Polish prosecutors said yesterday they wanted to question three Swedish residents over the theft of the infamous Nazi German Arbeit Macht Frei sign from the former Auschwitz death camp.
"We want to confirm the identity of these individuals, about whom we have partial details. We want them to be questioned by Polish investigators in Poland," prosecutor Artur Wrona told reporters.
"The evidence gathered is solid enough to charge one of them, and possibly another. The third would be questioned as a witness," he added.
Poland sent Sweden a formal request on December 31 for aid in its probe of the theft, which sent shockwaves around the world.
Investigators declined to confirm reports by the Polish news channel TVN24 that the individuals are two Swedes and a Swedish-resident Serb. (AFP)
Bank cards bug
Around 30 million high-tech German bank cards could leave owners high and dry, bank associations warned as the feared Y2K computer bug cropped up 10 years later than expected.
The problem that hit cardholders trying to use cash machines or make payments throughout Germany and abroad stems from computer chips unable to recognise the year 2010, and could take up to a week to resolve, the DSGV savings and regional banking association said in a statement.
A global alert had gone out 10 years ago amid widespread fears of a similar problem, dubbed Y2K for the year 2000.
More recent cards that contain a computer chip designed to provide extra security have been affected while older ones with just a magnetic strip on the back appear to work normally.
DSGV said around 20 million "electronic cash" (EC) cards, also known as "girocards," and 3.5 million classic credit cards issued by its members had been affected.
EC cards are direct debit instruments which do not allow owners to buy on credit. (AFP)
Airline pickpocket
French police are investigating whether a pickpocket stole thousands of euros from passengers as they slept on an Air France flight from Tokyo to Paris.
"There is an investigation under way," a spokesman for the border police at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris said when asked to confirm a report on the website of the Le Figaro.
The paper said around €4,000 appeared to have been stolen from five business class passengers as they slept on the overnight flight.
"On this flight, which takes off from Tokyo Narita at 10 p.m., passengers often sleep deeply before waking up shortly before arriving in Paris at around 4 a.m.," Le Figaro quoted one of the alleged victims as saying. (Reuters)
Bethlehem protests
Orthodox Christmas celebrations kicked off in the traditional birthplace of Jesus, yesterday to the sound of bagpipes and protests by Palestinians accusing Church leaders of selling land to Israelis.
Palestinian boy-scouts played bagpipes and hundreds of pilgrims watched a colourful procession led by Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III through Manger Square in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem.
Two columns of Palestinian riot police escorted the top Orthodox cleric in the Holy Land to the Church of the Nativity, built on the site where Christians believe Mary gave birth to Jesus after she and Joseph found no room at the inn.
The protesters chanted slogans against Theophilos and held up signs in English, Arabic and Greek accusing him of betraying his Palestinian followers. (AFP)
Botched security test
Slovak police apologised yesterday for a botched security test that sent explosives to Ireland in the luggage of an unsuspecting air traveller and sparked a major security alert there.
"We are very sorry that a good effort to test the security of civilian air transport turned out so badly," border police chief Tibor Mako told reporters.
The test was performed Saturday in the northeastern Slovak city of Poprad as airports worldwide boosted security checks following an alleged attempt to set off a bomb on a plane heading to Detroit in the United States on December 25. But it almost turned into a disaster as a batch of explosives ended up on a Dublin-bound Danube Wings plane.
Mr Mako said police planted two packages in order to test security at the airport - one a dummy package and the other containing explosives.
Mr Mako said the explosives package was successfully detected but a police officer "forgot to remove the explosives after a dog found them during a security test." (AFP)