Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
By: Sarah Borufka
* As well as signing an arms reduction treaty with Russia, US President
Barack Obama is likely to also hold bilateral talks with European
leaders on a planned visit to Prague next week.
* The Czech air force and army are gearing up for the upcoming visit of
the US and Russian presidents to Prague.
* No supporting evidence has been found to confirm corruption
suspicions over the Defence Ministry's Pandur contract, the president
of the Czech police said on Wednesday.
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Signing nuclear treaty with Russians unlikely to be only point of Obama
visit
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As well as signing a new arms reduction treaty with his Russian
counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, US President Barack Obama is likely also
to hold bilateral talks with European leaders on a planned visit to
Prague next week, the Czech News Agency reported. The American and
Russian presidents are expected to sign a new version of a treaty
reducing their nuclear arsenals in the city on Thursday. US State
Department official Philip Crowley said he expected that both Mr Obama
and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would also hold a series of
bilateral discussions with European and central European officials in
Prague, adding that a list of who would take part was currently being
drawn up. President Obama returns to the Czech capital almost exactly a
year after making a key speech on nuclear weapons in front of large
crowds at Prague Castle.
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Czech air force to use Gripen fighters to secure airspace during
US-Russian summit
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In related news, the Czech army and air force are preparing for the
upcoming visit to Prague by the US and Russian presidents. The Czech
air force will be escorting the presidential planes to Prague airport.
During the summit, which is set to take place at Prague Castle, Gripen
fighters, police and army helicopters will be securing the air space. A
spokeswoman for the Czech army said on Wednesday that the number of
soldiers who will be on duty in the Czech capital during Mr. Obama's
visit will depend on the security demands of the summit's organizers.
Last year, more than 400 soldiers were involved in security operations
on the occasion of Mr. Obama's visit to Prague.
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Corruption suspicions over Pandur contract not confirmed by evidence,
says police president
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Police president Oldrich Martinu said on Wednesday that investigations
of possible corruption into the Pandur public tender awarded by the
Czech Ministry of Defence so far have not produced any evidence
supporting the corruption allegations. A special team of investigators
has evaluated all available documents and information and a total of
seven witnesses have been questioned. Although the investigation has
not confirmed corruption allegations so far, it will continue. In
February, the Czech daily Mlada fronta Dnes suggested that members of
the Ministry of Defence, which in 2008 had signed a 14.4 billion crown
contract with the Austrian company Steyr to buy armoured personnel
carriers, had earmarked two to three percent of the tender as kickbacks
for the two strongest political parties. The report caused a scandal
and some politicians called for far-reaching reforms that would create
greater transparency of public tenders.
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Mass production of meta-amphetamine still biggest problem for drug
police
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The mass production of meta-amphetamine in illegal laboratories remains
the biggest single problem faced by the Czech police when it comes to
drug crime. The head of the police's anti-drug force, Jakub Frydrych,
told reporters on Tuesday the situation was partly caused by the
availability of over-the-counter medicines containing pseudo-ephedrine,
which is used to make meta-amphetamine. Mr Frydrych said the Czech
Republic continued to be Europe's biggest producer of the drug; he
added that the difficulty of securing convictions was a bigger issue
than the actual number of illegal labs. Last year 314 labs were
uncovered by the police; in 2008 the figure was 434.
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Prague court sentences pharmacist charged with excessive sale of
medicines containing pseudo-ephedrine to eight years in prison
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On Wednesday, a district court in Prague sentenced a pharmacist to
eight years in a high-security prison, in addition to a fine of three
million crowns. The man, who is 50, was charged with selling
over-the-counter medicines containing pseudo-ephedrine to customers who
he knew were using the medicines as an ingredient in the illegal
production of meta-amphetamine. The court estimates that the pharmacist
sold roughly six million pills of the medicine to meta-amphetamine
producers. The pharmacist denies having sold the pseudo-ephedrine
containing drug Nurofen at all. At a court hearing in November, he
claimed to not know that the medicine could be used in the production
of illegal drugs.
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Head of City of Prague preservation department charged with obstruction
and neglect
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Police have charged the head of the Prague town hall preservation
department Jan Knezinek with obstruction and neglect of his office. He
faces demotion and up to three years in prison. The police reacted to a
decision by the Plzen Regional Authority, which on Tuesday announced
that the City of Prague is to pay a 3.25 billion crown fine for damages
that occurred during the repairs of Charles Bridge, The Regional
Authority had been appointed by the Ministry of Culture to determine
whether repairs of Prague's Charles Bridge were devaluating the
landmark status of the monument, after the City of Prague had failed to
take action. The fine was based on damages to original blocks used in
the bridge's construction and the use of modern materials in the repair
of the bridge, which is listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The
repairs were administered by the company Mott MacDonald, which was
found not to be responsible for the damages.
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Czech daily claims amnesty for former communist prosecutor is underway
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The Office of the President of the Czech Republic is preparing a
possible amnesty to be granted to the former communist prosecutor
Ludmila Brozova-Polednova, who at 87 is the country's oldest prisoner,
the Czech daily Lidove noviny reported on Wednesday. A spokesman for
the office refused to comment on the claim. A regional court decided a
month ago that Mrs. Brozova-Polednova, who is currently serving a six
year prison sentence for her participation in the 1950s communist show
trials, could be released as early as March next year under the terms
of several previous presidential amnesties granted between 1953 and
1990. Her prosecutors appealed this verdict. The appeal went before the
Prague High Court, which reached a decision last Wednesday but so far,
the court has not made the verdict public.
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Okamura's claim he was offered post of human rights minister denied by
PM and Greens
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The deputy head of the Association of Czech Travel Agents, Tomio
Okamura, has said he had been tentatively approached about taking up
the post of human rights minister, Czech Television reported. However,
a spokesperson for Prime Minister Jan Fischer said he had no knowledge
of any such offer having been made. The Green Party, which nominated
the previous holder of the human rights portfolio in the interim Czech
government, also said it had no knowledge of the post being offered to
Mr Okamura. Michael Kocab recently stepped down as minister of human
rights and minorities after the Greens said they would no longer
support the caretaker cabinet. Mr Okamura, who was born in Japan, was
recently in the news in connection with a project under which owners
can send teddy bears and other toys on holiday in Prague and other
cities.
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Regional court gives out long-term prison sentences to members of
international drug ring
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A regional court in Brno on Wednesday sentenced five members of an
international drug ring, which had attempted to smuggle over ten
kilograms of heroin from Turkey into the Czech Republic. The main
defendant, a Turkish citizen, received the highest sentence of 14.5
years; the other four gang members were given sentences between 10 and
12.5 years. Police had secured the roughly 150,000 doses of heroin that
the men were smuggling in a hidden compartment in a rental car in March
of last year.
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National Geographic TV to launch Czech-language programming
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The TV channel National Geographic will introduce Czech-language
broadcasts in April. The company announced on Wednesday that fresh
programming and prime time shows will air in Czech, while repeats would
still be shown in the original English language version with Czech
subtitles. National Geographic plans to dub all new documentaries that
are aired in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Czech and is hoping to
gradually increase the number Czech-language programs on its channel,
which airs in 166 countries and 34 languages world-wide.
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Berdych beats world number one Federer in Miami
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The Czech tennis player Tomas Berdych beat world number one Roger
Federer of Switzerland at the Miami Masters on Tuesday. Berdych saved a
match point in a third set tie-break in the third round match to bring
an eight-match losing streak against Federer to an end. The Czech had
only beaten Federer once before, at the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Berdych is seeded 16th in the tournament.
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Weather
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The next few days should see sunny spells with some rain. Temperatures
will reach up to 13 degrees Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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Current Affairs
After 160 years of service the telegram bows out
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In what some describe as the end of an era, the Czech Postal Service on
Wednesday ended a 160-year-long practice of delivering telegrams. While
in the 1930s Czechs sent about four million telegrams a year, the
arrival of electronic communication in the 1990s practically killed
demand for the service. Telegrams have been replaced mainly by mobile
phone text messages and email.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/126498
Current Affairs
Czech flag turns 90
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On Tuesday, March 30th the Czech flag was more in evidence than usual -
the state symbol turned 90. The red, white and blue flag with its
simple geometric pattern was created in 1920 shortly after the founding
of an independent Czechoslovak state. Although Czechoslovakia no longer
exists, the flag remains the Czech Republic's state symbol.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/126497
Current Affairs
Prague fined for bungled Charles Bridge renovation
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The renovation of Charles Bridge, one of Prague's most significant
landmarks, has been hampered by serious mistakes, some of which are
irreversible. That's the verdict of a regional authority on
preservation of historical monuments which reviewed the progress of the
renovation, and fined Prague City Hall over three million crowns.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/126496
Czechs in History
The rise and fall of the King of Comedians, Vlasta Burian
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For all the funny people who have contributed to a century of Czech
filmmaking, the title "King of Comics" belongs to only one. Vlasta
Burian would be 119 years old next month, and he would be very proud of
his reputation indeed, still a star of the Czech television screen
today. But his career as a comedian went hand in hand with the
tragedies of the 20th century, and in his lifetime he was a pauper, a
prince, and a pauper again.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/126485
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