News Thursday, JULY 30th, 1998
Radio Prague E news Date: July 30th, 1998 Written / read by: Alena Skodova
Hello and welcome to the programme. I'm AS and we start with a short bulletin of domestic news:
New cabinet - policy statement
The new Czech cabinet, set up a week ago, has been in session to discuss its policy statement. The government has approved a draft of its programme manifesto, with which they intend to ask the House of deputies for a vote of confidence. Its main goals are fighting corruption and economic crime, speeding up economic growth and making the capital market more transparent. The new cabinet also intends to stop church restitutions and transfer religious matters from the competence of the Ministry of culture to the Interior ministry. However, its priorities in the sphere of foreign policy remain the Czech republic's integration into European structures - the European Union and NATO. The definite wording of the document will be approved by the cabinet at its session next Wednesday.
Flooded areas - innoculation
The damage caused by last week's floods in the Rychnov district in Eastern Bohemia has reached 1 and a half billion crowns. The greatest damage was caused to community and private property, the district office reports. Rescue work has been continuing with the help of soldiers and volunteers from other parts of the republic. General Hygienist Jiri Vytlacil has decided that all children aged between 3 and 15 years will undergo compulsory innoculation against type-A hepatitis by their respective general practitioners. The innoculation will start on August 3rd. Children from the flood stricken areas will also have to undergo regular medical check ups every two weeks.
Havel - operation - condition
President Vaclav Havel is in stable condition with no complications following intestinal surgery on Sunday. The president has been breathing on his own, with support from a respirator, in an intensive care unit at the Prague Military hospital. The Austrian surgeon who carried out the procedure, Dr. Ernst Bodner, sees his patient five times a day, is on a mobile telephone day and night and has his own room at the hospital as well. Havel's personal physician, Ilja Kotik, has reported that the president has been fed with the help of a tube inserted into his stomach and that he has also tried to sit up for a while. Although Mr.Havel communicates only through putting his words down on paper, he is interested in what's going on in the domestic political arena and wanted to read newspapers, but the doctors have not allowed him to do so.
First foreign visit of new Foreign minister
New Czech Foreign minister, Jan Kavan, is leaving on Thursday for his first foreign visit to Berlin, where he will conduct talks with his German counterpart Klaus Kinkel, although Kavan's Social democratic party recently criticized the former Czech diplomacy for concentrating far too much on the relations with Germany. The two ministers will discuss the problems of the European Union and various international political issues, not bilateral relations, said the Czech Foreign ministry.
Landslide in a mine pit
A group of experts has been investigating a massive landslide that occurred on Tuesday night in Orlova in Northern Moravia. Hundreds of tons of soil slid into a mine pit that was 1200 metres deep. The wave of pressure that followed slightly injured two people, and later that night the mining tower also slipped into the crater. People were evacuated from three nearby houses.
Weather
And finally the weather for today: It will be mostly overcast throughout the republic, with rain and thunder storms. Daytime highs between 23 and 28 degrees Celsius.
