Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
By: Daniela Lazarova
* The Czech government has approved the closure of five embassies
within extensive cost-cutting measures in 2010.
* Police officers and firemen will take to the streets to protest
against the interior minister's austerity plan.
* The Senate has announced its nominations for the post of Ombudsman.
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Government approves closure of five embassies
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The Czech government on Wednesday approved the closure of five
embassies within extensive cost-cutting measures in 2010. The Czech
Republic will be closing down its diplomatic missions in Congo,
Venezuela, Kenya, Yemen and Costa Rica. The CTK news agency says that
the Czech consulate in Bombay, India may also have to be closed. The
planned closure of selected embassies has come under fire from the
opposition Social Democrats who claim it will hurt Czech exports.
Originally the foreign ministry had proposed closing down as many as
ten diplomatic missions. Negotiations are also underway on an embassy
sharing scheme within the Visegrad group of states.
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Police and firemen to protest against minister's austerity plan
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Police officers and firemen are planning a joint protest action on
September 21 against Interior Minister Radek John's austerity plan. The
minister outlined earlier this week how he expected the ministry to
operate on a smaller budget in 2010. He said the priorities were to
save on operational expenditures and investments, and decreased pay for
police and firemen. Other measures will include cancelling plans for
modernizing police and fire departments and purchasing new equipment.
The announcement has met with anger from the ranks of police and
firefighters who claim that the minister lacks experience in the field
and has no idea how his proposals will impact the work of the security
forces.
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Senate nominates candidates for Ombudsman
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The Senate on Wednesday nominated two candidates for the post of
Ombudsman, left vacant following the death of Otakar Motejl in May of
this year. They are former constitutional court judge Pavel Varvarovsky
and the head of the Prague Jewish community Frantisek Banyai. President
Klaus, who is also entitled to make nominations to the post, on Tuesday
proposed the former governor of south Bohemia Jan Zahradnik and civic
activist John Bok. The lower house is to elect a new Ombudsman on
September 7th.
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Czech Republic ready to take in released Cuban dissidents
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The Czech Republic has expressed readiness to take in some of the Cuban
dissidents who were released from prison following negotiations between
the Cuban leadership, Spain and the Catholic Church. The Czech Foreign
Ministry says the country can take in as many as ten dissidents with
their families. If they decide to accept the offer the Cuban nationals
would be given political asylum in the Czech Republic, residence
permits and assistance in finding jobs and placing their children in
local schools.
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Taxi-drivers still ripping-off foreign tourists
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Undercover inspectors at Prague Airport have found that one in two
taxi-drivers rip off passengers. The inspection was conducted by city
hall officials in cooperation with city police who issued over 200
fines. Czech taxi-drivers are notorious for overpricing with Prague
city hall getting hundreds of complaints about the problem. The trip
from Prague Airport to the city centre should cost around 600 crowns,
inspectors say some taxi drivers charged double and in one case the
requested fee was 5,000 crowns.
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Clean-up operation in wake of small tornado
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A clean-up operation is underway in the Moravian town of Olesnice which
was hit by a small tornado on Tuesday night. The tornado damaged twenty
roofs -in one case lifting it and throwing it onto a neighbouring
dwelling - and uprooted a number of trees. No one was injured. Tornados
are fairly rare in this part of the world but they have been known to
occur.
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PM addresses Senate
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Prime Minister Petr Necas on Wednesday addressed the Senate for the
first time since taking office. He informed the upper house on the
position of the Czech government regarding issues to be discussed at a
meeting of the European Council in Brussels in mid-September and
responded to questions from senators. The prime minister faced
criticism from the opposition benches for making Roman Joch one of his
advisers. Mr. Joch raised an outcry last week when he told the media
that he would advise the prime minister to scrap the post of government
human rights commissioner since he considered it redundant. Mr. Necas
said Mr. Joch was not in an executive post though he admitted that as
his advisor he should have expressed his views in a more moderate
fashion.
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Prime minister rules out new debate on Benes decrees and Temelin
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In an interview for the Austrian daily Kurier, the Czech prime
minister, Petr Necas, ruled out a renewed debate on two controversial
issues in Czech-Austrian relations: the Benes decrees, sanctioning the
expulsion of 2.5 million Sudeten Germans from post-war Czechoslovakia,
and the Temelin nuclear power plant in south Bohemia. Mr. Necas said
both issues were closed and there was nothing further to add to the
matter. Austria has long pushed for the Benes decrees to be rescinded
and as a non-nuclear state, would like to see the Temelin nuclear power
plant closed down.
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Aggressive driver may go to court
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Police investigating the shocking case of an aggressive driver who sent
another car flying off the road because the woman driving it was
holding him up say they have enough evidence to send the man to court.
The incident which was filmed by another driver and later appeared on
you tube shows the aggressive driver swerving sharply into the right
lane and sending the offending Mazda flying through the air. It landed
in a field after turning over several times. Miraculously, the two
people in it suffered only light injuries. If found guilty, the
aggressive driver could face from five to twelve years in jail.
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Sparta Prague face Champions League qualification battle
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Czech league champions Sparta Prague face an uphill battle to qualify
for the group stage of the lucrative European Champions League on
Wednesday night. Sparta travel to Slovak club Zilina where they have to
overturn a 0:2 defeat from the first leg last week. Sparta should be
helped by the return of star Ivory Coast striker Bony Wilfried but will
be missing two other first team players who were yellow carded in the
first leg.
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Weather
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The coming days are expected to be warm and sunny with day temperatures
reaching 28 degrees Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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Current Affairs
Workshop looks to Pixar to revive Czech animation
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Czech animation has a very long and rich history in the Czech Republic,
but in the view of some young filmmakers it's gotten behind the times.
That's why the studio Bohemian Multimedia has organised the Anomalia
workshop, a two-month course in modern animation that has brought some
of the best minds in the field - namely artists from the famed American
studio Pixar - to the east Bohemian town of Litomysl to share their
knowledge with students from Central Europe and even other professional
Czech animators. This afternoon we spoke with organiser David Tousek,
who is currently at Litomysl Chateau and told us more about the
programme.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131078
Current Affairs
Czech Television: beware flood-damaged cars being sold as second hand
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People in North Bohemia are still cleaning up after the recent flash
floods, but Czech Television warned of a new peril on its evening news
on Tuesday - flood-damaged cars being sold as second hand by
unscrupulous traders. Czech Television reported that driving such
vehicles can be dangerous, even fatal, and experts are warning
potential buyers to check used cars carefully.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131063
Current Affairs
Amnesty International puts spotlight on Czech arms exports to Yemen
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Amnesty International has put some of the spotlight on the Czech
Republic in a report about the situation in conflict ridden Yemen. The
international human rights watchdog organization says that Czech arms
are being shipped to a country where opponents of the local government
are being tortured or disappear for long periods into detention or are
executed.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131062
Spotlight
The Cafe Louvre: a surviving jewel from Prague's cafe heyday
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Cafe society was a reality in Prague and many other Czech towns and
cities during a golden era before the First World War and between the
wars. There were hundreds of such cafes with the latest addition often
trying to outdo its predecessors in luxury and splendour. This edition
of Prague Spotlight centres on one of the most famous of these cafes,
the Cafe Louvre. It is one of the few great cafes which have survived
the ravages of time and has been restored to some of its original
grandeur.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131055
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