News of Radio Prague

Poll shows most Austrians do not believe petition will stop Temelin

A new poll released in Austria claims that 76 percent of Austrians do not believe that a national petition will have any effect in stopping the Czech government from going ahead with plans to bring the Czech Temelin nuclear power plant into full operation. Austria's far-right Freedom Party, the junior partner in the country's governing coalition, is organising a petition in January, aimed at putting pressure on the Czech government. 85 percent of respondents in the poll said they believed that most Austrian politicians took a negative stand towards Temelin for internal political reasons, rather than out of serious environmental concerns.

Nurse receives suspended sentence

A nurse in Kladno, near Prague, has received an eighteen-month suspended sentence for her role in the death of a twenty-two-year old mother last August. The 37-year-old nurse mistakenly administered a poisonous substance to the young mother in the maternity ward, instead of giving her a pain-killer. Doctors were able to save the baby by performing a Caesarean section, after the nurse realised her mistake; she has expressed profound regret and the trial judge said that she believed the nurse would "always have to bear the guilt of her actions".

President Havel's condition unchanged

There were no significant changes in President Vaclav Havel's condition Thursday, though his doctors said the president was no longer suffering from fever. Mr Havel's doctors say that he is not yet 100 percent, and that it will still be a matter of days before they can consider the president's release. Vaclav Havel was admitted to hospital on Monday, after coming down with pneumonia. He has fallen seriously ill on several occasions since an operation on a cancerous tumour in his right lung five years ago. The president's indisposition did not prevent him from confirming several new laws, including the law on the state budget for 2002.

Dog day afternoon

In lighter news, it was a dog day afternoon for more than sixty dogs in a shelter in the eastern town of Olomouc, as they celebrated the coming of Christmas on Thursday. The animals received dog food and other presents, brought by animal lovers and media employees, who organised a charity for the dogs for the fifth year in a row. The charity raised 9,000 crowns, or about 250 USD.

Weather

And finally a look at the weather. Friday will be cloudy and snow is expected. Drivers should take care on the roads as snow drifts are likely to form in places. Daytime temperatures in Prague should reach a high of -3 degrees Celsius. Friday evening should see the temperature drop to -5 C.