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December 4th, 2008
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January 9th, 2008 | Current Issue

The widening divide
Czechs, Slovaks suffer cultural drift, 15 years after break-up

Metro to lose display screens
A new ad campaign could mean more billboards to come

Report gives government poor marks
Watchdog blasts state for corruption, nontransparency

Solo sightseeing goes high-tech
A GPS unit for tourists features maps, history, daily culture listings

Hotel channels graffiti into morale boost
Project provides positive outlet for street artists

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BRIEFS


UK Twenty-two airports are allowing passengers to carry on more than one piece of hand luggage as of Jan. 7, but only if the airports have installed improved security scanners demanded by airlines, says a BBC report. Airports approved for the change include Heathrow, Manchester and Birmingham. Some airlines and airports, such as easyJet and Gatwick, respectively, are maintaining the one-bag limit.

GEORGIA President Mikheil Saakashvili won re-election Jan. 5 with 52.8 percent of the vote, according to The New York Times (NYT). Saakashvili, a 40-year-old pro-Western president, called early elections after declaring a state of emergency Nov. 7, which anti-government demonstrators protested. He was four years into his five-year term. His main opposition contested the election’s outcome but a new round of voting was not held.
ITALY Milan imposed traffic fees for vehicles entering the city center, the BBC reported Jan. 2. On weekdays between 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., it will now cost 10 euros to enter the 8-square-kilometer area, which is circled by 43 electric gates. Electric and hybrid cars can enter for free. Two other northern Italian cities, Genoa and Turin, are considering similar measures. London, Stockholm and Singapore have comparable fees.
FRANCE President Nicolas Sarkozy could marry Italian singer and former model Carla Bruni in February, according to a Jan. 6 story in the International Herald Tribune (IHT). Reports of the engagement in French media coincided with the release of an opinion poll indicating a seven-point drop in the president’s approval rating, due in part to Sarkozy’s private life.
TURKEY A bomb killed five people in the largely Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, in southeastern Turkey Jan. 3. The explosive went off near a shopping mall as a bus carrying soldiers passed by. No suspects have been named but the attack happened after a Turkish bombing campaign against Kurdish militants, according to the NYT. The last deadly attack in the city was in September 2006.
POLAND The new Warsaw government is not ready to accept U.S. plans to deploy a portion of its missile shield in the country until all risks and costs are considered, Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Radosław Sikorski has said, according to a Jan. 6 report in the IHT. Sikorski added his concern that the project could be abandoned depending on the outcome of the U.S. presidential elections in November.
ITALY On Jan. 7, the Italian army began bulldozing more than 100,000 tons of rubbish that have piled up in Naples as a result of a trash collectors’ strike that began Dec. 24, the BBC reported. With citizens resorting to burning and dumping untreated waste into the sea, the EU has warned Italy to resolve the matter by the end of the week due to health concerns.
UK For the first time since the 19th century, the average UK citizen in 2008 could have a greater income than the average U.S. citizen, according to figures from analyst Oxford Economics. The projection supports an ongoing improvement in the UK’s economic performance, according to a Jan. 7 BBC report. Because goods and services are cheaper in the United States, however, Americans will still have stronger purchasing power.

OLYMPICS Prague Mayor Pavel Bém will likely ask Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek for legal guarantees for the city’s 2016 Olympics bid, he told Czech News Agency (ČTK) Jan. 7. Praha Olympijská is to decide Jan. 10 whether to make a bid for the games, based on it meeting with Topolánek’s Cabinet, ČTK reports.

WARMING Last year ranks with the year 2000 as the two warmest in Czech history since air temperatures were first recorded in 1775, the daily Právo reported Jan. 4. In 2007, the number of days (55) with temperatures higher than 30 degrees was five times above average.
TRUST A poll released Jan. 7 reveals that 60 percent of Czechs are dissatisfied with the political situation although most — 66 percent — trust the institution of the presidency. Topolanek’s Cabinet was “trusted” by 27 percent of respondents. The poll was conducted by CVVM.
GHETTOS The state Agency Against Social Exclusion will begin operating several weeks later than originally planned, ČTK reports. The agency, which was created to fight the creation of ghettos, had been set to open Jan. 1. Up to 80,000 people are estimated to be living in ghettos.
PRIVACY The Czech Republic protects its citizens’ privacy the least of any European Union country, according to the British organization Privacy International, the daily Lidové noviny reported Jan. 4. The group mainly criticized the Czech Republic for the extent of its communications interception, such as wire-tapping. The number of surveillance devices is also increasing, it reports.
SCANDAL Twenty-four former officials at the Defense Ministry have been accused of corruption, Radio Prague reported Jan. 4. Police say the officials mishandled the commissioning of public contracts between 2004 and 2006. The suspects are alleged to have awarded overpriced contracts for the renovation of army bases in exchange for under-the-table commissions.

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