Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Monday, March 8th, 2010
By: Daniela Lazarova
* Foreign Minister Jan Kohout is planning to dismiss the Czech
ambassador to the EU Milena Vicenova, the weekly Respect reported on
Monday.
* The Czech unemployment rate has hit a five-year high.
* The Czech government has refused to loan a ton of gold from the
national bank for a Czech exhibit at this year's Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
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Czech EU ambassador may face dismissal
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Plans are afoot for the dismissal of the country's ambassador to the EU
Milena Vicenova, Respekt reported on Monday. The weekly says that the
news has been confirmed by politicians in the two strongest parties,
the Civic and Social Democrats. Foreign Minister Jan Kohout himself has
refused to comment. According to Respekt the official reason given was
Ms. Vicenova's lackluster performance in office. The diplomat herself
said she had received no official information on her possible dismissal.
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Czech unemployment rate hits five-year high
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Czech unemployment rose to 9.9 percent in February, hitting a five-year
high, official data showed on Monday. The rate rose from 9.8 percent in
January 2010 and from 7.4 percent in February last year, the Ministry
of Labour and Social Affairs said. Employment offices registered over
500,000 job seekers ready to start work immediately. Analysts expect
unemployment to hit 10 percent before the end of this year. The Czech
jobless rate has been rising steadily since the global crisis hit the
economy in November 2008. At that time, it stood at 5.3 percent.
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Czech government refuses loan of gold for Czech pavilion at Expo 2010
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The Czech government has refused to loan a ton of gold from the
national bank for a Czech exhibit at this year's Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
The gold was needed for the so-called 'Czeknowlogy' part of the exhibit
where sensors should allow the emotions of visitors to be displayed on
a giant drop of pure gold. The Czech finance minister, Eduard Janota,
said he considered the loan risky in view of the possibility that the
exhibit could be auctioned off with other gold then being returned to
the Czech Republic. The organizers say they have an alternative
solution involving private sponsors.
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Mixed views about International Women's Day
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A survey conducted in connection with International Women's Day
suggests that the majority of Czechs feel it is an occasion worth
marking. A quarter of respondents said they see it as a nice
opportunity to give women in their close vicinity flowers and
chocolates. Thirteen percent say it is a day of acknowledgment for all
the extra work women do in running the house and looking after the
kids. Only 11 percent of respondents said it was a day dedicated to the
fight for women's rights and should be marked as such. Young people
generally had no idea that March 8th is International Women's Day and a
few suggested it was Mothering Sunday.
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Social Democrat leader says time not yet ripe for quotas for women in
politics
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Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek said on Monday he was aware of the
problem of there being too few women in Czech politics and that he
personally, would support quotas for women on his party's list of
candidates for the upcoming general elections. However, the Social
Democrat leader said the time was clearly not ripe for such a move. He
was referring to the fact that although his party's statutes say that
at least one post in the party leadership should be reserved for a
woman, that post has been empty for some time and is likely to remain
so. The only candidate for the post Alena Boruvkova failed to win
enough votes to get elected last autumn.
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Trade union leader faces isolation over homophobic remarks
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Trade unions have publicly distanced themselves from homophobic
statements made by transport unions leader Jaromir Dusek. Mr. Dusek
evoked outrage on the Czech political scene when he said in an
interview for Saturday's Lidove Noviny that the transport sector was
run by a clique of homosexuals who had people both in the cabinet and
the office of the government. He has refused to apologize for the
remarks, despite coming under severe criticism from Prime Minister Jan
Fischer. Transport Minister Gustav Slamecka accused Mr. Dusek of Nazi
rhetoric, while the minister for human rights and minorities, Michael
Kocab, said he was shaken by Mr. Dusek's stand.
The trade union leader has found himself in growing isolation; both the
prime minister and transport minister say they no longer consider him a
partner for negotiation and many trade union leaders are now calling
for his head. A decision is expected on Tuesday.
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CSU deputy Gunther Beckstein says road checks must continue
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The former Bavarian premier, CSU deputy, Gunther Beckstein, said on
Monday that road checks on Czech drivers in Bavaria could not cease,
since they were an essential tool in curbing crime. Speaking after a
meeting with the Czech Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolanek, Mr.
Beckstein promised to appeal to his party colleague, Bavarian Interior
Minister Joachim Hermann, to moderate the road checks and make sure
they were fully in line with Schengen regulations. Czech politicians
recently demanded an apology from Germany after receiving more than 100
complaints from Czech drivers saying they had been searched and
questioned in a humiliating manner by German traffic police,
particularly in Bavaria. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle who
visited Prague last Thursday promised to look into the matter.
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President Klaus briefed about NATO request
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President Vaclav Klaus on Monday met with Prime Minister Jan Fischer
and Defense Minister Martin Bartak to discuss a possible increase of
Czech troops in Afghanistan and organizational changes to the army
ensuing from budget cuts. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
last week urged the Czech Republic to increase its presence in
Afghanistan by 51 solders who would provide helicopter training and
operate two clinics. Although the Czech government has already approved
the increase, the plan is likely to meet with opposition in Parliament
where left-wing parties are planning to reject it. The Czech Republic
currently has over 500 soldiers in Afghanistan, serving on the
provincial reconstruction team in Logar.
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Czech snow-boarder seriously injured in the Alps
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A Czech snow-boarder has been critically injured after tumbling more
than 100 meters down a steep slope in the Austrian Alps. He was rescued
by helicopter and is reported to be in serious condition in a Salzburg
hospital. Emergency workers said the 32-year-old had put himself at
great risk by leaving the marked trail and snowboarding in unknown
terrain.
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Police investigating gas explosion
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The police are investigating a gas explosion in Prague's southern
district of Radotin that damaged two building early on Monday. The
explosion happened in one of the apartments which was completely
destroyed by the blast. Two men - a father and son - were rushed to
hospital with severe burns. According to preliminary findings it
appears that the son turned on the gas in an attempt to commit suicide
and the father caused the explosion by walking into the room and
lighting a cigarette.
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Weather
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The coming days are expected to be sunny but cold with day temperatures
between 1 and minus 3 degrees Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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One on One
Anna Kareninova - leading Czech literary and film translator
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Anna Kareninova is a leading Czech literary translator and editor who
also does the subtitles for a lot of the films that appear on the
country's cinema and TV screens. Many viewers would no doubt imagine
that Anna Kareninova is a nom de plume, as it is the Czech version of
Anna Karenina, the heroine of the Tolstoy novel of the same name. In
fact, she told me at Prague's Cafe Slavia, the name was assumed, not by
her but by her father, after he fled from Russia in 1917.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/125750
Sports News
Sports News 3.8.2010
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In Sports News this Monday: the Czech Republic make very light work of
Belgium to reach the last eight in tennis's Davis Cup, not dropping a
set on their way to victory in just six and a half hours; cross country
skier Lukas Bauer comes second in the 30 km pursuit in Finland's Lahti;
and Teplice and Sparta Prague are still neck-and-neck in the Czech
soccer league after victories at the weekend.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/125748
Current Affairs
Protektor wins Best Picture at Czech Lion Awards
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While all eyes were on the awarding of the Oscars in Los Angeles on
Sunday, the main event in cinema in the Czech Republic came a day
earlier with the awarding of the Czech Lions. This year ten Czech films
competed in 13 categories. The film Protektor by director Marek Najbrt
dominated, winning six awards on the night, including Best Picture.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/125746
Current Affairs
New party bets on popularity of charismatic leader
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TOP 09 leader Karel Schwarzenberg and his team have just launched an
unusual campaign aimed at getting young Czechs to vote. It revolves
around the charismatic politician himself: voters can connect with him
via online chats and even win the chance to spend an evening at the pub
with Mr. Schwarzenberg. But what role does the leader's popularity play
in the overall success of this new party?
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/125745
Current Affairs
NGOs look to bring back spirit of activism on 100th Women's Day
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Monday is International Women's Day, and in 2010 that means one hundred
years since the holiday was introduced. The idea to highlight the
struggle for women's rights around the world picked up a different tone
in communist countries like Czechoslovakia though, and was largely
discarded after 1989. Now some NGOs in the Czech Republic want to use
the 100th anniversary to reawaken the spirit of activism that Women's
Day originally stood for.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/125734
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