Czech ex-president Havel wins German award for public addresses

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel is to be awarded this year's German Dolf Sternberger prize for public addresses, the DPA news agency has reported, adding that Mr Havel will receive the award in Prague on October 23rd. The organisers said that Mr Havel has "effectively tied his speeches with his political behaviour, thus shaping political awareness not only of people in his homeland but also abroad." The prize has been presented since 1992. Among its winners are former German chancellors Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt, former east German priest and human rights campaigner Joachim Gauck and current German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.