Friday News Briefing

NEWS

PROTEST Around 900 people, some wearing masks characteristic of the international hackers group Anonymous, demonstrated in Prague's Malá Strana Feb. 2 against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which the Czech Republic signed in Tokyo along with 21 other countries Jan. 26. Organizers said the agreement was a significant violation of democratic rights as it seeks to bolster the enforcement of international copyrights. The European Union's rapporteur on ACTA has resigned his post over the agreement, which he says goes "too far."  

INTEGRATION Politicians from Šluknov, a low-income region in north Bohemia that has been the site of ethnic tensions since last summer, met with the government Agency for Social Inclusion Feb. 2, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported. Mayors from the area previously criticized the 25 million Kč agency for its ineffectiveness in helping resolve the region's issues with the integration of migrant Roma groups.  

WELFARE Labor and Social Affairs Minister Jaromír Drábek has sacked two people in connection with the ministry's failure to pay out unemployment and welfare benefits on time, the daily Lidové noviny reported Feb. 2. The opposition Social Democrats (ČSSD) have called for Drábek's resignation since news emerged that a new electronic payment system implemented as part of ministry reforms was malfunctioning. The Salvation Army has been providing emergency aid to afflicted welfare recipients.  

BUSINESS  

PUBLIC SENTIMENT Some 62 percent of the public sees the country's current economic situation as negative, with 20 percent categorizing it as "very bad" and 42 percent as "bad," according to a poll conducted by polling institute CVVM in January, ČTK reported. Just 7 percent of respondents said the situation is "very good." The poll found that young people age 15 and 19 are more optimistic, as are university graduates, students and those who vote for right-wing or center-right parties. The most pessimistic are people aged over 60, pensioners and potential voters of the Social Democrats (ČSSD) and Communists (KSČM).

ENERGY FORUM Conditions for investment in new projects on the European energy market must be simplified so as to enable creation of an integrated market with electricity and natural gas, Alan Svoboda, head of the trading division of company ČEZ, said at the Prague European Energy Forum Feb. 1. The EU wants to establish a single European energy market by 2014, but investors and representatives of the energy industry in attendance at the forum complained that frequent changes in legislation and inconsistencies in legislation country to country have created an uncertain environment that cools investment enthusiasm.  

UNEMPLOYMENT The number of unemployed who successfully completed retraining programs sank roughly 30 percent last year - from 2010's 61,449 to 43,203, according to data published on the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry's website. Changes in the retraining program took effect this year. Now the unemployed can choose their own retraining course and request payment for the course from the labor department, which will decide based on the applicant's health condition and chances on the labor market.  

WEATHER

Prague, Czech Republic; clear skies; Low: -16, High: -8

News Desk can be reached at
news@praguepost.com