Copyright (c) 2008 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Saturday, January 24th, 2009
By: Ruth Frankova
* The Czech Republic's elections to the European Parliament will
probably take place on June 5 and 6.
* The health of former Czech president Vaclav Havel, who was
hospitalized with a lung inflammation last Monday, is steadily
improving.
* Cross country skier Lukas Bauer has clinched his first victory in
this season's World Cup in Estonia.
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EP elections likely to take place on June 5 and 6
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The Czech Republic's second elections to the European Parliament will
probably take place on June 5 and 6. The EP elections are to be held
between June 4 and 7, with each state specifying the exact date on its
own. Under the Czech election law, the election days are Friday and
Saturday. President Vaclav Klaus has to set the EP election date by the
7th of March, 90 days ahead of the election at the latest, according to
a decision of the EU Council. Political parties will be required to
submit their lists of candidates by the end of March. Following EU
enlargement, the Czech Republic will have 22 seats in the European
Parliament, two seats less than in the previous period.
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Vaclav Havel's health improving
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The health of former Czech president Vaclav Havel, who was hospitalized
with a lung inflammation last Monday, is steadily improving. His doctor
repeated on Saturday that if no complications arise, Mr Havel could be
discharged from the hospital late next week. Vaclav Havel, who is 72,
was hospitalized last week, after complaining of breathing
difficulties. He underwent minor surgery which was followed by
complications. He is reported to be suffering from respiratory problems
caused by a congestion of the right lung, part of which was removed in
1996 when he was diagnosed with cancer.
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CR presents EU's stance on UN peacekeeping operations
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The European Union fully backs the United Nation's peacekeeping
operations, the EU said in a statement drafted by the Czech Republic
and presented at the UN Security Council meeting on Friday. The
statement was presented by Petr Kaiser, Czech deputy ambassador to the
UN. Mr Kaiser has said that the United Nation's peacekeeping capacities
should be deployed only when there was no other viable option and only
for the shortest time necessary.
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Majority of Czechs support the EU
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A new opinion poll conducted by the STEM agency for the opposition
Social Democrats suggests that most Czechs are in favour of the
European Union. According to the poll, 65 percent of Czechs are
satisfied with their country's EU membership. Nearly 70 percent of
Czechs believe that EU membership benefits the country and 40 percent
think that the country is well prepared for the current EU presidency.
Over 60 percent of respondents think that EU presidency will raise the
Czech Republic's prestige in Europe and wish that the parliament
approves the Lisbon treaty.
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Far-right supporters march through Janov
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A demonstration by far-right supporters passed without any major
incident in the town of Litvinov on Saturday. Around thirty members of
the far-right Worker's Party marched through Janov, a part of town that
is home to a strong Romany minority. According to the Worker's Party,
the Town Hall has not been dealing with complaints from the local
people about the situation in the neighbourhood. In November last year,
Janov witnessed the worst street violence in the past eight years, with
around 600 neo-Nazis clashing with the police.
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Czech cinemas post record sales for 2008
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Czech cinemas raised sales by 20 million crowns year-on-year to a
record 1.22 billion last year, according to the data released by the
Film Distributors Association. The number of cinema-goers increased to
nearly 13 million, the highest number in the past 14 years. Multiplex
cinemas account for the biggest share on sales as well as for the
increase of visitor numbers. The price of tickets in Czech cinemas has
continued to rise last year. In 2000, the price of a ticket was around
70 crowns, while in 2008 people paid 100 crowns on average.
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Cross country skier Bauer wins 15 km classic
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Czech cross country skier Lukas Bauer has clinched his first victory in
this season's World Cup, when he came first in the men's 15 km classic
in Otepaa, Estonia. The winner of last year's cross country World Cup
won his favourite race in a time of 35 minutes 43 seconds, beating
Sweden's Johan Olsson by 1.5 seconds. Vincent Vittoz of France finished
third.
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Stepanek knocked out of Australian Open
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Czech tennis player Radek Stepanek has been knocked out of the
Australian Open by Fernando Verdasco of Spain. Stepanek lost Friday's
third round match 4-6, 0-6, 0-6, despite getting off to a good start by
breaking the 14th-seeded player's serve. In the previous round,
Stepanek had defeated Michael Berrer of Germany. The last Czech to
remain in the singles competition is Tomas Berdych, who will face Roger
Federer on Saturday night.
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Weather
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The end of the week is expected to bring colder weather again, with
temperatures dropping down to around 0 degrees Celsius. It should
remain mostly sunny, with occasional rain or shower.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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SoundCzech
Frost under your nails
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Hello and welcome to another edition of SoundCzech - Radio Prague's
Czech language series in which you can learn idioms through song
lyrics. For the past few weeks, the Czech Republic has been in the grip
of freezing weather with temperatures only recently rising above zero.
I guess it's high time to check out a few idioms connected with the
wintertime. We'll be listening to a song with a very fitting title
indeed - Zima, or winter:
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/112563
Magazine
Magazine 1.24.2009
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One of Josef Lada's famous illustrations comes to life. Two beer fans
from Liberec have invented a mobile beer crate that you can drive home,
and the town of Jilemnice boasts a snow sculpture of the legendary
Krakonos giant. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarova.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/112529
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