News Tuesday, AUGUST 15th, 2000
Hello and a warm welcome to Radio Prague. I'm Rob Cameron, and we start the programme with a brief news bulletin. First the headlines.
Those were the headlines, now the news in more detail.
Police to file charges against Christian Democrat leader Kasal
Police in the central Bohemian town of Benesov have decided to file charges against the leader of the opposition Christian Democrats, Jan Kasal, for causing a traffic accident in which a woman was seriously injured. Mr Kasal will be charged with causing grievous bodily harm, in a collision with a passenger car in early July. A police investigator said the Chamber of Deputies would be asked to strip Mr Kasal of his parliamentary immunity to allow prosecution. Mr Kasal has admitted losing his concentration while looking for a cassette seconds before colliding with a vehicle travelling in front of him.
Czech Telecom could be fined for failing to provide enough phones
The Czech Republic's monopoly telecommunications operator Czech Telecom faces a fine of up to one million crowns for failing to comply with some of the terms of its license. The Czech Communications Authority announced that while Czech Telecom had provided adequate services, it had failed to provide enough new phone lines to keep up with customer demand. Czech Telecom's license lists eleven criteria evaluated by the Authority on an annual basis. The company has come under harsh criticism in recent years for charging unfair prices, especially for dial-up Internet connections.
Czech, German police join forces against child prostitution
Czech and German police are joining forces to fight child prostitution in the Czech borderlands. A police spokesman said that experts in child prostitution from North Bohemia and the German region of Saxony met in the city of Usti nad Labem on Monday to agree on a joint strategy to fight the problem. The spokesman said the two forces would act closely to ease the exchange of information, in a bid to track down German men who travel to the Czech borderlands to have sex with children. There has been extensive coverage of the problem in the Czech and German media in recent months. Reports on German television spoke of 10,000 paedophiles in Germany who travel regularly to Czech border towns for cheap sex with child prostitutes.
Czech Olympic Committee approves Sydney team
The Czech Olympic Committee has approved nominations for Czech athletes bidding to represent their country at the forthcoming Sydney Olympics. The Czech Republic will be represented by a total of 126 athletes - 92 men and 34 women - competing in 17 disciplines.
Man charged over 'Jizni Mìsto' assaults
A 32-year-old man from the Kolin area in Central Bohemia has been charged with assaulting a total of ten women in Prague's Jizni mìsto neighbourhood in June and July. A police spokeswoman said an eleventh attack was apparently not the work of the same man. Women in the neighbourhood were terrorised by a series of violent attacks that took place in local housing estates.
Weather
And finally a look at the weather forecast. Tuesday will be another hot and sunny day, with temperatures reaching a maximum of 32 degrees Celsius. And the tropical weather will continue in the days to come. I'm Rob Cameron and that's the news.
