• The ancestors of Senator John Kerry, the U.S. presidential candidate, came from Poland. That was discovered by journalist Janusz Wiszniewski. Kerry's great-grandmother, from Silesia, was born in a town of Głogówek. His grandfather emigrated to the United States.


• Monika Jaruzelska, the only daughter of the general who declared martial law in Poland in 1981, is now a mother. Her son's name is Gustaw, as Monika's parents apparently called her this name in her childhood. Monika, who is 40, says that it was her father who encouraged her to have a child.


• Players from the Dutch soccer club NEC Nijmegen, where Polish forward Andrzej Niedzielan plays, curse in Polish when the training session goes badly. Niedzielan says he once let slip a certain word and his teammates immediately latched onto it. He will have to explain to his colleagues that this is a really offensive word.


• One of the most popular TV announcers, Tomasz Kamel, has obtained an MA in German studies. The journalist, who is 32, started his studies 12 years ago and only now defended his master's thesis.
Magda Kuszewska