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Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Friday, March 5th, 2010
By: Jan Velinger
* The secretary general of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen has asked for
increased Czech involvement in Afghanistan.
* The Czech Senate has rejected an amendment to the law on the taxation
of employee benefits.
* The Czech Republic has built a 2:0 lead over Belgium in the opening
stage of this year's Davis Cup.
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NATO head asks for increased Czech involvement in Afghanistan
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The secretary general of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has asked for
increased Czech involvement in Afghanistan. He made the appeal after
meeting with Czech politicians on Friday, including the country's prime
minister, Jan Fischer, and the heads of the two largest political
parties, the Civic and Social Democrats. In a statement on Friday
afternoon, NATO's secretary general asked for more military training
specialists as well as aid in the form of two medical clinics, but also
made clear those were only part of the equation, stressing that NATO
required an increase in Czech troops to take part in missions.
Currently, the country has more than 500 soldiers in Afghanistan, but
the government has planned to send an additional 55 troops: 15 military
police to train local personnel, and 40 soldiers and two artillery
hunting radars to help defend Polish bases in the province of Ghazni.
The increase in troop levels was backed by Civic Democrat leader Mirek
Topolanek on Friday, but Jiri Paroubek's Social Democrats remain
opposed to the plan. It remains unclear whether the plan will be able
to pass in Parliament.
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Senate rejects amendment to bill on employee benefits
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The Czech Senate has rejected an amendment to the law on the taxation
of employee benefits. The proposed amendment, which aimed to return
benefits to 2009 levels, was rejected by the majority of right-wing
senators who said it threatened to increase the already steep budget
deficit. The amendment was the result of the government's effort to
avert a nation-wide transport strike this week. Prior to the vote,
Christian Democrats in the lower house said they will help overturn
both the rejection by the Senate and an eventual veto by President
Vaclav Klaus.
In related news, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes wrote on Friday that the
government had lied to politicians about the impact of the proposed
amendment on the country's finances: they said it would increase the
deficit by tens of millions of crowns, while the paper's analysts had
arrived at a much higher figure - well over a billion.
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Special commission at Plzen university says up to 53 people could lose
their law degrees
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A special commission investigating the scandal regarding so-called
fast-track graduates at the University of West Bohemia's Faculty of Law
has outlined 53 cases in which individuals could be retroactively
stripped of their degrees, unless they provide additional documentation
requested by the university. The commission made the announcement on
Friday, saying that of the 53 cases, 44 involved Masters Degrees, while
nine were Bachelors. The special commission, which was put together in
Plzen after the scandal broke last year, reportedly found that many of
the problems at the law faculty were largely related to the former dean
of the school, Milan Kindl. Discrepancies uncovered by the commission
often had to do with missing documentation, from professors'
assessments to proofs of previous study. The current rector at the
school has said it is not possible to say whether all 53 people will be
stripped of their degrees, saying final decisions will depend on
whether missing documents are retrieved.
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State attorney proposes 13 people from controversial CEZ squad be
charged with oppression
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The state attorney has proposed that 13 people from a controversial,
now defunct squad run by the state-owned energy giant CEZ to deal with
customers suspected of stealing electricity, be charged with
oppression. News website iDnes was the first to break the story on
Friday, reporting that proceedings against a further 17 individuals had
been dropped. The recommendation will now be passed onto the regional
state attorney's office in Olomouc. Controversy over the CEZ squad
erupted in early February, when images of the team's behaviour,
suggesting a wrongful use of authority, were first broadcast on
national TV.
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Czech energy giant backs out of Kosovo tender
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The Czech energy giant CEZ, together with US partner AES, has backed
out of tender for building a coal-fired power plant in Kosovo. CEZ
issued the statement at a press conference on Friday, citing delays in
the tender as well as changes in construction parameters as the reasons
for the decision. The tender is on the building of a new plant, while
expanding the coal mine in Sibovc, Kosovo. The tender is reportedly
worth an estimated 3.5 billion euros. CEZ and AES applied for the
tender in 2006, joined by Italy's Enel Group and the Greek firm Sencap
from the Public Power concern. Last year, Kosovo decided to call a new
tender on the project, in which the final design was changed - halving
the previous capacity of the proposed plant to 1000 megawatts.
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Network of medical clinics to improve treatment for stroke patients
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The Health Ministry has said it is aiming to link a new network of
existing medical centres focussing on patients suffering from stroke.
To apply, centres will have to meet certain criteria, making them
eligible for additional funding from insurance companies as well as
funds from the European Union. The plan is to improve the overall
quality of care and to provide patients suffering acute effects the
best treatment as quickly as possible. Yearly, 55,000 Czechs suffer
stroke, three times higher than in original EU countries. The number of
stroke-related deaths, meanwhile, is double.
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President to meet with PM and defence minister of planned changes in
military
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President Vaclav Klaus on Monday is to meet with the country's prime
minister, Jan Fischer, and the defence minister, Martin Bartak, to
discuss organisational changes planned in the military. The president
revealed the information on his personal website but did not mention
details. Last year, Mr Klaus stressed that the Czech Army should
function primarily in defence of the state, calling foreign missions
supplementary. Currently the army is facing a number of difficulties,
among them the after effects of a scandal involving officers who
displayed Nazi symbols. Other difficulties include cost-cutting
measures, which forced the army last year to let go more than 2,700
people. Despite the cuts in spending, the military did sign a deal for
90 Iveco armoured vehicles for more than 3.6 billion crowns and four
transport planes for 3.5 billion.
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Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall will meet with former president
Havel
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Britain's Prince Charles, who will be visiting Prague later in March
with his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will meet with former
Czech president Vaclav Havel and his wife Dagmar during their stay. A
statement was issued by the British Embassy in Prague on Friday, saying
that the meeting between the couples had been planned for March 23. A
day after arrival Prince Charles and Camilla will meet at Prague Castle
with current president, Vaclav Klaus. During their stay they will also
attend an official state dinner, tour Prague's Church of Saint Kliment
and attend a performance of Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre. Prince
Charles will also head to Moravia to view an ecological village and to
visit Masaryk University in Brno. The visit to the Czech Republic will
be Prince Charles's fifth.
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Czech Republic leads Belgium 2:0 in Davis Cup
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Czech tennis player Tomas Berdych got off to an excellent start on
Friday in the Czechs' first game of this year's Davis Cup. In the
opening singles match in Belgium, Berdych beat No. 1 home player
Olivier Rochus 6:3, 6:0, 6:4. The second match slated for Friday, pit
Radek Stepanek against Xavier Malisse and was equally successful for
the Czechs: Stepanek won in straight sets by a score of 6:2, 6:4 7:6.
The Czechs are hoping to repeat last year's highly-successful run,
which saw them all the way through to the finals in Spain. While the
Czechs played brilliantly against Croatia in the semis, they were
unable to steal a win from Spain, the eventual tournament champions.
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Czechs in NHL action
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Czech forward Martin Erat earned two assists in the NHL on Thursday to
help Nashville down Los Angeles 4:2. He was named the game's second
star. Erat has now earned 11 points in six games against LA. In other
action, Martin Rozsival got one goal and one assist for the New York
Rangers against Pittsburgh, helping his team earn one point as the
Rangers lost in overtime.
Two Czechs helped Phoenix defeat Colorado: Zbynek Michalek assisted on
Radim Vrbata's goal, an empty-netter that sealed the game 3:1.
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Weather
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Partly clear to cloudy skies are expected in the coming days with up to
15 centimetres of fresh snow predicted over the weekend. Daytime
temperatures should hover around 0 degrees Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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Arts
Prague-based fusion band Al-Yaman releases new album Insanyya
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It's a long way from the Czech Republic to Yemen, but you can cover the
distance of nearly 6,000 km between the Czech capital and the coastal
city of Aden in less than an hour. All you need to do is to have a
listen to the new album by the Prague-based band Al-Yaman. Entitled
Insanyya, its music combines electronica and dub with Arabic acoustic
instruments and folk songs.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/125688
Current Affairs
Golden eagles could return to Beskydy mountains after 100-year absence
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Ornithologists in the Beskydy mountains in the far east of the country
are celebrating the possible return of the golden eagle after an
absence of more than 100 years. A project to reintroduce young eagles
to the area appears to have borne fruit - two of the birds have formed
a pair, and have now started building a nest.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/125669
Current Affairs
Hodonin preparing to celebrate 160th anniversary of birth of TG Masaryk
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This Sunday, March 7, marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of one
of the absolute giants of Czech history, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk. The
founder of Czechoslovakia and the state's first president was born in
Hodonin, and the south Moravian town is currently gearing up to
celebrate the anniversary. To find out exactly how Hodonin will be
honouring Masaryk on Sunday, I spoke to town hall spokesperson Petra
Kotaskova.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/125668
Current Affairs
NATO chief Rasmussen hopes to see more Czech troops in Afghanistan
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NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is in the Czech Republic
for a two-day visit, primarily to drum up support for a heightened
Czech military presence in Afghanistan. On Friday, Mr Rasmuseen met
with the Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, whose government has already
approved an increase of Czech troops in the war-ridden country. But the
decision has yet to be sanctioned by the Czech Parliament, and NATO's
Secretary General is later scheduled to meet with party leaders to try
to win their support for the plan.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/125667
Business News
Business News 3.5.2010
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In this week's Business News: a depressing crop of figures for Czech
agriculture; genetic starch potato seen making debut on Czech soil; PPP
tender winner announced; Ryanair stirs up controversy with expansion
bid; and Shanghai golden loan hits problems.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/125654
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