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December 4th, 2008
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August 9th, 2006 | Current Issue

The toughest beat
New initiative to hire more Romany, Ukrainian and Vietnamese police officers

Prague tourism growth stagnates
Travel agents encourage better service to draw repeat visitors

U.S. base 'almost certain' for ČR
Minister's remarks come as opposition to a defense base mounts

Rolling out on patrol in Ústí nad Labem
Reporter's notebook

Officers let off on murder charges
Family says the victim of beating is being vilified as cops go free

Infrastructure a factor in slow growth of tourism
Better hotels, multilingual tourist signs and other basic improvements called for

Treasure hunters flock to Zbiroh
Castle investor tires of speculations that he's sitting on Nazi gold

Radio Free Europe's relocation drags on
New site outside city center will not be ready until 2008

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BRIEFS


  • ITALY -
    • The country's chief intelligence officer, Nicolo Pollari, denied Aug. 6 that he aided the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in seizing a Muslim cleric in 2003. The CIA was after the cleric, Abu Omar, in connection with his terrorist activities. Pollari was questioned for four hours by prosecutors, who are investigating several high-ranking government officials who allegedly aided U.S. renditions.

  • UKRAINE -
    • Parliament approved Viktor Yanukovich as the country's new prime minister Aug. 4, creating an uneasy balance of power with the struggling government of President Viktor Yushchenko. Two years ago, Yanukovich was set to take the helm as the country's president after an election fraught with fraud, before the Orange Revolution overthrew him and installed Yushchenko. Yanukovich is now preaching unity with the ruling government.

  • POLAND -
    • The European Union criticized Polish President Lech Kaczynski Aug. 4 for recent comments he made that openly supported reinstating the death penalty. The European Commission leveled similar criticism two days before and said such a move would violate Poland's membership in the EU, which makes abolishing capital punishment a condition of membership.

  • UK -
    • An American Airlines flight from London to Boston had to return to Heathrow Airport Aug. 8 after U.S. authorities said one of its passengers had a name that matched someone on a security watch list. British authorities questioned four passengers on the plane, but made no arrests. The plane was not in danger, authorities said.

  • BELARUS -
    • A Belarusian court convicted four election workers from the country's presidential election in February, charging them Aug. 4 with inciting public demonstrations and sentencing them to terms ranging from six months to two years. Their arrest in February was the start of a massive crackdown on public protest following an election, widely seen as fraudulent, that handed President Aleksandr Lukashenka another term in office.

  • GERMANY -
    • A German court Aug. 7 granted asylum to a 27-year-old Iranian woman who claims she cannot return to Iran for fear of persecution because she is a lesbian. A judge in Stuttgart ruled that the likelihood of this persecution is very high, since homosexuality is condemned in the Muslim world. The woman, whose name was not released, has been living in Germany illegally since 2003.

  • SWEDEN -
    • Mijailo Mijailoviç, who stabbed the country's foreign minister, Anna Lindh, to death in 2003, was back in jail Aug. 3 serving a life sentence, after three years in a psychiatric care institution. Mijailovic, who was found to be deranged, is accused of beating another patient almost to death with a metal bar at the institution last year. A court recently ordered him removed from the hospital.

  • UK -
    • The country has seen its highest known settlement in a divorce case. The New York Times reported Aug. 4 that a court ordered insurance millionaire John Charman to pay $90 million (2 billion Kč), roughly 37 percent of his assets. Calling the decision grossly unfair, Charman vowed to appeal the ruling. His marriage to Beverley Charman lasted for 27 years.

  • GOVERNMENT -
    • The coalition between the Civic Democrats (ODS), the Christian Democrats and the Greens has dissolved after weeks of failing to get support in the Chamber of Deputies. The ODS, which narrowly won June's general election, now either wants to lead a minority government, supported by all parties, or call another election. Polls show the ODS would get over 40 percent of the vote if an election were held now.

  • LEAK -
    • Several thousand gallons of radioactive water leaked inside the nuclear power plant in Temelín, south Bohemia, Aug. 2, plant officials reported. The leak occurred in two sealed rooms with no staff inside and did not contaminate the surrounding countryside nor threaten the health of power plant staff, said plant spokesman Milan Nebesář.

  • NAZI -
    • The German company Hochtief VSB should not build a Jewish elderly home in Prague–Hagibor because it profited from Nazi orders during World War II, said Tomáš Jelínek, a former leader of the Prague Jewish Community, Aug. 2. The company reportedly built bunkers for Hitler. Current Jewish Community Chairman František Banyai said he does not see the company's history as a problem.

  • CRIME -
    • Police are claiming ground with crime numbers in Prague down more than 5 percent in the first six months of this year compared to last year, the department said Aug. 1. Police have recorded roughly 2,400 fewer violent crimes, property crimes and vice crimes, such as prostitution. There has also been the same number of murders, 22, but the number of petty larceny cases has increased.

  • KIDNAPPING -
    • A 40-year-old Czech woman was sentenced to 20 months for the attempted abduction of a 2-month-old baby in Austria, the Austrian Press Agency reported Aug. 7. The woman suffered a miscarriage last December and attempted to kidnap the child to pass it off as her own. The woman must also pay 3,500 euros ($4,500/98,891 Kč) in damages for causing a head injury to the baby's mother.

  • FLOODS -
    • Days of heavy rain have caused floods in northern parts of the country following weeks of hot, dry weather. Areas in the Krkonoše Mountains have been particularly hard-hit, with riverbeds that were nearly empty just days before beginning to overflow. The Elbe (Labe) River flooded the basements of several houses. Evacuations have not been ordered.

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