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 » Current Issue

News Headlines

July 2nd, 2008 | Archives

True colors
Organizers call landmark gay rights event a success, despite extremist violence

EU ups pressure on treaty approval
France pushes Lisbon ratification while Poland poses setback

Archaeologists fight construction
Groups call city circuit project a threat to historic artifacts

Social Democratic Party loses another MP
Latest in a series of political party defections could affect the balance of power

Czech entomologists arrested in India
Authorities jail Czech scientists on suspicion of insect smuggling

ČR wins Europe deer-calling title
A colorful competition of hunting skills draws 15,000 spectators

  Live daily news feed

  Live daily sports feed

BRIEFS


FRANCE A military show in southeast France has left 17 people wounded, after real bullets were used instead of blanks, the BBC reported June 30. The injured included five children. Four people, including one child, were said to have been seriously hurt. The soldier who fired the shots has been detained, though an official said it was most likely an accident.

GEORGIA Two explosions near a market in the capital of the separatist Georgian republic of Abkhazia injured two people June 30. The incident comes one day after two bombs in the Abkhazian resort town Gagri wounded six, the Associated Press reported. Tensions in Abkhazia have increased since recent speculation that Georgia seeks to forcefully take control of the region.
KOSOVO In defiance of the United Nations and the fledgling Kosovo government, the assembly of Serbs in Kosovo held its first session June 28, the BBC reported. The assembly’s 45 members were voted in by Kosovo’s ethnic Serbian minority in a May election deemed illegal by the UN.
ROMANIA Romanian press will have to report the same amount of “bad” and “good” news, the Czech News Agency reported June 27. Parliament passed a law requiring such a balance, saying that a large quantity of bad news is bad for the population’s health. Journalists now hope that the law will be vetoed by the president.
EU Thousands of protesters gathered in France June 28 to call for the lifting of international bans on the People’s Mujahideen, the armed wing of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the BBC reported. Leaders of the opposition party called on the EU to remove the “terrorist” designation it now applies to the group.
RUSSIA The EU and Russia formally launched negotiations on a new strategic agreement that would govern relations between them, Reuters reported June 27.  The move is said to be a positive turning point in a historically strained relationship. The first round of talks will be held July 4 in Brussels.
ITALY The cabinet of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi passed a proposal June 27 to grant immunity to highest-ranking state officials, freeing the prime minister from potential prosecution, the BBC reported. The bill follows a controversial amendment that froze many of Italy’s trials, including corruption cases against Berlusconi himself.
NETHERLANDS A tobacco smoking ban has been put into effect in cafés, bars and restaurants in the Netherlands, the BBC reported July 1. The country follows a trend of banning smoking in public places that has been spreading across Europe. However, patrons of cannabis cafés will still be allowed to smoke marijuana as long as it is not mixed with tobacco.

RADAR A four-day conference on missile defense will be held in Prague the week of July 7, the Foreign Affairs Ministry announced June 30. It will be attended by U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director Henry Obering and possibly Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who may come to Prague to sign the Czech-U.S. radar base treaty, according to the Czech News Agency (ČTK).

GAMBLING More than 80 percent of Czech municipalities would like to limit gambling on their territories, according to a survey presented June 30 by Human Rights and Minorities Minister Džamila Stehlíková. Her group of experts recommended the new bill on gambling currently being drafted by the Finance Ministry limit gambling in public places and on the Internet, ČTK reported.
AUDIT The audit of Deputy Prime Minister Jiří Čunek’s finances has been completed, reported the daily Hospodářské noviny June 30. However, Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg is keeping the findings secret until he signs the planned radar treaty with Condoleezza Rice. According to senior opposition party ČSSD this is because the report will cause a government crisis.
SOCCER Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek used a government plane to fly to the European Soccer Championship finals June 29, earning harsh criticism from opposition leaders. Previously, Topolánek had used this type of transportation to fly to a local sporting event and a personal skiing trip, and was caught speeding to a tennis match in Brno, according to ČTK.
HIP An unknown seller tried to auction the hip bone of Czech President Václav Klaus on the largest Czech online auction server Aukro, Aktuálně.cz reported June 30. The starting price was 35,000 Kč ($2,270). Server administrators deleted the auction and doctors that conducted the surgery said that it must have been a hoax, since the hip bone had been destroyed after the procedure.
ELECTIONS The list of Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) candidates in the European Parliament elections next year will be headed by their current MEP, Miloslav Ransdorf, ČTK reported June 28. He will be joined by another MEP and former cosmonaut Vladimír Remek. KSČM currently holds six out of the 24 Czech seats in the European Parliament.

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.