Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
By: Christian Falvey
* A Czech injured in Monday's shooting incident in Bratislava is
reported to be in serious, but stable condition.
* Leaders of TOP 09 have protested the creation of a state post to
coordinate EU affairs policy.
* The director of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Kasik, has
resigned.
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Czech injured in Bratislava shooting incident remains in serious
condition
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The thirty-year-old Czech who was injured in Monday's shooting incident
in Bratislava was operated on and is reported to be in serious, but
stable condition. Police have not disclosed his identity. He was one of
15 people injured in a shooting spree when a man armed with an assault
rifle went on a rampage in the Slovak capital Bratislava, killing six
members of a Roma family and two others who happened to cross his path.
Thirteen people are in hospital, one of them in critical condition. The
shooter, who committed suicide after the attack, is reported to have
had frequent disputes with the local Roma community.
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TOP 09: only PM can coordinate EU policy
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Leaders of the junior coalition party TOP 09 said Tuesday that the
coordination of EU affairs policy cannot be entrusted to a specially
appointed state secretary because the coalition agreement allots that
responsibility to the head of the government. Prime Minister Petr Necas
has planned to establish the post of state secretary for the EU soon,
saying the depth of Czech-EU relations necessitates the post. In the
view of TOP 09 chairman and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg
however, the prime minister is responsible for the coordination of the
country's European policy, while the Foreign Ministry is responsible
for its implementation. Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek, who has
clashed with the PM on other matter in recent weeks, also said that the
powers of the prime minister could not be performed by an appointed
official. Mr Necas called the remarks a sign of pre-election uneasiness.
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Forum 2000 announces guests
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This year's Forum 2000 debate will be attended by Cuban dissident Jose
Luis Garcia Paneque and Iranian lawyer and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize
winner Shirin Ebadi, the organisers have announced. Opposition activist
Garcia Paneque was released from prison this summer after seven years
in prison, 17 months of which he spent in solitary confinement. He
accepted an offer of asylum in Spain in July. Ms Ebadi will be visiting
the forum for the second time; she first came to the Czech capital in
1997. The conference, now in its 14th year under the auspices of
ex-president Vaclav Havel, will take place between October 10 and 12
under the slogan "The World We Want to Live In".
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Director of Czech Philharmonic resigns
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The director of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Kasik, has
tendered his resignation to the Ministry of Culture. The resignation
follows months of disputes with the orchestra's artistic council, which
objects to Mr Kasik having been appointed in May without an official
competition being held for the post. Vaclav Kasik headed Czech Radio
for ten years until he was dismissed in 2009 and was brought in to run
the orchestra when the previous director was dismissed for poor
economic management. Minister of Culture Jiri Besser accepted the
resignation on Tuesday and announced a competition for the open
position and also for the directorship of the National Technical
Museum. That institution has also seen several changes of management in
recent weeks based on allegations of corruption.
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Czech Republic will apply for flood relief funding from EU Solidarity
Fund
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Prime Minister Petr Necas says the Czech Republic will be applying for
money from the EU Solidarity Fund to cover damages from recent floods
in the regions of Liberec and Usti nad Labem. The government will be
discussing a joint application with Poland and the German state of
Saxony, both of which were also hard hit by the early-August floods.
The prime minister says that damages have so far reached 6.5 billion
crowns, which does not entitle the country to automatic funding from
the EU. The state has already earmarked 80 million crowns for immediate
aid and a further 665 million for repairs to infrastructure.
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Moravia-Silesia on high flood alert
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Meanwhile, meteorologists have declared a state of high alert in the
region of Moravia-Silesia as persistent rain raises river levels; lower
warning levels are in effect for the regions of Zlin, Liberec and Usti
nad Labem. Up to 120 mm of precipitation is expected in the Beskydy
Mountains in the far east of the Czech Republic, where a level-one
flood warning is in effect on the Lucina River. Engineers opened the
floodgates on all dams in the region on Monday to reduce waterway
levels. Weathermen also warn of strong winds throughout Moravia.
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"King of Poachers" acquitted for lack of evidence
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The Regional Court in Brno has upheld a not guilty verdict for a local
man facing up to five years imprisonment for poaching. Josef Konecny
was dubbed the "King of Poachers" by the media after police found over
1,300 deer trophies worth roughly ten million crowns in his home in
2005. He was acquitted by a district court on lack of evidence however,
pleading that he had collected rather than hunted the trophies; the
District Court upheld that verdict on Tuesday. Mr Konecny's collection
was first discovered after an incident five years ago when he fired
gunshots in the street with an illegal homemade weapon. For comparison,
one of the largest collections of antlers in the Czech Republic, at the
Moravian chateau in Kunstat, consists of 200 sets of antlers.
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Education Minister replaces Soc. Dem. deputy
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Education Minister Josef Dobes has replaced his deputy for general,
specialised and other education for political reasons. Though a long
time employee at the Education Ministry, the presence of Social
Democrat Petr Spirhanzl in the Public Affairs minister's inner circle
was apparently criticised by both parties. Mr Spirhanzl will remain at
the ministry in another position. The new deputy, Ladislav Nemec, will
be responsible for starting up state leaving exams, dealing with
declining numbers of secondary school students and preparing new
comparative exams for grades five through nine.
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Army General Staff burglar charged, faces two years
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A man who was caught on camera burgling the Army General Staff building
in July has been charged with attempted robbery and wilful damage to
property. If convicted he will face up to two years in prison. Police
were notified of the man's identity by his wife, who recognised him on
televised security camera footage. While some media at the time of the
burglary suspected the involvement of foreign spies, nothing was stolen
from the building and only several doors were damaged. The incident
resulted in the Military Police reassuming the task of monitoring the
building.
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Poll shows TOP 09 up, Public Affairs down
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A new poll conducted by the agency Factum Invenio suggests different
parliamentary election results for the parties TOP 09 and Public
Affairs in the vote were held today. While the poll showed roughly
similar results to those attained by the Social Democratic (-1.3%) and
Civic Democratic (-0.1%) parties in May, TOP 09 received 19.6% of the
mock election result, an improvement of some 3 points, while Public
Affairs' popularity dwindled by 3% to 7.9. The communist vote also
increased to 13.4% of the vote. No other parties exceeded 3%.
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Weather
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Conditions over the coming days are expected to be cloudy and rainy
with highs of 13 to 17o Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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Current Affairs
Czechs hunters frustrated over "King of Poachers" walking free
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A court in Brno did not find enough evidence on Tuesday to convict a
man dubbed "the King of Poachers". The man, who had more than 1,300
hunting trophies in his home, claimed he inherited them. The verdict
has upset Czech hunters who say that under the current Czech law, it's
extremely difficult to convict poachers even if they are caught
red-handed.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131250
Current Affairs
Prague Zoo confirms position as leading breeder of Komodo dragons in
captivity
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In the wild there are reportedly only around 5,000 Komodo dragons left,
found in eastern Indonesia. But Prague Zoo has enjoyed continued
success in breeding the endangered lizard in captivity. Over the last
few days, the zoo saw the successful hatching of 20 new specimens, the
offspring of a female known as Aranka. What's more, viewers were able
to watch the entire hatching process online. Radio Prague's Jan
Velinger spoke to the zoo's spokeswoman Jana Ptacinska-Jiratova, who
told me more about the successful hatchings:
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131249
Current Affairs
Czech seriously injured in Bratislava killing-spree
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The Slovak capital Bratislava on Monday experienced one of the worst
cases of violence in years when a lone gunman went on a rampage killing
8 people and injuring 15 others before turning the weapon on himself.
One of the injured is a 30-year-old Czech national who is reported to
be in serious condition.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131244
Talking Point
Controversy reigns around camp for hard core homeless
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A storm of outrage erupted in mid August when Prague city council gave
the green light for a camp to be created for the capital's homeless.
Human rights groups said it was a throwback to a darker era, non-profit
groups argued the step would simply not work. This week's Talking Point
looks at the arguments stirred up about the homeless camp.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131226
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