Concerns about the euro zone have resulted in drops across the board for the currencies of many less developed nations. Amongst others, the Hungarian forint, South African rand, Romanian leu, and Russian rouble have all seen drops against their developed market counterparts.

In some countries central banks have intervened to support their currencies. Poland’s central bank stepped in to support its currency, the zloty, and with good results: unlike other east European currencies, the zloty actually made gains against the euro. As in Poland, central banks in Romania and Russia have intervened to rescue the leu and rouble respectively.

Generally though, emerging currencies face a rather doom-laden scenario. The Hungarian forint declined massively against developed currencies, with the euro jumping about 1.5% against the forint to HUF297.82. Chile’s peso dove more than 1% against the dollar, the Mexican peso dipped about 0.8%, and the South African rand dropped 1.6%.

Meanwhile, Greece reported overnight that it would fall short of budget targets imposed by the International Monetary Fund, European Union and the European Central Bank as part of conditions for its bailout.

Guillaume Salomon, emerging market strategist at Societe Generale, summed the mood up:

“It’s not looking very good [for emerging markets]. There are a number of concerns, and we’re back to the same old game [the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis] here.”

Furthermore, a big drop in U.S. stocks and commodities caused mass selling of emerging market currencies.

Emerging Market Currencies Feel the Pinch as Euro-Zone Debt Crisis Takes Hold is a post from: The Inquisitr

Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria Kaczynska, and several officials were killed in a plane crash that occurred at 10:50am local time (2:30am EST) at a western Russian airport in Pechorsk, near Smolensk.

Kaczynski was traveling with the Polish delegation to Russia to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre during World War II. The flight originated in Warsaw, and it is thought that the plane may have hit some trees at the end of the runway while a landing was attempted in a heavy fog.

The casualties could be particularly devastating to the country’s miliary:

“The entire top military brass, including the chief of defense and all the services, were on the plane,” said Tomas Valasek, of the Center for European Reform.

“If that is true, then you’re looking at a situation, in effect, of the decapitation of the military services.”

Kaczynski’s Law and Justice Party released a partial list of those killed:

• Lech Kaczynski — Polish president
• Maria Kaczynska — The president’s wife
• Ryszard Kaczorowski — Poland’s last president-in-exile
• Aleksander Szczyglo — head of the National Security Office
• Pawel Wypych — presidential aide
• Mariusz Handzlik — presidential aide
• Jerzy Szmajdzinski — deputy parliament speaker
• Andrzej Kremer — Deputy Foreign Minister
• Gen. Franciszek Gagor — head of the army chief of staff
• Andrzej Przewoznik — minister in charge of WWII memorials
• Slawomir Skrzypek — head of the National Bank of Poland
• Janusz Kurtyka — head of the National Remembrance Institute
• Przemyslaw Gosiewski — lawmaker
• Zbigniew Wassermann — lawmaker
• Grzegorz Dolniak — lawmaker
• Janusz Kochanowski — civil rights commissioner
• Bishop Tadeusz Ploski — army chaplain

There were no survivors, and 97 people were killed in the crash.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski, wife, many others killed in plane crash is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s one thing to go on a nice walking holiday through beautiful Poland but it is another thing altogether to have that interrupted by some big hairy beast that no-one seems to be able to identify.

Such is the case for Piotr Kowalski, 27, from Warsaw who was enjoying his time in the Tatra mountains when one day he was peacefully filming an innocent mountain goat only to have is attention caught by some huge hairy creature emerging from behind some rocks.

"I saw this huge ape-like form hiding behind the rocks. When I saw it it was like being struck by a thunderbolt," he told the daily Superexpress.

"Coming from Warsaw, I never really believed the local stories of a wild mountain ape-man roaming the slopes. But, now I do."

Source: Austrian Times – Polish Yeti caught on film

The film has been handed over to the Nautilus Foundation whose president, Robert Bernatowicz says you can definitely see something much larger than a normal man moving on two legs.

At this point Yeti experts are headed to Poland to try and verify that this beast exists but in the meantime I’ll let you decide from what pictures we have.

Bigfoot discovered to have Polish cousin [Pics] is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Polish politician who failed a breath test has blamed Apples for the reading.

Despite the breath test coming back with a reading on 0.7 units (0.2 is the legal limit in Poland) Marek Latas denied having drunk alcohol that day. “I am diabetic, I ate a few apples before driving” Latas told local media. “I have been involved in no accident, I underwent a routine roadside check. I was confident there was no chance I had alcohol in my blood.”

According to Reuters, Latas is a member of parliament for the conservative opposition Law and Justice Party.

This is new: Polish politician pleads Apples after failing breath test is a post from: The Inquisitr

The iPhone is set to go on sale there Friday, but mobile company Orange is worried Polish customers won’t be so keen on the costs, according to InformationWeek. It commissioned the actors to stand in front of about 20 different stores, a spokesperson indicated, to try to give the impression of a hotly anticipated item.

Wonder if other companies have done that elsewhere, unbeknownst to the general public?

Report: Carrier Paid Actors to Line Up for iPhone Launch is a post from: The Inquisitr

Incredible footage of a Tornado hitting a bus in Poland August 15 has surfaced on YouTube, complete with the bus rolling over as the Tornado hits it. It appears too real to be fake, and news reports confirm the tornado in the area at the time. Just be happy you weren’t on the bus

Tornado hits a bus in Poland is a post from: The Inquisitr