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04/09/2010
The Czech jobless rate has fallen by 0.2 percent ending a 15-month-long rise in unemployment. Official data released on Friday put the current rate at 9.7 percent in March, down from 9.9 one month earlier. The country had seen a steady rise in unemployment as the global financial crisis hit a year and a half ago. A little more than 556,000 people in the Czech Republic remain out of work. Analysts have said that the coming months could see further slight improvement but expect that the turnaround on the labor market will be slow.
Separate data by the Czech Statistical Office, meanwhile, has confirmed a pick-up in the industrial sector, which has been growing for the last three months. Overall, the Finance Ministry expects the Czech economy to rebound with 1.3 percent annual growth this year, after it contracted by a little over 4 percent in 2009.
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04/09/2010
President Václav Klaus and Cardinal Miloslav Vlk met for talks on Friday, discussing the cardinal's successor, Dominik Duka, who will be inaugurated as the new head of the Czech Catholic Church on Saturday. Other topics included in the discussion was the Prague summit between Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev held on Thursday that saw the signing of a landmark treaty on the reduction of nuclear weapons. The president reportedly discussed the two head-of-states’ interest in St Vitus’ Cathedral, which is a part of the Prague Castle site. Cardinal Vlk was the head of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic since June 1991. In February of this year, Pope Benedict accepted his resignation and appointed Bishop Duka as his successor. Bishop Duka is the 36th Archbishop of Prague.
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04/09/2010
Former Czech president Václav Havel has told Czech TV that the filming of his play Leaving should begin in June and that the feature film would most likely premiere in Czech cinemas next March. The play, which examines the difficulty of giving up power, will star Mr Havel’s wife Dagmar as well as other well-known actors: Josef Abrhám, Jaroslav Dušek, and Eva Holubová. The play Leaving premiered at Prague’s Archa Theatre two years ago and has also seen foreign productions and translations into numerous languages. The screen version will mark Mr Havel’s debut as a film director.
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04/09/2010
A Prague hospital that refused to admit a woman giving birth in a nearby ambulance on Thursday evening has said it had a freeze on new admissions and was unable to accept her as a client. Bulovka Hospital, in Prague 7, also said its professionals were busy with two other childbirths, one of which was extremely difficult. The woman who was turned away ended up giving birth in the ambulance itself, aided by one member of the hospital staff. Other than the unusual location, there were no complications. The mother and her newborn have since been admitted and are recovering in the hospital’s care.
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04/09/2010
Czech hockey club Pardubice completed a 4:0 sweep of their series against Liberec on Thursday, earning a berth in the Extraliga playoff final. In the final game of the best-of-seven series, Pardubice won by a score of 4:1, with legendary hockey goalie Dominik Hašek in goal. In the other semifinal match-up Prague team Slavia will try to stave off elimination by Vitkovice in Game 5.
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04/09/2010
In the NHL on Thursday Czech players David Krejčí a Vladimír Sobotka earned an assist each to boost the Boston Bruins’ chances of extending the season into the playoffs. Boston defeated Buffalo by a score of 3:1 and jumped three spots in the standings to sixth place in the Eastern Conference, just ahead of the Montreal Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers. The New York Rangers are currently below the cut-off, in ninth spot.
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04/08/2010
US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a new nuclear arms reduction treaty in Prague Castle shortly after noon on Thursday. The treaty should replace the 1991 START treaty which expired in December. It commits both sides to cutting by around 30 percent the number of their nuclear warheads compared with a total agreed in 2002.
President Obama described the agreement as ‘historic,’ adding that it had stopped the drift in US-Russian relations. He said it would help to make the world safe and secure. President Medvedev said the deal marked a ‘new page’ in bilateral ties. The agreement has to be ratified by the US Senate and the Russian Parliament. President Obama said he would press for ratification this year.
Thursday’s signing comes almost exactly a year after President Obama outlined his policies on nuclear weapons in a speech in front of thousands of people at Prague Castle.
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04/08/2010
Bilateral talks between the US and Russian president ahead of the signing were expected to cover possible sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, unrest in the Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan and US anti-missile defence, according to White House sources.
The US is seeking an agreement for sanctions against Iran, saying that its nuclear programme is aimed at developing weapons. Iran says it is purely to produce electricity. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Iran had not reacted seriously to proposals to deal with the problem of its nuclear programme and suggested the United Nations could discuss steps to take and new sanctions could not be ruled out.
Kyrgyzstan is the centre of turmoil following moves by the opposition to seize power on Wednesday. The country provides the US with a strategic base for operations in Afghanistan.
US plans for missile defence are still a sensitive issue with Moscow even after President Obama’s decision last year not to proceed with plans for an anti-missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland. President Obama said missile defence should not affect the strategic balance between the US and Russia. Moscow has said it should be allowed to opt out of the new nuclear arms reduction agreement if the US significantly expands its missile defence network.
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04/08/2010
The Russian President left Prague on Thursday afternoon. But President Obama remained in the Czech capital to host a dinner for 11 leaders from central and eastern Europe in the evening. The informal event is being seen as an opportunity for President Obama to reassure regional leaders that Washington is not deserting its allies because of the decision to reset relations with Moscow. That fear has been expressed frequently following the decision by the US at the end of 2009 to ditch plans for an anti-missile defence system in the Czech Republic and Poland following Russian protests.
The US president is set to meet with Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer and President Klaus before he flies back to Washington on Friday.
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04/08/2010
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said he expected a new anti-missile defence shield in Europe to be a NATO project with Russia invited to take part. His comments came following a longer than expected meeting on Thursday with his US counterpart Hilary Clinton. Mr. Kohout said the Czech Republic was interested in taking part in an anti-missile shield but would have to wait for a new government following elections at the end for a clear stance on how this could happen. He added that it was important for Prague that NATO gave priority to the project. The two foreign ministers also discussed Czech involvement in Afghanistan and the chances of increasing the existing Czech contingent by another 55 from the current 535. That increase has not so far been cleared by parliament.
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