Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Saturday, July 24th, 2010
By: Ian Willoughby
* Rainstorms hit the Czech Republic on Friday night, causing
complications in various parts of the country.
* US President Barack Obama wrote a thank you note to Jan Fischer when
he stood down recently as Czech prime minister.
* Saturday marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Czech
painter Alphonse Mucha.
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Rainstorms cause complications in several parts of country
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Rainstorms hit the Czech Republic on Friday night, causing
complications in various parts of the country. Cellars were flooded in
south Moravia and the region of Vysocina, while fire officers had to
pump water from the hospital in the town of Znojmo and a museum in
Brno. Parts of the D1 motorway between Brno and Prague were also
flooded, and a police station was inundated in Plzen. As well as
dealing with problems caused by the downpours, rescue services had to
remove trees that were knocked over by strong winds. Forecasters say
more rain can be expected in the coming days.
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Obama sends ex-Czech PM Fischer thank you note
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US President Barack Obama wrote a thank you note to Jan Fischer when he
stood down recently as Czech prime minister. Mr Obama congratulated the
former Czech leader on his achievements and thanked him for exceptional
hospitality during a summit in Prague in April at which the American
president signed a nuclear arms reduction treaty with his Russian
counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev. In the letter, made public by a former
Czech government spokesperson, he also wrote that during Mr Fischer's
tenure as the head of an interim government relations between Prague
and Washington had deepened. Last September Mr Obama announced that his
government was dropping a plan created by the previous US
administration for an anti-missile shield that would have had bases in
the Czech Republic and Poland.
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Saturday 150th anniversary of birth of great Czech artist Alphonse Mucha
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Saturday marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Czech
painter Alphonse Mucha. Mucha was born in the Moravian town of
Ivancice, but found fame in Paris when a poster he designed for a play
starring Sarah Bernhardt became an overnight sensation. The artist then
produced a great number of paintings, posters, advertisements, book
illustrations and other items in a style that became known as Art
Nouveau. He died in 1939 after catching pneumonia while being
interrogated by the Gestapo. A travelling exhibition marking the
anniversary of his birth has been organised by the Mucha Foundation,
which is headed by the painter's grandson.
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Police increase controls on roads following high number of accidents at
start of holiday season
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Police are stepping up controls following a high number of deaths on
Czech roads at the start of the holiday season. More officers than
usual will be on duty on the country's road network throughout the
weekend. Meanwhile, a major nationwide road safety operation will begin
on Monday and also involve the police services in states neighbouring
the Czech Republic. So far this month around 80 people have died in car
accidents, most of which occurred at weekends.
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Education minister says planned signing-on payment could draw more men
into teaching profession
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The new Czech minister of education, Josef Dobes, has discussed plans
for a cash reward for fresh graduates who enter the teaching
profession. In an interview for the newspaper Pravo, he said under his
proposal they would receive a signing-on payment of CZK 180,000 (over
USD 9,000), to be received after a certain period of service. Mr Dobes
said that provision would encourage men to become teachers, thus
improving discipline among pupils. The great majority of teachers in
Czech schools are female.
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Far-right extremists march through town where skinhead killed Romany man
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Around 150 far-right extremists marched through Svitavy on Saturday in
support of skinhead Vlastimil Pechanec, who received a 17-year jail
term for the killing of a Romany man in the town. The protestors
chanted slogans including 'show trials' and 'Pechanec isn't a
murderer'. Meanwhile, around 30 anti-racism campaigners gathered at the
bar where he stabbed Ota Absolon twice in 2001. Absolon, who was 30,
died in hospital a few hours later.
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Production of Don Giovanni directed by Jiri Menzel premieres in Cesky
Krumlov
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A new production of the opera Don Giovanni directed by the noted Czech
filmmaker Jiri Menzel premiered at the Cesky Krumlov International
Music Festival on Friday night. Due to heavy rains it had to be moved
from an outdoor theatre in the grounds of the castle in the south
Bohemian town to a nearby building. There will be five more
performances of Mr Menzel's Don Giovanni, which is the result of
co-operation between the festival and the Theatre of South Bohemia.
Jiri Menzel has described himself as a theatre director who
occasionally makes films. His most recent movie was 2006's I Served the
King of England.
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Roman Catholic order plans to commemorate member who performed
pioneering surgery in 19th century
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The Czech Brothers Hospitallers of St John of God are planning to hold
a series of concerts later this year to mark the anniversary of the
birth 200 years ago of one of their most noteworthy members, Celestyn
Opitz. Opitz performed the first operation in which the patient was
under anesthetic in Europe, at Prague's Na Frantisku hospital in 1847.
American surgeon William Wharton had been the first doctor in the world
to use anesthetic, four months before the Czech. Announcing plans for
the concert series, Vit Pospichal of the Brothers Hospitallers of St
John of God told the Czech News Agency that Opitz's work had been of
great significance not only for the order but for the whole of medical
science.
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Czech cyclist Kreuziger set to come ninth in Tour de France for second
consecutive year
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The Czech cyclist Roman Kreuziger looks set to come ninth in the Tour
de France for the second year in a row. The Liquigas rider was in ninth
overall following the penultimate stage on Saturday and is very likely
to hold on to the position in Sunday's final stage, which finishes in
Paris and is at 102.5 kilometres the shortest of the Tour. Kreuziger,
who is 24, was junior world champion in 2006 and has to date won the
Tour de Romandie, the Tour de Suisse and the Tour of Sardinia.
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International marbles competition held in Czech capital
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What organisers have dubbed the World Marbles Championships were held
in Prague on Saturday. Around 40 players from the Czech Republic and
elsewhere took part in the event, which was held in the park by the
Stefanik Observatory at the top of the city's Petrin Hill. Participants
played in twos in a straight knock-out system, aiming their marbles at
a hole 7.5 metres from the throwing line. The championship was
organised by the Czech Marbles Federation.
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Weather
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We should see more cloudy skies and rain in the Czech Republic over the
next few days, with temperatures expected to reach up to 23 degrees
Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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SoundCzech
To fly like a madman
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Welcome to SoundCzech, our language series in which you can learn Czech
phrases and idioms through song lyrics. In today's edition the phrase
to look out for is "letim jako blazen", featured in a song by the Czech
pop group Chinaski.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130121
Magazine
Magazine 7.24.2010
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In Magazine this week: the head of the Czech Roman Catholic church
shows believers around Prague's Archbishop's Palace in a series of
online videos; Radek Stepanek and Nicole Vaidisova exchange vows - but
they aren't the only Czech sportspeople to marry; and PC monitoring
software suggests Czechs are now slacking less at the office.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130094
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