Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
By: Daniela Lazarova
* The new government is seeking the means to access money from state
companies to boost public finances.
* Public Affairs, one of the three parties in government, has
threatened to torpedo the finance minister's proposed austerity package
at Wednesday's government meeting.
* The city of Prague has said it wants to come to an amicable agreement
with the city of Moravsky Krumlov over Alphonse Mucha's Slav epic.
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Czech government seeking to access funds from state companies
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The new centre-right government is seeking the means to access money
from state companies in order to boost public finances, according to
Tuesday's edition of Hospodarske noviny. The paper says that there are
presently some 8 billion crowns in profits on company accounts that
could be put to good use and that over the next four years the
government could access another ten billion from state companies such
as Budejovicky Budvar, the state forestry company Lesy CR or the
country's postal services. However accessing the funds would require a
change of legislation.
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Public Affairs unhappy with proposed austerity package
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Public Affairs, one of the three parties in government, has threatened
to torpedo the finance minister's proposed austerity package at
Wednesday's government meeting. Party leader Radek John, who heads the
interior ministry, said the proposed measures placed an unfair burden
on Public Affairs ministers who were expected to take the biggest cuts.
The party leadership is set to debate the issue further on Tuesday
evening. Public Affairs holds the interior, transport and education
ministries. In an angry reaction to the public statement Prime Minister
Necas said all ministries were being asked to make cuts and any
minister who couldn't shoulder the burden had no place in government.
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President Klaus to meet with new cabinet ministers
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President Vaclav Klaus has said he wants to meet individually with the
ministers of the new centre-right government in the coming weeks in
order to get better acquainted with their work in office. The president
received the new prime minister, Petr Necas, for a working lunch at
Prague Castle on Tuesday. The discussion focussed primarily on the
government's policy programme. The president has repeatedly stressed
that he considers the government's primary task reigning in the
country's excessive public finance deficit.
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Czech foreign minister says time not ripe to reassess EU policy towards
Cuba
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At a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, Czech
Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said the time was not yet ripe for
the EU to reassess its policy towards Cuba in connection with the
recent release of political prisoners. Mr. Schwarzenberg said that
although the move was a sign of progress, Cuba was still far from
functioning as a democracy. Drawing a parallel to communist
Czechoslovakia, the Czech foreign minister said Cuba had moved from the
hardline 1950s to the 1970s in its development. He pointed out that in
the 1970s the Czechoslovak communist regime also had an interest in
expelling dissidents from the country and preventing them from
returning. The EU has conditioned any dialogue with Havana on an
observance of human rights and some member states, such as Spain, have
suggested it may be time to revise its tough line.
The Czech Republic on Monday also supported an EU move to level tougher
sanctions against Iran in a dispute over its nuclear programme. They
include a block on oil and gas investment.
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Prague wants amicable agreement on Slav epic
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The city of Prague has said it wants to come to an amicable agreement
with the city of Moravsk y Krumlov over Alphonse Mucha's Slav epic. The
two city halls are at odds over the fate of the precious art collection
after Prague city hall attempted to get it moved to Prague's Veletrzni
Palac art gallery. However local authorities in Moravsky Krumlov, where
the Slav Epic has been housed for over half a century, have heeded a
call from Mucha's heirs to bar anybody from handling it. The ban will
remain in place until uncertainties surrounding a 1913 contract
granting the city of Prague ownership of the art work have been cleared
up. Alfonse Mucha donated the 20-painting collection to Prague on the
condition that the authorities built a dedicated home for his late
masterpiece, a condition that remains unfulfilled. On Sunday around
1,000 people demonstrated against it being moved from Moravsky Krumlov,
where it is the biggest tourist attraction.
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Two scouts hurt in accident remain in serious condition
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Two of the eleven Czech scouts who were injured in an accident in
Lithuania over the weekend remain in intensive care with serious chest
injuries, the ctk news agency reports. Six others remain hospitalized
with fractures and concussion. The accident happened on Sunday when a
group of 15 Czech scouts cycling around the country took shelter in a
derelict building in a rainstorm which collapsed on them. The police is
investigating the accident with regard to possible negligence on the
part of the house-owner as well as the scout-master who allowed the
group to enter a building which was clearly uninhabitable.
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President appoints new director of Czech Statistical Office
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President Vaclav Klaus on Tuesday appointed Iva Ritschelova head of the
Czech Statistical Office. Ms Ritschelova formerly headed the Jan
Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem. The 36-year-old
former university director specializes in environmental policies. The
Czech Statistical Office had an acting director since its former head
Jan Fischer left his post after being appointed head of the caretaker
cabinet in May of last year.
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Youths fined for pelting politician with eggs and insults
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Three youths have been fined 3,000 crowns each for pelting the former
Civic Democrat leader Mirek Toplanek with eggs and insults at an
election rally. The incident happened in the town of Hustopece in
August of last year and there was speculation at the time that the
attack may have been commissioned by a rival party. The former Civic
Democrat leader was hit by eggs and gravel which resulted in light
facial injuries. He refused to break off the election tour. The judge
issued a relatively small fine in view of the fact that there was no
evidence the three youths had actually thrown gravel or stones at the
politician.
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Police out in force ahead of Tuesday's Champions League qualifier
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Police are out in force for a Champions League preliminary round match
between Sparta Prague and Lech Poznan at Prague's Letna stadium on
Tuesday evening. Hundreds of Polish fans, among them notorious rowdies,
have been arriving for the match in the course of the day. A police
spokeswoman said the police had checked dozens of buses crossing the
border, returning a number of fans without Ids who were suspected of
having been extradited for causing trouble on previous occasions.
Around three thousand Polish fans are expected to attend the match,
gathering first on Prague's Old Town Square and making their way to the
stadium on foot. A similar event last year ended in street clashes with
the police after Polish rowdies attempted to force their way into the
football grounds without tickets and vandalized public property after
failing to gain admission.
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Policewoman commits suicide with service weapon
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A police officer is reported to have committed suicide at Prague's
police headquarters. According to the daily Pravo the officer, who
worked for the fraud squad for three years, shot herself with her
service weapon two weeks ago. According to a source close to the
victim, the 29-year-old woman left a letter in which she said she was
being mobbed and humiliated by her superiors. A spokeswoman told the
daily that the police would look into the allegations but was unable to
provide any further details at the moment.
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Weather
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The coming days should bring partly cloudy skies with some rain and day
temperatures at around 20 degrees Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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Current Affairs
Czech cinemas enjoying record earnings
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Looking at the sales for Czech cinemas for the last half year, it seems
there's no business like show business for riding out an economic
crisis. This week, the Union of Film Distributors released the results
of domestic cinemas for the first six months of 2010, and they showed
record earnings - a whopping 747 million crowns - as well as nearly a
million more movie-goers. Christian Falvey has this report.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130206
Current Affairs
Women get short end of stick in distribution of municipal budgets,
survey finds
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A fresh survey by the NGO Forum 50%, which strives for equal rights for
both genders, suggests that towns and villages in the Czech Republic
spend significantly more on men's needs and interests than women's.
According to the survey, seven out of eight municipalities favored men
in their budget distribution. In one case, only 18 percent of a town's
funds went to activities and resources for women. The author of the
analysis, Marcela Adamusova, explains the main findings of the study.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130195
Current Affairs
Czech scouts, on cycling journey in Lithuania, injured in building
collapse
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Members of a Czech scout group, on a cycling trip in Lithuania, were
injured on Sunday after an old building they took shelter in to get out
of a rain storm collapsed. The accident happened near the town of
Kaunas leaving 11 - including the group's leader - with serious
injuries. Eight remain in hospital, two of them in serious condition.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130189
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