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Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Saturday, February 6th, 2010
By: Ian Willoughby
* Britain's Prince Charles is reported to be visiting Prague in the
second half of next month.
* The Czech women's tennis team are drawing 1:1 with Germany in a Fed
Cup tie in Brno.
* The Czech and Slovak football associations are discussing the
establishment of a joint league.
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Website: Prince Charles set for Prague visit next month
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Prince Charles will visit Prague in the second half of next month, the
website euro.cz reported. It said the heir to the British throne would
be accompanied by his wife Camilla and would probably meet Czech
President Vaclav Klaus and his spouse Livia. However, the visit has not
been officially confirmed. Prince Charles has a long association with
Prague. In 1991 he was involved in the establishment with then
Czechoslovak president Vaclav Havel of a fund dedicated to preserving
historic buildings in the city. Since that time he has twice been to
the Czech capital to visit sites renovated by the fund.
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Election dates set for May 28 and 29
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President Vaclav Klaus has announced Friday May 28 and Saturday May 29
as the dates for general elections in the Czech Republic. That weekend
was the last possible time elections could have been held as the
Chamber of Deputies is due to be dissolved on June 3. Some political
parties had pushed for the polls to be held two weeks earlier, saying
it would give the next cabinet more time to prepare the 2011 budget.
The Social Democrats head opinion polls, though no party is expected to
win an outright majority.
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Czech women drawing with Germany in Fed Cup tie
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The Czech women's team are drawing 1:1 with Germany in the first round
of the World Group in tennis's Fed Cup in the Moravian capital Brno.
Lucie Safarova, who had been running a fever earlier this week, was
easily beaten 6-2 6-2 by Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the first singles
rubber on Saturday afternoon. Later, however, Petra Kvitova beat Andrea
Petkovic 6-4 6-4 to even the score. The best-of-five series will
continue on Sunday with two more singles matches, followed by a doubles
rubber.
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Establishment of joint Czech-Slovak soccer league under discussion
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The football associations of the Czech Republic and Slovakia are
holding discussions over the possibility of setting up a joint league,
which would recreate the situation before the two countries split in
1993. The idea was first put forward by the Slovak FA, the newspaper
Sport reported. The deputy chairman of the Czech FA Miroslav Kriz said
after talks in Bratislava that the matter was in its early stages and
its very feasibility was currently being examined. European football's
governing body UEFA has never agreed to the establishment of a joint
league in two countries, and there have been suggestions in the Czech
media that it would be unlikely to make an exception in this case.
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Jagr taken off after only first third in Russian league game
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Jaromir Jagr was taken off injured after only the first period of his
club Omsk's second last game before the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
There have been reports in the Russian media that Jagr strained his
groin in Friday's match, though the seriousness of the injury is not
clear. The 37-year-old, regarded as one of the greatest Czech players
of all time, is the only man in the current squad who was in the side
that took gold at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan's Nagano.
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Increased toll reduces truck numbers on Friday evenings
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A measure aimed at reducing the number of heavy trucks on Czech
motorways on busy Friday evenings has seen its first results. Operators
of an electronic tolling system on the motorway network said there had
been a fall of 13 percent in truck numbers on Friday, following a price
increase. From the start of this month lorries carrying 12 tonnes or
more have to pay 50 percent more than the usual rate if they use
motorways between 3 and 9 pm on Fridays.
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Air improved in Moravia-Silesia but smog remains
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There was an improvement in the air quality in the Moravia-Silesia
region on Saturday following several days of extremely poor air.
However, airborne dust levels were still above the maximum permitted 50
microgrammes per cubic metre in some places. The Czech
Hydrometeorological Institute recently announced a smog alert in the
region; it was the first time it had declared such an alert since being
given that power in November.
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New library completed at Charles University's humanities faculty
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Work has been completed on an extensive new library at the humanities
faculty of Prague's Charles University. The new, three-floor library,
which is located beneath the university building on namesti Jana
Palacha by Staromestska metro station, has the capacity to hold a
quarter of a million books. Students will be able to make use of it
from April.
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Czech film award nominees to be announced on Saturday night
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Nominations for the Cesky lev or Czech Lion national film awards will
be made at Prague's Lucerna cinema on Saturday night. The event, which
will be shown live on public broadcaster Czech Television, precedes the
actual awards ceremony, which takes place in exactly a month's time.
However, prizes will be given on Saturday for best foreign film and the
critics' choice of best Czech feature film and documentary.
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Viennese-style Opera Ball taking place in Prague
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The annual Opera Ball is being held at Prague's State Opera on Saturday
night. Among the guests expected at the Viennese-style event are Czech
Prime Minister Jan Fischer, Czech film director Milos Forman, British
actor Michael York and the French actress Michele Mercier.
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Weather
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It should get a bit colder again in the coming days, with maximum
temperatures of around -3 degrees Celsius. Forecasters say we can
expect sunny spells with snow at times.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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SoundCzech
By a hair's breadth
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Hello and welcome to a new edition of SoundCzech, our programme in
which you can learn some interesting and perhaps useful Czech phrases
while listening to music. Today's song is "Ja morem plul", or I sailed
the sea, by the Czech singer Pavel Bobek. It appeared on his 2000
album, "Jsem pouhy znamy", or I'm Just an Acquaintance. The phrase to
listen for is "o chlup", or by a hair's breadth.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/124785
Magazine
Magazine 2.6.2010
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Czech men get a shot at the Mr World title; a red-faced and suffering
chief health officer; special beer offers for Valentine's Day and the
Olympics; Eurovision star targeted by hackers; clearance for
investigation into 400-year-old mystery; and rare species make a
comeback in the mountains. Find out more in Magazine with Chris
Johnstone.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/124752
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