Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Saturday, August 28th, 2010
By: Chris Johnstone
* Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has hit out at French
president Nicolas Sarkozy saying ongoing Roma expulsions from France
appear racist.
* The Minister of Justice has outlined wide ranging reforms including
cutting the maximum age of judges.
* Ozzy Osbourne is topping the bill at Saturday's Ripfest rock festival.
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Foreign Minister says French expulsions appear racist
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Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has attacked French
president Nicolas Sarkozy over the country's ongoing expulsion of Roma
or gypsies originally from Romania. In an interview with the daily
Lidove noviny, Mr. Schwarzenberg said it was impossible not to suspect
that a racist perspective played a role in the ongoing expulsions. He
said the move was against the spirit and position of the European Union.
Mr. Schwarzenberg also criticized the French president for the
organization of a world summit on the Roma issue in Paris on September
6. The Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria, countries which host large
Roma populations and certainly would have something to contribute, have
not been invited to the summit. Canada, which has reimposed visas on
Czechs because citizens from the Roma minority were seeking asylum, has
been invited.
The Czech government's nominee responsible for human rights, Michael
Kocab, said the Paris summit should not seek to decide people's fates
in their absence. The Czech Republic currently heads a multinational
initiative on Roma rights grouping countries from central and southern
Europe.
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Shake up of justice system unveiled
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Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil has outlined his plans for reforming the
country's legal system. The plans include cutting the retirement age
for judges to 65 years from the current 70. The overall number of
judges would also be reduced. The minister said cutting the age limit
would hasten the influx of a younger generation of judges who had not
been educated under Communism, were more comfortable with technology
and foreign languages and had travelled. He said older judges could
stay on as judges' assistants if they wanted.
The minister also proposed transferring responsibility for seizures in
cases of debt entirely to private companies to relieve the work burden.
The changes are being prepared for the end of the year and could,
according to the minister, save money.
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Ozzy Osbourne to appear at Ripfest
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Thousands of rock fans have been gathering for the one day festival
Ripfest 2010 near the historic hill Rip in central Bohemia on Saturday.
The culmination of the festival will be a late night appearance by rock
legend Ozzy Osbourne. The former Black Sabbath member is launching an
11-stop European tour at the Czech festival and also promoting his new
album, Scream. Rain forced the cancellation of some of the earlier
bands on the programme.
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Michael Jackson fans honour hero
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Fans of deceased US pop singer Michael Jackson organised a three-hour
walk through the streets of Prague on Saturday in homage to their hero.
The walk was staged to coincide with would have been the singer's 52nd
birthday. At various stages along the walk stops were scheduled for
participants to dance to the tunes of his hit album "Thriller." Fans
from Slovakia were also expected to take part. Jackson died in June
last year after taking too many sedatives.
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Flood alert lifted for Liberec and Usti nad Labem regions
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The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute has lifted its flood alerts for
the regions of Liberec and Usti nad Labem in north Bohemia. The
institute issued the warning on Friday fearing heavy rain could result
in local rivers reaching the first or second level flood danger. Level
three indicates danger or extreme danger of flooding. Now, only showers
are predicted for the areas with rivers only rising because of previous
heavy rain. Both regions are still recovering from devastating flash
floods just three weeks ago which caused around 6.0 billion crowns in
damage and claimed at least five lives.
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Prime Minister promises aid to flood hit farmers
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Prime Minister Petr Necas has told flood stricken farmers that payments
to them will be speeded up in a bid to help them recover. Speaking at
an international farmers' fair in the south Bohemian city of Ceske
Budejovice on Saturday, the prime minister said that state payments to
farmers would be prioritised. He also said demands for rental payments
by the state land office could be postponed for up to a year. The
Ministry of Agriculture already made a similar pledge concerning
payments for land bought from the state.
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Defence Minister says cannot prevent army members joining anti-cuts
demonstrations
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Czech Minister of Defence Alexandr Vondra has said he has no knowledge
of members of the armed forces wanting to take part in police and fire
fighters' demonstrations against government austerity measures.
Mr.Vondra told Czech Radio on Saturday that he could not prevent them
joining the demonstrations if they were not in uniform and using their
own free time. Police unions have said members of the armed forces have
expressed interest in taking part in protests. The Ministry of Defence
this year faces a 10 percent cut in the wage bill and bill for
operating costs and a 5.0 percent cut in investments.
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Police charge four inspectors over driving test fraud
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Police have detained and charged four driving test examiners from the
eastern city of Ostrava according to a police spokeswoman. She said
they had been charged in connection with suspected corruption
concerning driving licenses and tests. Abuse of a public office carries
a punishment of up to three years in prison for a first offence.
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Ujfalusi wins European super cup title
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In football, Czech defender Tomas Ujfalusi has won the European super
cup with Spanish team Atletico Madrid. The Spanish winner of the Europa
League beat Champions League winner Inter Milan 2:0 in Monaco on Friday
night. The 32-year-old Czech is playing in his third season with the
Spanish club.
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Motorcyclist Karel Abraham doubtful for Indianapolis Grand Prix
following injury
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Czech motorcyclist Karel Abraham is uncertain to start in Sunday's
Grand Prix even in Indianapolis, in the US. He took part in Friday's
training but only completed 12 courses of the circuit before his father
called off the practice. He was complaining of slow reflexes and poor
concentration. The rider suffered concussion following training for the
Brno Grand Prix two weeks ago and has not fully recovered since.
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Weather
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Showers with occasional heavier rain will continue throughout the
weekend. Top daytime temperatures will be around 16
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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SoundCzech
To carry someone in your arms
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Welcome to another edition of SoundCzech - Radio Prague's Czech
language series in which you can learn new phrases with the help of
song lyrics. Today's song is On My Own from the musical Les Miserables,
it is sung by Lucie Bila and the phrase to listen out for is "nosil by
me na rukou".
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131159
Magazine
Magazine 8.28.2010
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A man pretending to be Spiderman gets stuck down a chimney. Jaromir
Jagr opens a gas station in Siberia and a sixty-year-old secondary
school teacher is running in the autumn local elections even though he
is dead. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarova.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131158
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