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September 6th, 2006 | Current Issue

Lives on hold
For thousands fleeing misery, Czech Republic offers hope, frustration

Czech nurses flocking to Austria
Officials agonize over issue of 40,000 foreign caregivers

UN: ČR must pay Romany victims
State must also adopt legislative changes on sterilization issue

Wrecks take over Prague's downtown
Capital is destination for an unusual but fun cross-border road rally

Czechs help avert Kyrgyz disaster
Team targets lakes in danger of overflowing in the Tian Shan range

Cigarette price hike has smokers fuming
Tobacco tax awaiting Parliament approval would help ease deficit

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BRIEFS


  • CABINET -
    • The country has a government led by the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) for the first time in eight years. President Václav Klaus named the new Cabinet Sept. 4 in a ceremony at Prague Castle. Nine of the new ministers are ODS members, while six are independents. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has 30 days to gain approval for his Cabinet from the Chamber of Deputies.

  • PARTY -
    • A private party and vintage car rally hosted by designer Louis Vuitton, which first made headlines when they were to take place on Charles Bridge, is now on for Alšovo nábřeží Sept. 6–10. The street, near the Rudolfinum, will be closed for five days. The company is also renting a state-owned chateau in Hluboká for 150,000 Kč ($6,800), and Madonna is expected to perform for a VIP gala there Sept. 8.

  • GARBAGE -
    • The last truck carrying German garbage back across the border from several illegal dumping sites in north Bohemia left the country Sept. 5. Czech authorities discovered around 15,000 metric tons (16,500 short tons) of garbage dumped in the Czech Republic by German waste companies in February.

  • TRAFFIC -
    • The last weekend of the summer vacation season, Sept. 2–3, saw the lowest number of traffic accidents in 11 years. Three people were killed on roads that weekend, compared to 21 in 2004. Experts attribute the positive statistics to the new, stricter traffic laws introduced here June 1.

  • ROMA -
    • Twenty-three candidates in next month's local election in Broumov, east Bohemia, are running independently on a platform that seeks to limit financial subsidies given to the town's Roma (Gypsies). The candidates deny racism, arguing that they do not want state funds wasted.

  • TECHNO -
    • Police put an early end to a Sept. 2 illegal techno party near Drnov, west Bohemia, after locals complained about the noise. Unlike last year's CzechTek, when police beat up dozens of dancers, a violent confrontation was avoided. Ravers agreed to leave the site shortly after police arrived.

  • MADONNA -
    • Madonna, who performs at sold-out concerts Sept. 6 and 7 at Sazka Arena, arrived in Prague Sept. 5 with her 100-member entourage. According to Lidové noviny, she will be staying at the Four Seasons hotel.

  • GERMANY -
    • Authorities investigating a foiled plot last month to blow up passenger trains on two routes in western Germany said Sept. 2 that the three suspects in custody were retaliating against the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad across Europe. Those cartoons, initially published in a Danish newspaper last year, sparked outrage and protests across the Muslim world.

  • RUSSIA -
    • The country's defense minister said Sept. 1 that imposing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program would be ineffective and urged further negotiations, even as a United Nations–backed deadline for Iran to dismantle its program passed. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council are to meet in Berlin Sept. 7 to discuss the next move.

  • POLAND -
    • Since May 2004, 100,000 Poles have emigrated to Ireland in search of jobs, leading Education Ministry State Secretary Slawomir Klosowki to announce plans Aug. 31 to build a Polish school in Dublin for immigrants' children. Klosowki said the school could be ready by the 2007–08 academic year.

  • UK -
    • British authorities arrested 14 people Sept. 2 in connection with what they described as "jihad" plots in London. Following the arrests, police focused their attention on an Islamic School in Mark Cross, England, which has hosted Islamic militants in the past. Police reported no arrests at the school, however.

  • FRANCE -
    • A habitual criminal given a reprieve from deportation by the French government stole a police car Aug. 31 and drove it at several officers who were guarding Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin. The incident brought the immigration policies of Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister who is running for president, under heavy fire, because he was the one who saved the man from being deported months ago.

  • AUSTRIA -
    • Eighteen-year-old Natascha Kampusch has spoken of her eight years of captivity in the hands of a kidnapper just outside Vienna, but has revealed few details as to her ordeal. She said that she spent every day cooking and cleaning for her captor, but that she had time to school herself. Kampusch, kidnapped in 1998, escaped late last month. Her captor killed himself soon after.

  • NORWAY -
    • Edvard Munch's famous expressionist paintings The Scream and Madonna were returned to the Munch Museum in Oslo Aug. 31, two years after a highly publicized heist. Police have yet to make any arrests in the case. Norwegians praised the recovery, even as police were unable to offer details on how exactly the works were recovered.

  • VATICAN -
    • In a surprising departure, Pope Benedict XVI was one of the featured attendees of a three-day conference on evolution that began Sept. 1 in Rome. Experts say the Pope appears to be more receptive to the theories of evolution, which the Catholic Church staunchly opposes, than his predecessors. No official church position came out of the conference.

  • BULGARIA -
    • A 17-year-old Bulgarian on her way by plane from the capital, Sofia, to Malta Sept. 1 slept through her landing there and woke up back in Sofia. Malta Air charged her $250 (5,495 Kč) for the return trip, which sparked outrage from the girl's mother. "I have not seen any signs saying 'No sleeping,' " the mother said. "I have only seen signs saying 'No smoking.'"

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