Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
By: Ian Willoughby
* The Czech Republic has offered to rent 14 Czech-made combat aircraft
to the Hungarian military.
* The new Czech government is planning to link increases in old age
pensions to inflation alone.
* Security firm ABL has threatened to sue the leader of the Social
Democrats over comments he made about the company.
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Czech Republic offers to rent combat planes to Hungary
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The Czech Republic has offered to rent 14 Czech-made Aero L-159 combat
aircraft to Hungary's military. The Czech prime minister, Petr Necas,
put the proposal to his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban at a meeting
on the sidelines of a Visegrad Four conference in Budapest on Tuesday.
The Czech and Hungarian defence ministries will now hold talks on a
possible deal. A number of other countries have expressed interest in
the fighter planes, but to date the Czech air force is the sole
operator. The firm Aero Vodochody produced 72 L-159s for the Czech
military. It only uses 24 of them; the rest are in storage in hangars.
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Necas: Visegrad states should make stabilising budgets priority
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Speaking at the Visegrad Four meeting in Budapest, the Czech prime
minister, Petr Necas, said the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and
Hungary were strongly interconnected and if any of them had economic or
budgetary problems it could affect the other three. Mr Necas said it
was therefore of great importance that all four states make
stabilisation of their budgets a priority. He and his counterparts
agreed at Tuesday's talks to improve co-operation in relation to the
European Union and with regards to energy security.
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Government to link pension rises to inflation alone
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The new Czech government is planning to link increases in old age
pensions to inflation alone from 2012, Hospodarske noviny reported. The
move would mean pensions grew at a slower pace and would save the state
CZK 5.5 billion a year, the newspaper said. Currently pension rises are
calculated according to both inflation and growth in real wages. The
minister for social affairs, Jaromir Drabek, said the government
planned to introduce the change as part of broader reform of the
pension system. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Petr Necas said tying pension
growth to inflation alone should be brought in gradually over several
years.
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ABL threatens to sue Social Democrats chief over comments
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The security firm ABL says it will sue Social Democrats leader Bohuslav
Sobotka if he does not either apologise for comments he made about the
company or prove their veracity. Mr Sobotka called on the prime
minister to intervene over alleged ties between ABL and several
ministries, and warned of possible corruption and conflict of interest.
The firm was previously owned by Vit Barta, who is transport minister
for Public Affairs, a party that received his strong financial backing.
Education Minister Josef Dobes of Public Affairs is a former ABL
employee, as are deputy ministers of transport, education and the
interior. An ABL representative said on Tuesday that its former
employees who are now in government posts no longer had ties to the
firm. For his part, Mr Sobotka says he has no intention of retracting
his statements.
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Czech gets life in Ireland for murder of female compatriot
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A 24-year-old Czech man has been sentenced to life in prison in Ireland
for the murder of a young Czech woman in 2008. Jakub Fidler was found
guilty of strangling Nicola Vonkova (19) to death following a row at a
house in Co. Galway about spying on his instant messaging and email
accounts. The two had worked together at a supermarket. In a letter
read out in court, the victim's mother said she had survived her child
and that was a situation no parent was prepared for.
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Wife of ex-PM loses case over "pornographic" comic strip
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The wife of former Czech prime minister Jiri Paroubek has lost a legal
battle against the publisher of the magazine Reflex over a comic strip
depicting the couple. The Supreme Court rejected Petra Paroubkova's
argument that drawings of her and her husband in bed were pornographic.
The judge handling the case said Mrs Paroubkova had herself chosen to
enter public life and the depictions did not have the nature of
pornography; comics used exaggeration as a device, and this edition of
the satirical strip Zeleny Raoul was aimed more at her husband than her.
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Case of soldier wearing Nazi symbol in Afghanistan shelved
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The state attorney's office has shelved the case of a Czech soldier who
wore a Nazi symbol while on a foreign mission, Czech Television
reported. Jan Cermak was dismissed from the Czech army after newspaper
reports that he wore the logo of the SS on his helmet while on duty in
Afghanistan. Another soldier was drummed out for a similar offence. The
state attorney said Cermak had committed a crime but said his demotion,
dismissal and loss of benefits were sufficient punishment.
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Communist era toy figure set to return to Czech shops
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A popular toy from the communist era is set to soon make a return to
shops in the Czech Republic. The toy company Efko bought the rights to
produce Igracek figures and accessories a couple of years ago, but only
recently succeeded in buying the rights to the brand name. A
representative of Efko said the toy should be back on the market in
about a month's time. Igracek looks somewhat similar to a Lego man.
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Pink pops back to Prague
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The American pop singer Pink is playing a concert at Prague's Eden
soccer stadium on Tuesday evening. It is the fourth time the star has
visited the Czech capital, with her most recent appearance at the
city's O2 Arena in November last year. Organisers say Pink, who is
promoting her album Funhouse, will put on her usual show, despite a
recent fall from a stage in Germany.
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Weather
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It should be mainly sunny in the coming days, with temperatures
reaching up to 34 degrees Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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Current Affairs
Czech company re-issues forgotten toy classic from the 1970s
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A Czech toy manufacturer has recently bought the rights to a classic
line of toy figurines - Igracek, a communist era knock-off of the
well-known German Playmobil brand. The reissue of the plastic figures,
which range from doctors and nurses to bricklayers and mailmen, is set
to hit shelves in a few weeks.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/129991
Current Affairs
Bank vaults could deliver Franz Kafka literary treasure trove
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A legal battle centred on the legacy of Prague-born writer Franz Kafka
took a new turn this week with manuscripts and other material locked
away in Swiss bank vaults being opened up for expert examination. The
move should help determine whether a literary treasure trove has been
kept hidden away for decades and could help to make it public.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/129990
Current Affairs
Czech PM makes first official visit to Slovakia
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Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas undertook his first official visit
abroad on Monday, travelling to the Slovak capital of Bratislava to
meet with his counterpart Iveta Radicova. In their talks, the two
discussed numerous issues, as well as the possibility of increased
cooperation between both countries on the European level.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/129977
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