Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Saturday, March 13th, 2010
By: Jan Richter
* Czech President Vaclav Klaus has warned that the EU is going through
the biggest crisis in its history.
* Social Democrats have unveiled an ambitions programme for May's
general elections.
* Most Czechs believe they only have little influence on what's
happening in the country, a new poll suggests.
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President Klaus: EU living through worst crisis in history
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The Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, has warned that the EU is going
through the gravest crisis in its history, following the adoption of
the Lisbon treaty. In a written address to a eurosceptic party
convention in Prague on Saturday, Mr Klaus said he believed civic and
economic freedom in the European Union is at risk, as the bloc was
adopting ever stronger regulatory measures under the pretence of
combating the economic crisis. Mr Klaus also criticized the effects of
what he calls "climate alarmism".
President Vaclav Klaus is a staunch critic of further European
integration. In 2003, he signed the Czech Republic's accession treaty
to the EU. However, he fiercely opposed the reform Lisbon treaty, which
he eventually ratified last November as the last head of state of the
bloc.
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Social Democrats present election programme
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Social Democrats unveiled their programme for the upcoming general
elections at a party conference in Teplice, northern Bohemia on
Saturday. Party leader Jiri Paroubek told the convention that if they
win at the polls in May, they will make the Czech Republic one of top
ten EU countries with the highest living standards. Mr Paroubek said
his government would raise corporate taxes and taxes for the rich, and
abolish fees for visits to the doctor, introduced last year as part of
a health-care reform. The Social Democrat leader also promised to pay
one-time extra pensions. The party would like to lower the deficit of
the state budget and adopt the euro by 2016.
The election for the lower house of the Czech parliament is scheduled
for May 28 and 29. The Social Democrats are leading in most polls,
followed by the right-of-centre Civic Democrats, the conservative party
TOP 09 and Communists. Some polls suggest that Christian Democrats and
the Greens would also pass the five-percent threshold to enter the
lower house.
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Rival parties slam Social Democrat plans
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Rival political parties have slammed Social Democrat elections plans
presented at Saturday's party conference. Former Civic Democrat
interior minister Ivan Langer said that Social Democratic promises were
'lies', while the leader of the conservative TOP 09 party and former
foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, said their promises are
impossible to fulfil. Christian Democrat chair Cyril Svoboda said Mr
Paroubek was pandering to the voters, and offered too much regulation.
Meanwhile, communist MP Pavel Kovacik told Czech TV on Saturday that
Social Democrats were trying to "dig up a moat" between themselves and
the Communist Party.
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Environmentalists protest Social Democrat party congress
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Several dozen environmental activists protested a Social Democrat
conference in Teplice on Saturday over the party's stance on coal
mining in the region. The protesters put up a sign on the building
where the conference is taking place, while others gathered outside.
The environmentalists would like the Social Democrats to reject further
coal mining in the area. However, the party says that a regional
referendum should determine whether coal mining limits, imposed by the
government in the early 1990s, should be lifted. This would lead to the
destruction of several villages in the region that are located on large
brown coal deposits. During the communist era, dozens of villages and
towns in northern Bohemia were destroyed to make way for coal mining.
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Poll: Most Czechs feel they have little influence on public affairs
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Most Czechs feel they only have little influence on public affairs in
their country, according to a new poll by the CVVM agency released on
Saturday. 92 percent of those surveyed said they had very limited
chance to influence what's happening in their communities; some 25
percent believe the contrary. More than 50 percent of Czechs say that
they have no influence whatsoever on decision-making processes in Czech
politics, while one in ten people questioned said they had a chance to
affect the government's decisions.
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Minister promises higher pays to young doctors
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The Czech health minister, Dana Juraskova, promised young doctors
higher salaries at a meeting in Prague on Saturday. Ms Juraskova, met
with around 300 doctors, faculty staff and other experts, who
complained that after graduating from medical schools, while preparing
for professional exams, they only receive part time contracts. They
said however that because of staff shortages, they often put in regular
hours, for which receive no salary. Minister Juraskova said she would
change the respective legislation to prevent such practices in the
future.
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Czech Republic becomes Europe's biggest car producer per capita
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The Czech Republic has become Europe's biggest car producer per capita,
the Slovak daily Pravda reported on Saturday. Car production in
Slovakia, which produced the highest number of cars per one inhabitant
in the previous years, dropped in 2009 by some 20 percent. In the Czech
Republic, car production rose last year by more than 3 percent to a
record 970,000 vehicles. The biggest car producer in Europe in total
numbers is Germany, with 5.2 million cars. The Czech Republic is fifth.
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More Czechs fired over alcohol in the workplace
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The number of Czechs fired for drinking in the workplace or showing up
drunk for work has risen, according to a poll by the Commservis.com
agency released on Saturday. Alcohol is now the sixth most frequent
cause of sacking employees; last year, it ranked 18th. Analysts believe
the surge has been caused by bigger stress, related to the global
economic downturn, as well as by the fact that employees are now more
frequently tested for alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are also relatively
cheap in the Czech Republic, and alcohol consumption in the country has
risen by 37 percent since the fall of communism in 1989.
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Motorcycle rider suffers serious injuries in Brno training accident
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Motorcycle rider Petr Kuchar suffered serious injuries on Saturday
after falling down during a rehearsal for Sunday's free-style show in
Brno. Mr Kuchar, who is a popular Czech free-style rider, had problems
with his first jump; he fell down and his motorcycle then fell on top
of him. He was taken to hospital with suspected spine injure. His
condition was reported as stable.
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Sebrle finishes 5th in heptathlon at indoor world championship
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Czech athlete Roman Sebrle finished 5th in heptathlon at the world
indoor athletic championships in Doha on Saturday. The 36-year-old
former Olympic and world champion was slower in both sprints, but
showed good performance in shot put, high jump and pole vault. In the
last event, 1,000 m, he managed to hold off Ukraine's Oleksiy Kasyanov
who got within five points of the Czech. Sebrle, who is the current
decathlon world record holder, said he did not expected much more,
given his recent injury. Brian Clay, from the United States, defended
the title and took gold.
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Skier Sarka Zahrobska finishes 5th in overall World Cup slalom ranking
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Czech skier Sarka Zahrobska came in 9th in the last World Cup slalom
event of the season in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on Saturday,
and finished 5th in the overall slalom ranking. Zahrobska was second
after the first round, but had problems in the upper part of the slope
in the second round, and came in some 2.2 seconds after the winner,
Marlies Schield of Austria, who also won the World Cup title in slalom.
The 25-year-old Zahrobska said she though she could better, but the
race was very difficult.
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Weather
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The weekend will be cloudy, with occasional snow in most parts of the
country. Highest day temperatures should range between 0 and +5 degrees
Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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Magazine
Magazine 3.13.2010
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A Czech artist has created a six-meter high statue made up of 85,000
keys, Czech fashion students have created a spectacular evening dress
covered with fish scales and what's to be done about the thief who
can't help stealing Milka chocolates? Find out more in Magazine with
Daniela Lazarova.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/125922
SoundCzech
Where the carpenter left a hole
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Hello, this is SoundCzech, Radio Prague's very own programme in which
you can learn some interesting, if not useful phrases while listening
to music. Today's phrase to listen to is kde nechal tesar diru, or
where the carpenter left a hole. This old and rather odd saying
appeared in a song by the Moravian band Mnaga a Zdorp, released on
their recent album, Takze dobry.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/125906
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