The Prague Post
http://www.aaaradiotaxi.cz/index.php?xSET=lang&xLANG=2
July 4th, 2008
Reader's SurveyNEW     Endowment Fund     Book of Lists ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Real Estate Prague Prague Rentals Prague Apartments Prague Art & Antiques

Home » Archives » News Archives

News Headlines

November 14th, 2007 | Current Issue

Battle scars
City officials see violent test of 'national character'

Scenes from the streets
Nov. 10 events played out differently for various groups

Base protest planned for Nov. 17
Organizers call for protest on Velvet Revolution anniversary

Radar base attracts foreign spies
Int'l intelligence on the prowl for defense technology

Prague 1 wagers slots ban
City officials must approve bid to stop 'gambling boom'

Czech Republic seeks to protect folk customs
Experts warn UNESCO status for one tradition could silence others

  Live daily news feed

  Live daily sports feed

BRIEFS


RUSSIA Parliament’s lower house voted unanimously Nov. 8 to suspend Russia’s participation in a 1990 treaty limiting conventional forces in Europe, according to The New York Times (NYT). The vote is thought to be partly in reaction to U.S. plans to build a radar base in Central Europe. The upper house and President Vladimir Putin are expected to approve the measure.

GEORGIA On Nov. 9, President Mikheil Saakashvili called for a special presidential election to be held Jan. 5. The announcement came one day after he declared a state of emergency following violent confrontations between police and protesters in the capital, Tbilisi. Saakashvili also announced that a referendum to determine a date for parliamentary elections will also take place Jan. 5.
FINLAND An 18-year-old student killed himself, seven other students and a principal with a .22-caliber handgun at Jokela High School in Tuusula Nov. 8. The shooter, Pekka-Eric Auvinen, had posted a video about the massacre on YouTube beforehand. The video was set to a song that was posted on a Web site maintained by one of the Columbine High School killers.
ITALY Five U.S. soldiers were killed and seven were wounded after their Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed outside Treviso, near Aviano Air Base. The helicopter was on a training mission, according to the NYT.
SERBIA The war crimes trial of Vojislav Šešelj, leader of nationalist Serbian Radical Party, began in The Hague Nov. 7. He is charged with inciting violence during the war that split Yugoslavia. Prosecutors say he is accountable for acts of killing, rape and persecution of Croats and Muslims.
EUROPE Nordic countries rate the highest in terms of gender equality according to a report released Nov. 8 by the Swiss-based World Economic Forum. Italy ranked the lowest in Europe; the Czech Republic ranked 64th in the world. The study compares differences between men’s and women’s salaries, access to education, political representation and health considerations such as life expectancy.
RUSSIA Twenty sailors are missing after 11 ships, including an oil tanker, sank or broke apart in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov during a powerful storm Nov. 11, the NYT reported. Up to 2,000 metric tons of oil leaked into the Kerch Strait, which connects the two seas.
NORTHERN IRELAND The largest Protestant paramilitary group in Northern Ireland, the Ulster Defense Association, disbanded its armed units Nov. 11, according to the Associated Press. The outlawed group had terrorized Northern Ireland’s Roman Catholic minority since the 1970s.
SLOVENIA Leftist former diplomat Danilo Türk won Slovenia’s presidential runoff Nov.11, according to Reuters. Former Prime Minister Lojze Peterle conceded after exit polls showed Türk getting almost 70 percent of the vote.
GREECE A Turkish cargo ship carrying 275 illegal immigrants was rescued from a storm off the coast of Greece Nov. 11, the NYT reported. Greek authorities arrested the ship’s crew for smuggling the immigrants, which included men and women from Iraq.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Nov. 12 that the United Kingdom will push for a worldwide ban on foreign investment in Iran’s oil and gas industry until it sees that Tehran is abandoning its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons, according to the NYT.

RALLY A right-wing extremist group called Autonomous Nationalists announced Nov. 12 that it plans to rally Nov. 17 in response to the city’s prevention of a planned march by other extremists Nov. 10 in the Jewish Quarter, according to the Czech News Agency (ČTK). The Nov. 17 rally is to be held on Palackého náměstí, where a permit to gather isn’t needed.

RESIGNED President Václav Klaus accepted the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Jiří Čunek Nov. 13, nearly one week after Čunek resigned from his post amid accusations of corruption. His party, the Christian Democrats, said that Jiří Vačkář will temporarily lead the Regional Development Ministry, which Čunek had headed.
RADAR Two scientists are challenging the government’s claim that the U.S.-proposed radar would not be harmful to the health of Brdy area residents. The experts, from the Brno University of Technology, said Nov. 12 that more study is needed. Meanwhile, Klaus told the BBC Nov. 12 that he is convinced the radar base will be built in the Czech Republic.
 
UNDECIDED The Green Party has yet to decide who will replace former Education Minister Dana Kuchtová, who stepped down in early October. Her deputy, Dušan Lužný, announced Nov. 9 that he will also be leaving the ministry. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek had said that Lužný’s ties to Kuchtová disqualified him as a candidate for minister, ČTK reports.
SECURITY Czech Prison Service spokesman Robert Kačer told the daily Právo Nov. 9 that prisons will lack 600 guards, about a tenth of their total number, as guards continue to leave, which could result in a serious problem for Czech prisons. Similarly, police say they will lack 4,882 officers by January.

Most visited in Book of Lists

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.