twins, the Guardian reports. Exit polls weren't available, but opposition leader Donald Tusk had been expected to replace Jaroslaw Kaczynski as PM and lead a hostile parliament against President Lech Kaczynski. Younger Poles are frustrated with the twins’ conservative style and seeming obsession with bygone bogeymen. More»

2 days before polls, Kaczynski set to crash

(NEWSER) - With less than 48 hours to go until Poland votes in a snap parliamentary election, the opposition has pulled ahead over the ruling Kaczynski brothers' Law and Justice Party, says the Telegraph. Opposition leader Donald Tusk lagged earlier in the race but is now on course for victory after puncturing the image of Jaroslaw Kaczynski as a man of the people—and revealing that the PM once pulled a gun on him in parliament. More»