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October 12th, 2008
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January 3rd, 2008 | Current Issue

Going to extremes
Czech scientists head for Antarctica to study global climate change

New Year's parties cost city
Officials spend 800,000 Kč for cleanup of downtown hotspots

Oil costs drive 2008 price hikes
Ripple effects to be seen in areas of food products, heating

2007: Year in review
The biggest stories of the past 12 months involved racist violence, political scandals and moments of hope

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BRIEFS


FRANCE A nationwide ban on smoking in bars, restaurants, nightclubs and cafés took effect Jan. 1 with a 24-hour grace period for New Year’s celebrations. Anyone caught smoking in these places will be fined 450 euros, according to the BBC. France follows the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Sweden and parts of the United States in the trend to ban smoking in public places.

RUSSIA A government agency has denied reports that it signed a deal to supply Iran with anti-aircraft missiles, according to a Dec. 29 report in The New York Times (NYT). The Iranian defense minister claimed Russia had agreed to equip Iran with S-300 missiles, but the Russian agency, the Federal Military and Technical Cooperation Service, said no such deal was being discussed with Iran. 
BELGIUM The capital city, Brussels, canceled its New Year’s Eve celebrations because of an alleged plot to free an al-Qaida suspect, Nizar Trabelsi, who had been convicted for planning to blow up an air base in Belgium used by U.S. personnel, according to a Dec. 30 BBC report. Fireworks in Brussels were canceled and the Christmas markets closed early.
EUROPE Detention camps for foreigners have “mushroomed” across the European Union over the past decade, according to a Dec. 30 International Herald Tribune report. There are currently 224 detention camps throughout the EU, capable of housing over 30,000 people such as asylum seekers and illegal immigrants who are awaiting deportation.
SPAIN As many as 1.5 million people gathered in Madrid’s Colon Square Dec. 30 to demonstrate in favor of the traditional family, according to the NYT. The demonstration comes two months before the Socialist government, which has legalized same-sex marriage and made divorce easier, will seek re-election.
UK A UK fund established to compensate Nazi victims has paid £22 million, or 10 times its original budget, the BBC reported Dec. 28. The Enemy Property Claims Assessment repaid people who lived in enemy countries and had their assets in the United Kingdom frozen. The fund was meant to end three years ago but is still receiving applications, the BBC reports.
GERMANY Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier is pushing for a minimum wage of between 7.20 and 7.50 euros, according to a Dec. 30 Forbes report. However, the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, the industry association BDI and employers’ groups ZDH and BDA have spoken out against minimum wages.
FRANCE President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that France will suspend diplomatic relations with Syria for what it says is Syria’s attempts to block the installment of a consensus president in Lebanon, according to a Dec. 30 BBC report. Relations will be restored when France has proof that Syria is not blocking the installment. 
TURKEY Five people were detained and are being held for possible trial on suspicion of links with al-Qaida, according to a Dec. 30 Reuters report. The arrests followed police operations in five Turkish cities, including the capital Ankara, and the earlier detention of 19 people. For fear of bombings, authorities also increased security in main cities in anticipation of the New Year’s holiday.
UK In the wake of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised to “step up” efforts to defeat terrorism in Pakistan, according to a Dec. 28 BBC report. Brown also offered condolences to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, and urged him to hold the country’s planned elections in the new year.

DISCONTENT Half of foreigners working in the Czech Republic want to leave the country, says a new study by the Academy of Sciences. According to a Dec. 31 report in Hospodářské noviny, the reason is that non-EU foreigners have a hard time finding work that corresponds to their education and experience.

ENDORSEMENT Former President Václav Havel said Jan. 1 that he wants to see Jan Švejnar become the next president, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported. Švejnar, a Czech-American economist, is running against President Václav Klaus. Havel said “new blood, new impulses” are needed. Parliament will begin the election for president Feb. 8.
APPEAL The Czech Catholic Church said Dec. 28 that it will once again appeal the decision to hand over St. Vitus Cathedral to the state, the church’s lawyer, Petr Zderčík, told ČTK. Prague Municipal Court had twice ruled in favor of the church, but the decision was overturned by the Supreme Court.
DEATH An Ústí nad Labem woman was taken into custody on suspicion of murdering her 5-year-old son, according to a Dec. 31 ČTK report. The woman, Antonie Stašková, is suspected of having killed the boy Dec. 9. Police found the boy’s body in a car Dec. 28. The woman and her boyfriend were also in the car.
FATALITIES Deadly accidents on Czech roads increased in 2007 to a total of 1,110, or 154 more than the previous year, Hospodářské noviny reported Jan. 2. The paper said there were not enough policemen on the streets but that the traffic police chief has promised 500 more officers this year.
RAISE The average old-age pension went up 346 Kč ($19), to 9,111 Kč, per month Jan. 1, ČTK reported. About 20 percent of the population receives old-age pensions. The government is expected to pay out 298 billion Kč in total this year.
PROTEST Several hundred inhabitants of Osečná, north Bohemia, protested Dec. 30 against possible uranium mining in the region, ČTK reported. The demonstrators said they feared the destruction of nature. State-owned mining company Diamo has asked whether the ore deposit is protected, and the Environment Ministry will issue a decision.
CUSTODY Police detained an alleged perpetrator who they suspect responsible for the Nov. 12 knifing of a 29-year-old man on Wenceslas Square, and the nearby Nov. 27 gunshot killing of a 25-year-old driver of a Bentley, according to a Dec. 27 ČTK report. In both cases, the perpetrator is believed to have mistaken his victims for other people.

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