Copyright (c) 2009 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Friday, November 6th, 2009
By: Christian Falvey
* Czech President Vaclav Klaus has met with the American Vice-President
Joe Biden and confirmed mutual interest in cooperating on a future
defence system.
* Prague city transport trade unions have threatened to go on strike in
protest of planned lay-offs.
* Recent polling indicates that 88% of Czechs are dissatisfied with the
general political situation in the Czech Republic.
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Klaus meets with Biden
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The Czech President Vaclav Klaus has met with the American
Vice-President Joe Biden as part of a four-day visit to the United
States. The US again confirmed its interest in cooperating with the
Czech Republic on a new missile defence system replacing an earlier
proposal by the previous US administration. Mr Klaus said that the
"exceptionally friendly" meeting had picked up where discussions with
Mr Biden had left off a few weeks earlier during the latter's visit to
Prague. On Wednesday Mr Klaus gave a speech on global warming and a day
later met with members of Congress. From Washington he will be flying
to California for a conference on Ronald Regan and the fall of
communism, and will be returning to Prague on Sunday.
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Prague transit workers threaten strike
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Prague city transport may come to a halt sometime next week as trade
unions of the metropolitan transit company prepare to strike in protest
of planned lay-offs. While the unions have not given a date for the
strike, saying only they are prepared to begin at any moment,
unofficial information from employees and union members indicates
Tuesday, November 10. The planned strike is directed at the Prague
municipal government, which the union holds responsible for the
company's poor financial situation. The city is the 100% shareholder in
the Prague transportation company, DPP, which lacks sufficient
investment funds and is some two billion crowns short of its needed
operational expenses at present.
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Poll: vast majority of Czechs dissatisfied with political situation
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A sweeping 88% majority of Czechs are dissatisfied with the general
political situation in the Czech Republic according to a survey
published by the Median polling agency. According to Median, the
postponement of early elections until next year has played a major part
in that dissatisfaction. Respondents said that the politician who best
handled the early-election crisis was President Vaclav Klaus, giving
him a below-average grade of 3.1 on a five point scale. Civic
Democratic party chairman Mirek Topolanek got the worst result in this
regard with a grade of four. More than two-thirds of those polled also
suggested that the ambiguous political situation in the Czech Republic
will damage its position in Europe.
Mr Topolanek's centre-right government was toppled by a lost confidence
vote in the spring and was replaced by an interim technocratic
government. Early elections scheduled for October of 2009 were declared
unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and put back to their
original timeline, leaving the Czech Republic with a caretaker
government until that time.
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Fischer emphasises commitment to combating extremism
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Prime Minister Jan Fischer on Friday emphasised his government's
commitment to fighting extremism in the Czech Republic while
recapitulating his priorities before parliament on Friday. The PMs
statement was in reference to reports of terrorist attacks prepared by
a right-wing fascist organisation and reported on by the daily Mlada
fronta Dnes on Thursday. The paper cited a professional soldier as
stating he was training a group of some thirty individuals to carry out
kidnappings and attacks on ideological enemies, including Jews and
anarchists. The Minister of Defence Martin Bartak said Thursday evening
he had ordered the soldier's immediate discharge. Police have charged
eight individuals in connection with the organisation, which calls
itself White Justice.
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Politicians families under police protection due to extremist threat
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In further connection to the White Justice case, the daily Pravo
reported Friday that the son of Prime Minister Jan Fischer has been
under police protection for the last five months on account of the
family's Jewish background and the extremist group's treat to attack
"highly-positioned Jews". The paper reported that the family of
interior minister Martin Pecina was also receiving police protection.
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MPs give up colleague for prosecution
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The Chamber of Deputies has voted to give up independent MP Petr Wolf
for prosecution. Mr Wolf, formerly of the Social Democratic Party, is
suspected of credit fraud and copyright violation. The decision was
recommended by the Immunity and Mandates Committee and was debated by
parliament for an hour. Mr Wolf's questionable financial dealings
caused the scandal that sparked the toppling of the government of Mirek
Topolanek earlier this year when it emerged that the prime minister had
instructed one of his aides to try to prevent Czech Public Television
from broadcasting an investigative report into Mr Wolf's activities.
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Bird flu case in South Bohemia
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The bird flu virus has been found in a flock of wild ducks in South
Bohemia; experts say the case is not dangerous. The flock of 280 birds
in which the virus was detected is kept for breeding and will be
destroyed. Authorities from the city of Ceske Budejovice, to which the
flock belongs, say that the small size of the flock and the conditions
in which the animals were living make the chance of further infection
very unlikely.
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Czech EU presidency cost 3.25 billion CZK, so far
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The finance ministry has said that the costs of the Czech EU Presidency
amounted to 3.25 billion crowns by the end of September. This figure is
roughly half a billion crown less than what was originally budgeted for
the period of 2007 to 2009. That sum will rise before the ministry
gives the government the final calculation in the first quarter of next
year. The Czech Republic took the EU's six-month rotating presidency
over from France at the start of 2009. That country reported about the
same costs, i.e. 3.77 billion crowns, but also stated it was
approximately twice the average.
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Sparta beat Cluj away while Slavia fight back to draw with Valencia in
Prague
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Sparta Prague increased their chances of qualifying for the knock-out
stages of football's Europa League with a 3:2 away win over Romania's
Cluj on Thursday night. That result leaves Sparta second in Group K on
seven points, one behind leaders Eindhoven. Slavia, meanwhile, came
from 2:0 down to draw 2:2 with Valencia in Prague. However, the Czech
league champions are bottom of Group B with only two points. There are
two remaining rounds in the group stages of Europe's second-tier
international club competition.
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Weather
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Conditions at the weekend are expected to be overcast with scattered
showers and daytime temperatures of around 6o Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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Current Affairs
Archaeologists reveal existence of hidden chambers in Charles Bridge
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Anyone who has ever visited the Czech capital will have visited the
14th century Charles Bridge; but if you think you know the city's most
famous landmark, think again. You may be surprised to learn that part
of the structure houses two hidden chambers - large enough for dozens
of visitors. The areas, not surprisingly, remain off-limits and even
their very existence until now was known only by a very few.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/121970
Current Affairs
Young Czechs worst abusers of marijuana, ecstasy in EU
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An annual survey on the drug situation by the European drug agency
released on Thursday has confirmed that when it comes to the abuse of
illegal drugs marijuana and ecstasy by young users, Czechs rank the
very worst. This is despite the fact that over the last few years or so
the situation in the country has actually somewhat improved.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/121969
Business News
Business News 11.6.2009
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In the week's Business News: alternatives prepared for 2011 budget;
Skoda Auto looks to downmarket saloon; labour intensive businesses miss
out on tax break; troubled waters for mineral water producer; and small
could be beautiful for solar power.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/121959
VELVET AT THE FILM SCHOOL
Monday, November 9, 2009 at 18:30 - FAMU, Smetanovo nabrezi 2,
Praha 1,
Room 1.
Admission free.
Radio Prague and FAMU - Prague's celebrated film school - invite
you to a discussion in English with some of those who were at the
heart of the Velvet Revolution, to examine the legacy of the
revolution 20 years on.
The film school was one of the focal points of the dramatic
events of November 1989, so it makes an apt backdrop for a
discussion with some of those who played a central role in those
events. Guests include Vaclav Bartuska, who was the first person
to be given access to the secret police files after the fall of
communism, and Jiri Stransky, who survived years in the Stalinist
gulags. The dean of FAMU, Pavel Jech will also take part, along
with student activists from the time of the revolution. And
we'll be asking representatives of today's student generation
whether student activism is still alive and well in the Czech
Republic.
Space is limited, so do try to arrive early.
The entire discussion will later be made available in audio on
Radio Prague's website (www.radio.cz), and highlights will be
broadcast by Radio Prague on November 17, exactly 20 years after
Czechoslovakia's revolution broke out.
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