Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Friday, July 23rd, 2010
By: Jan Velinger
* The Finance Ministry is readying to send individual ministries and
institutions the details of planned austerity measures.
* Senators for the opposition Social Democratic Party have put forward
Anna Sabatova for the post of ombudswoman.
* Military police will increase security at the Prague headquarters of
the General Staff of the Czech Army in September, a spokeswoman has
said.
========================================================================
Daily: Finance Ministry readies to send out details of planned
austerity measures
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Finance Ministry, the newspaper Lidove noviny reported, will soon
send out the details of proposed austerity measures to government
ministries and relevant institutions - cuts necessary to help tackle
the deficit. Under the proposal, state expenses should be 28.2 billion
less than previously expected by the end of the year; of that, savings
of 10.2 billion crowns will come from individual ministries. According
to the Czech daily, the Education Ministry will be among those that
will have to save the most - more than three billion crowns in 2010;
all 14 ministries will have to reduce their operational budgets by 2.5
percent. Institutions that will see cuts, meanwhile, include the Czech
Academy of Sciences, the Constitutional Court, and the Office of the
President. The cabinet will discuss the proposals next Wednesday.
========================================================================
Social Democrats back Sabatova for post of ombudswoman
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senators for the opposition Social Democratic Party have put forward
Anna Sabatova for the post of ombudswoman, a candidate who could
theoretically receive support from one of the parties in government,
TOP 09 and possibly the Communists, sources have said. Until recently
Mrs Sabatova served as the deputy head of the office when it was led by
former lawyer Otakar Motejl, who died in May following a short bout
with illness. An attempt by the new lower house of Parliament at the
beginning of July to elect Mrs Sabatova or a fellow candidate to the
post proved inconclusive after two rounds of voting, leading the
process to now be repeated. The Social Democrats have expressed
confidence Sabatova could get wider backing a second time around.
========================================================================
Security at Army HQ to be boosted in September
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Security at the headquarters of the General Staff of the Czech Army in
the district of Prague 6 will be boosted as of September, General Staff
spokeswoman Mira Trebicka has said. The move comes after the HQ was
surprisingly broken into by thieves last week, who made off with
several honorary military medals. The break-in prompted Defence
Minister Alexandr Vondra to call for increased security by the military
police; they had guarded the building until last year, when security
was slashed by Mr Vondra's predecessor as part of cost-cutting
measures. Following the break-in security experts expressed concern
over the ease with which perpetrators made their way inside, although
sensitive information was reportedly not stolen. An investigation by
the military police continues.
========================================================================
Number of those infected with HIV virus jumps by 98 in first six months
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Specialists have revealed that the Czech Republic saw an increase of 98
new cases of HIV infection since the beginning of 2010 - compared to 75
the previous year. The information was released on Friday by the
director of the House of Light in Prague, dedicated to helping AIDS
sufferers. In all, 1,442 people have contracted the HIV virus in the
Czech Republic. Of those, 1,160 are men. According to statistics, the
highest number of people with HIV in the country live in Prague (578),
followed by the regions of Central Bohemia and Pardubice. More than
half of the cases are people who are reportedly contracted the disease
through homosexual or bisexual activity, 30 percent heterosexual sex,
and the rest through drug abuse - using dirty needles. One percent, CTK
said, contracted HIV through blood transfusions.
========================================================================
Car production rises by 18 percent in first half of year
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Czech car production rose by 18 percent in the first half of 2010
confirming a recovery in the economy heavily dependent on its three
major car plants, trade data has shown. In a recent press release the
Association of Automotive Industries said that Czech producers turned
out some 560,000 motor vehicles in the first six months. The increase
was mainla driven by the production of passenger and light utility
cars. Volkswagen's unit Skoda Auto, the largest Czech car maker, raised
output by 16.7 percent to around 286,000 vehicles. TPCA Czech and
Hyundai Motors are the other two major producers.
========================================================================
Janota to take spot on supervisory board of energy giant
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Former Finance Minister Eduard Janota will take up one of three
available posts on the supervisory board of the state-owned energy
giant CEZ, the business and news website iHned has reported. Mr Janota
received the offer from his successor Miroslav Kalousek and has already
accepted. The board will meet on August 12 to discuss the changes,
which will see the introduction of two more new members. The chairman
of the board is expected to be a member of the coalition-leading Civic
Democrats, iHned said, allowing stronger communication between the
board and the prime minister.
========================================================================
Man receives exemplary 20 year sentence for murder of baby daughter
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The regional court in Ceske Budejovice has handed a 25-year-old man,
found guilty of murdering his two-month-old daughter last year, an
exemplary sentence of 20 years behind bars. The defendant in the case
admitted to hitting the baby once but denied taking further actions.
However, an autopsy revealed intentional and additional brutality that
left the infant beyond the help of emergency workers. The incident took
place last December 31, after the man had an argument with his partner.
Both parents, the authorities said, were users of marijuana and the
Czech methamphetamine known as pervetin.
========================================================================
Police appeal to public in search for missing teen
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The police have asked the public for help in providing possible
information to help with their search for Monika Krivoskova, a
13-year-old girl who has gone missing in the area of Pribram. The
teenager, police say, could be in immediate danger; the authorities are
also searching for her 19-year-old boyfriend. The teen disappeared on
Wednesday, last seen at around five am by her mother. Police have asked
anyone with knowledge of her possible whereabouts to contact them
directly.
========================================================================
Spotakova tops podium in Monaco one week before start of European
Championships
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Czech athlete Barbora Spotakova came first in the javelin at a Diamond
League meeting in Monaco on Thursday evening. Just a week before the
European Athletics Championships get underway in Barcelona, the Olympic
champion and world record holder topped the podium with a throw of
65.76 metres. Another Czech medal hopeful in Barcelona will be Petr
Svoboda; he finished fourth in the men's 110 metres hurdles at the
Diamond League meet.
========================================================================
Weather
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A drop in temperature and mostly cloudy conditions with a chance of
rain are expected into the weekend. Temperatures should reach maximum
highs between 15 and 17 degrees Celsius.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arts
Popular Let's Dance festival returns for fifth year
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Let's Dance Prague International Festival, focusing largely on
oriental dance including genres such as tribal, and styles like funky
jazz, flamenco, flirt or street dance, is an event unlike any other in
the Czech capital. The reason? It offers not only performances by
professionals but also by amateurs, and provides workshops with
world-class performers. Let's Dance, now in its fifth year, began this
Thursday and will continue through to the end of the week. Even as it
kicked off, I caught up with one of the main organizers, Karolina
Idrisova, who told me more about the festival, both past & present.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130117
Current Affairs
2010 Summer Film School begins in Uherske Hradiste
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The annual Summer Film School festival begins on Friday in the Moravian
town of Uherske Hradiste. The largest non-competition movie festival in
the country has a lot in store for the 3,300 visitors already
accredited, namely an astounding array of films, but also special
workshops with this year's star guests, who include British director
Ken Loach, and much to do outside the cinema. Earlier today, our
reporter Christian Falvey asked the festival's programme director Jan
Jilek how the atmosphere was on the first day.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130109
Current Affairs
Member of group who shot their way across Iron Curtain in 1950s Milan
Paumer dies at 79
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Milan Paumer, a member of a group who made a dramatic escape from
communist Czechoslovakia in the 1950s, has died in Prague at the age of
79. He, Josef and Ctirad Masin and their associates were fierce
anti-communists and were extremely unusual in taking up arms against
the regime. Some Czechs regard Paumer and the rest of the Masin group
as freedom fighters. However, for others they were not heroes but cold
blooded killers.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130108
Business News
Business News 7.23.2010
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this week's Business News: Skoda Auto sets first half sales record;
foreign investment flows pick up; defence minister declares war on
tender corruption; construction giant to challenge suspicious contract
decisions; and on course for a golf empire.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130092
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail is sent to you automatically according to the settings you
chose at http://www.radio.cz/en/subscribe. To change the settings, click
here. (C) 2010, Radio Prague - the international service of Czech Radio,
all rights reserved. http://www.radio.cz, E-mail: cr@radio.cz
