* A proposed US radar base to be built on Czech soil can have up to 250
US personnel stationed there.
* The Czech Environment Ministry has banned logging in parts of the
Sumava National Park hit by a windstorm last year.
* Czech international striker Jan Koller has announced that he plans to
retire from the national team after this year's Euro championship.
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Some 250 US troops to rotate at radar base in Czech Republic
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A proposed US radar base to be stationed on Czech soil could have up to
250 US military personnel stationed there at any one time. The figure
was agreed upon by Czech and American delegates, negotiating the terms
of the SOFA agreement which defines the status of US troops on Czech
soil. In reality, a spokesperson for the Czech Foreign Ministry said,
the number of troops to be stationed at the base during regular
operation will be closer to 100. Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek
recently announced that the negotiations on the SOFA agreement should
be completed by Friday. The next round of negotiations on SOFA will
start in Prague on Wednesday.
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Christian Democrats ready to support US radar base
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Christian Democrats generally agree with the stationing of the US radar
base in the country, but they will only adopt a final stand after they
are informed about the Czech-US agreements concerning the radar, head
of the Christian Democratic Party Pavel Severa announced on Tuesday.
"The condition that the installation should be part of a NATO defence
system was fulfilled," Mr Severa said after talks with Foreign minister
Karel Schwarzenberg, Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova and Czech
ambassador to NATO Stefan Fuele. The Czech opposition as well as some
member of the Green Party are against the plan.
========================================================================
Environment ministry bans logging in Sumava National Park
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Environment Minister Martin Bursik has confirmed his decision to keep
the most valuable parts of the Sumava National Park untouched. The
decision includes a ban on logging in forests that were hit by a
devastating windstorm last year. Several local municipalities have
protested against the decision, arguing that leaving fallen trees
untouched may lead to the spread of bark-beetle. Sumava National Park
is the largest national park in the Czech Republic stretching along the
German and Austrian border and covering 39,000 hectares of land.
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Most Czechs against ban on physical punishment of children
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Some 60 percent of Czechs disagree with a proposed amendment to the law
that would ban physical punishment of children, according to a poll
conducted by the Median agency. Seventy percent of respondents said
they themselves had been punished in this manner as children. One
fourth of parents say they smack their children from time to time. Only
31 percent of parents polled said they were against physical punishment
and never used it. Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Dzamila
Stehlikova, who proposed the amendment, says it is necessary to hold a
public debate on the issue. Most experts say there is no reason to
introduce a ban on smacking, since there is a law that bans
maltreatment of children.
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Social Democrats increase their lead over Civic Democrats
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The opposition Social Democrats would win general elections if they
were held in March with 36.9 percent of votes, followed by the Civic
Democratic Party with 29.8 percent, according to a poll conducted by
the Median agency. The gap between the two strongest parties has
widened by 3 percent since February. The Communists would be elected by
13.2 percent of votes. The five-percent threshold to enter the lower
house would also be crossed by the Greens and the Christian Democrats,
with eight and six percent respectively.
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Klaus continues official visit of Egypt
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Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who is on a three-day official visit to
Egypt, has launched a Czech-Egyptian business forum in Alexandria. On
Monday, Mr Klaus met his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak and opened
an exhibition in Cairo dedicated to the 50 years of Czech
archaeological research in Egypt. Czech archaeologists have recently
celebrated an important discovery, revealing a fully-intact
archaeological site in the pyramid fields of Abusir dating back 4,500
years.
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Interior Ministry to devise electronic voting system
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Interior Minister Ivan Langer and the head of the Czech Statistical
Office Jan Fischer agreed on Monday that their offices would cooperate
to design and test a system enabling electronic voting by the end of
next year. The 2014 general election should be the first in which
Czechs could vote via the Internet. The plan still needs to be approved
by Parliament.
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April 8 marks International Roma Day
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April 8 is International Roma Day and several events are being held
across the Czech Republic to mark the occasion. One of the biggest
events is an exhibition of 30 racially-motivated murders since 1989,
which is taking place at Prague's Namesti Miru. International Roma Day
was first marked in 1971 and was introduced in the Czech Republic in
1990.
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Nearly 90 percent of Czechs own cell phones
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Some 86 percent of Czechs older than 16 years had a mobile phone in
2007, a growth of 2.4 percentage points against the previous year,
according to the Czech Statistical Office. There were 13 million active
mobile phones in the country last year, which means there were around
126 phone numbers per 100 people. Data from EU's statistical office
Eurostat put the Czech Republic just below the top ten EU countries as
regards the number of mobile phone users.
========================================================================
Koller to leave national football team after Euro
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Czech international striker Jan Koller announced on Tuesday that he
will retire from the Czech national football team after this year's
Euro championship. "It's a definitive decision and nothing can change
it," he said. The 35-year-old striker is the top all-time goal scorer
for the Czech Republic. He plans to leave the national football team at
the same time as its long-standing coach Karel Bruckner, who has
already said that he will quit his post after the European
championships in Austria and Switzerland this summer.
========================================================================
Weather
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It will be mostly cloudy in the next few days with rain in places.
Temperatures are expected to range from 12 to 16 degrees Celsius.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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Talking Point
Lost Neighbours project uncovers forgotten stories of Holocaust
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Several years ago the Jewish Museum in Prague launched Lost Neighbours,
a project aimed at piecing together the forgotten stories of Czech Jews
persecuted by the Nazis in the Holocaust. But most unusually, stories
are researched and recorded not by journalists or historians, but by
elementary and secondary school students. The aim has been to help
young people better understand the tragic events of more than 60 years
ago.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/102801
Current Affairs
Fifty stitches and cosmetic surgery for goalkeeper Cech after training
accident
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Soccer star Petr Cech is the best paid Czech sports person ever, and is
surely the most successful Czech of his generation. But the Chelsea
goalkeeper is no stranger to bad luck either. After a life-threatening
head injury last season, Cech is now in the wars again - he needed 50
stitches and had to undergo plastic surgery after a collision in
training left him with a deep cut in his face.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/102788
Current Affairs
Exhibition of 30 racist murders since 1989 marks International Romani
Day
------------------------------------------------------------------------
One community that's borne the brunt of skinhead attacks are the
country's Romanies, 250,000 of whom live in a state of uneasy
cohabitation with their white neighbours. Romanies make up half of the
three dozen people killed in racially-motivated attacks since the fall
of communism. April 8th is International Roma Day, which was first
marked in 1971 and has been celebrated here in the Czech Republic since
1990. We spoke to Ivan Vesely, head of the Roma organisation Dzeno.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/102787
Current Affairs
New anti-Neo-Nazi initiative gets underway
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This week saw the launch of a new campaign aimed at raising awareness
of the growing problem of right-wing extremism and neo-Nazism in the
Czech Republic. The scheme, organised by the Czech based NGO People in
Need and various partners, is called NeoNacek Chcete Ho?, which
translates as Who wants a Neo Nazi? It involves several innovative
initiatives as Jamie Brindley explains:
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/102786
Current Affairs
German Embassy rejects claims that German police are 'harassing' Czechs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Following the country's entry into the Schengen border-free zone Czechs
can now travel around much of the European Union without having to show
their passport. At least, that is how things are supposed to work. But
last week Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek complained that the German
police were harassing Czechs with unnecessary ID checks on the other
side of the border, claims which the German Embassy has strongly denied.
