Copyright (c) 2009 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Monday, December 14th, 2009
By: Sarah Borufka
* Prime Minister Jan Fischer has voiced harsh criticism of the lack of
collaboration in the country's lower house in the face of a high state
budget deficit.
* The Government has announced which amounts of hard drugs Czechs can
own without facing legal consequences.
* The Health Ministry is considering making the swine flu vaccine
available to those who formerly weren't eligible.
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Prime Minister criticizes lower house parties for lack of cooperation
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Prime Minister Fischer told journalists on Monday that the government
could not be held responsible for the lack of cooperation between
parties in the lower house. Mr. Fischer added that the government would
do everything it could to keep the state budget deficit below the 5.3
percent threshold. He also pointed out that the Czech Republic will
most likely face harsh criticism from Brussels. The state budget
deficit was expected to be 163 billion Czech crowns but MPs voted
against proposed cuts in social services, state employees' salaries and
the agriculture sector, bringing it up to 5.7 percent of the Gross
Domestic Product. To keep the state budget deficit below the 5.3
percent threshold, the government will cut spending of several
ministries by three to five percent.
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Finance minister to stay in office
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Following a meeting with Prime Minister Jan Fischer on Monday, Finance
Minister Eduard Janota announced that he would not after all resign
from his post. Last week, Mr. Janota said he was seriously considering
stepping down over changes made to the 2010 state budget by left-wing
parties in the lower house that left none of his original austerity
measures in place.
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Government announces legal threshold for quantities of hard drugs for
personal use
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On Monday, the government announced its decision on limits for the
amount of drugs that Czechs can legally own for personal use. At last
week's lower house session, a decision was made on the number of
certain psychedelic plants that are legally permissible. This week, MPs
discussed synthetic and hard drugs. Drug users can own up to 1.5 grams
of heroin or one gram of cocaine without facing legal consequences.
Justice Minister Daniela Kovarova told reporters that cultivators of
exotic cacti that happen to contain psychoactive substances can ask for
a permit to grow more than the legally allowed amount.
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Ministry of Health may change vaccination strategy
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The Ministry of Health announced on Monday that it was considering a
change in its distribution strategy for the swine flu vaccine. Since
every second patient eligible to receive the vaccine has reportedly
refused it, the ministry may leave it up to doctors and vaccination
centers to determine who can receive the shot, so that a wider segment
of the population can have access to it. The daily newspaper Mlada
fronta Dnes reported on Monday that the reason for this change is the
fact that so far, the supply, which cost a total of 220 million crowns,
isn't being used. Another delivery of the vaccine is expected to reach
the Czech Republic in a few days.
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New data suggest baby boom has come to an end
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According to data published by the Czech Statistical Office on Monday,
the baby boom in the Czech Republic is on the decline. In the first
three quarters of this year, close to 90,000 babies were born, 1700
less than during the same period in 2008, when the country saw the
arrival of a record 119,600 babies, the highest number of births per
year since 1993. The newly published data further reveal that the total
population of the Czech Republic has increased by about 34,000 and that
there has been a downward trend in weddings, divorces and abortions.
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Widow of escaped patient who froze to death gives birth to baby daughter
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The widow of a patient who went missing from Prague's Bulovka hospital
a fortnight ago gave birth to a baby daughter early on Sunday, just a
few hours after her husband's frozen body was found close to the
hospital grounds. Friends and family had been searching for the man for
12 days and criticized the hospital for its unprofessional approach.
Hospital guards let the patient leave the premises dressed only in a
bath robe and house shoes. The 29-year-old left the hospital in a
disturbed frame of mind after a doctor told him he might have brain
cancer.
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Survey shows that a record number of Czechs are spending Christmas
abroad
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Close to 300,000 Czechs will be spending Christmas abroad, according to
a December survey conducted by the company Stem/Mark. The survey also
showed that 50 percent of all Czechs could imagine spending Christmas
outside of the Czech Republic, and one in eight Czechs dreams of
spending Christmas on the beach. A drop in prices for package holidays
and a rise in the living standard are cited as the main reasons for the
trend.
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Police secure knock-off products worth 7 million Czech crowns
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Customs police in Southern Moravia confiscated counterfeit products
that would have damaged trademark holders to the tune of seven million
Czech crowns, a police spokeswoman told journalists on Monday. Friday's
raid on a Vietnamese market in Brno was part of a routine procedure.
Police had gotten suspicious when one of the market's salesmen ran away
after seeing them approach. In August, police found counterfeit goods
worth 50 million crowns at the same marketplace.
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Man sentenced to twenty months for trespassing
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A court in the Moravian town of Olomouc today upheld a twenty- month
sentence given to a 42-year-old Romany man from Ostrava who was found
guilty of attacking a member of the Olomouc Roma community. The
perpetrator and four of his friends stormed the victim's apartment and
shot him in the stomach during an attack in 2007. The perpetrator was
charged with trespassing because there is not enough evidence that he
fired the gun at the man who his ex-wife had left him for. The attack
was motivated by the fact that his family wanted the dowry back.
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Police find five-year-old living with homeless mother
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Police in Brno discovered a five-year-old girl who had been living in a
makeshift hut with her homeless mother and the mother's partner. A
warrant had been issued for the three of them several months ago, since
the mother had been neglecting to take the child to legally prescribed
medical check-ups. The girl was in a healthy but neglected state, and
was taken away from her 44-year-old mother to be put into state care.
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95 percent of Czechs do their Christmas shopping online
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A survey by the Czech online shopping search engine Heureka.cz and the
auction webpage Aukro.cz shows that 95 percent of Czechs shop online
for at least part of their Christmas presents. For 46 percent of the
customers, lower prices are what make online shops attractive.
Convenience was cited as an appeal for 27 percent of online shoppers
and 12 percent said that there was more variety of goods to choose from
online. Internet shopping has been rising steadily and this year is
expected to account for revenue of about 27 billion Czech crowns.
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Weather
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The next few days should be cold and foggy, with night temperatures
dropping down to -7 degrees Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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One on One
Anna Geislerova is seeking a challenge
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Interviewing Anna Geislerova leaves you with little doubt as to how she
came to be the most well-known actress in the Czech Republic. She
hardly needs a role to be a fascinating character in her own:
individualistic, forthright, thoughtful and, indeed, charming. She puts
her personality into a lot of different activities, literary,
charitable, social, artistic, and the country loves her for it. But the
Czech Republic has become too small for Anna Geislerova. In the
illustrious Vinohrady Theatre, where she was doing a photo shoot, we
talked about where she's going now and how she got to where she is.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/123181
Sports News
Sports News 12.14.2009
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In Sports News this Monday: the Czech Republic's tennis player of the
year is...the country's whole Davis Cup team; the Czech women's floorball
team reach the last four at the World Championship for the first time,
but come home empty handed; speed skater Martina Sablikova wins a World
Cup 3000m race in her second best time; and Sparta and Slavia face
their last games of 2009 in football's Europa League, though only the
former have something to play for.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/123171
Current Affairs
Czech zoo at centre of controversial last bid to save endangered rhino
from extinction
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A Czech zoo is at the centre of what is probably the last chance to
save an endangered African rhino. The species is believed to have
become extinct in the wild. But the project to return four animals to
their natural environment has created controversy.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/123170
Current Affairs
H1N1 vaccine may be made available to anyone, as target groups show
lack of interest
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Earlier this year the Czech government ordered a large amount of swine
flu vaccine fearing a large-scale epidemic in the fall. Now the vaccine
doses are here, the epidemic is here, but there is not much interest in
the vaccine - despite the fact that the people for whom it is intended
are mostly high risk. As a third delivery of vaccine arrives, the Czech
government is now considering making the vaccine available to anyone
who wants it.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/123169
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