Warsaw - Michal Sikorski senses the fear in his dwindling community of Polish workers in Iceland as the global financial crisis spreads.

Once drawn in by Iceland's construction and service industries, Poles left by the hundreds in recent weeks as work dried up. Then, the country's financial collapse threatened to wipe out the money they had made in search of a better life.

"People are afraid they'll lose their savings," said Sikorski, a diplomat at the Polish consulate in Reykjavik. "In Poland, maybe they'll earn a bit less but at least they will be with family, in their country."

Brussels  - Former Polish president Lech Walesa and Mario Monti, a former European commissioner from Italy, are to join a European Union "reflection group" tasked with discussing the bloc's long-term future, diplomats in Brussels said Tuesday.

The creation of such a group was first proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and later endorsed by EU leaders at their last December summit.

Headed by former Spanish premier Felipe Gonzalez, it is to look at the major challenges facing the EU over the next two decades.

Warsaw - The Polish National Bank has prepared a "package of trust" to preserve the stability of Poland's banking system, president of the bank Slawomir Skrzypek said on Monday.

"We want to propose certain structures," Skrzypek said, "thanks to which the Polish National Bank will influence a growth in trust for transactions between banks."

Skrzypek said more details will be given during a meeting with banks on Tuesday.

The conservative Law and Justice party recently called for an agreement by political parties and the government to work with the national bank, financial regulators and labour unions to ward off damage to Poland.

Warsaw- A third of Poles think the world financial crisis has already hit Poland, but some 40 per cent don't think the government is doing enough to protect their bank savings, said a survey in the daily Polska on Saturday.

The conservative Law and Justice party recently called for an agreement by political parties and the government to work with the national bank, financial regulators and labour unions to ward off damage to Poland.

Berlin - Poland and Germany remained at odds Thursday over climate targets, despite talks between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and visiting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Berlin.

Merkel said she hoped the differences would be settled at an EU summit in Brussels October 15-16.

Warsaw has opposed emissions-reduction targets proposed by the European Commission as too tough, and has called for Poland to receive a significantly larger allowance in the later phases of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

Warsaw - A 30-year-old Russian citizen was detained by Warsaw police on suspicion of taking part in an assassination attempt on Moscow's deputy mayor in 2002, the Polish Press Agency reported on Thursday.

Alikhan M - whose last name was withheld in accordance with Polish law - was detained Wednesday while taking a dog for a walk.

Police suspected him of using a fake alias and determined his real identity after contacting Russian officials.

Russian police had earlier determined the suspect might have fled the country for Belgium, France or Poland.