News Tuesday, AUGUST 01th, 2000
by Vladimir Tax
Standard & Poors: Czech banking sector vulnerable
The rating agency Standard & Poors has said the Czech Republic is one of fifteen vulnerable banking systems around the world, Others included the United States, China, Ireland and several countries in central and eastern Europe. Standard & Poors warned against a sharp increase in loans in some of the countries which might worsen the quality of the loan portfolio. Standard and Poors said the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, and China were also vulnerable due to delayed restructuring of both industry and the banking sector.
Germans and Czechs remember 1945 massacre
Dozens of Germans and Czechs joined together for the first time on Monday in a "reconciliation church service" to remember the German victims of a 1945 massacre in the northern city of Usti nad Labem. Church minister Pavel Jancik included both victims and culprits in prayers during the service, which was held in both languages. On July 31, 1945, immediately after World War II, Czechs launched a witchhund of German residents and killed some 70 people on a bridge over the river Elbe.
Life to be harder for money launderers
New legislation comes into effect in the Czech Republic today which is designed to make money laundering more difficult and bring extra revenues to the state budget. The law, proposed by the government, delegates more power to some state institutions in order to limit tax evasion and prevent the legalisation of profits from criminal activities. The new law also requires financial institutions to report suspicious transactions to state authorities.
INPEG to stage protests once in 10 days
Members of the Initiative Against Economic Globalisation (INPEG) will stage protests in Prague once every ten days until the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in late September. The first event within the campaign called "55 years are enough" will be held Jan Palach Square in central Prague on Wednesday. The campaign derives its name from the number of years since the establishment of the two institutions, and Wednesday, August 2, was chosen for the first event because the IMF and World Bank meetings will be held exactly 55 days from that date. During the peaceful event, activists will hand out leaflets explaining their views to the public.
Authorties say techno party must stop
The hygiene authority has ordered an immediate halt to an unauthorised rave party, which entered its fourth day in a field near the village of Lipnice, Southern Bohemia on Tuesday. Around five thousand party-goers and dozens of pets have camped in the field with no drinking water, toilets or garbage collection. The authority said the poor living conditions meant an imminent danger of infection and ordered the field to be vacated, spread with lime and ploughed immediately.
Czech weather report
And finally, the weather forecast. The arrival of a high-pressure area should temporarily break the series of cloudy days. Tuesday should be bright but partially cloudy, afternoon highs should range from 22 to 26 degrees Celsius. However, another cold front will be moving across Central Europe on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing cloudy weather with showers and thunderstorms. The highest daytime temperatures are expected to reach 26 to 30 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and 21 to 25 on Thursday.
