Press Review
While there are a mixed bag of stories in Wednesday's press, almost all the front pages carry photos of a very happy Katerina Neumannova. The top Czech skier confirmed on Tuesday what had been widely known; that she is expecting a baby. The popular skier, who is 29, has been quick to make it clear she is planning a comeback, in three years time.
While there are a mixed bag of stories in Wednesday's press, almost all the front pages carry photos of a very happy Katerina Neumannova. The top Czech skier confirmed on Tuesday what had been widely known; that she is expecting a baby. The popular skier, who is 29, has been quick to make it clear she is planning a comeback, in three years time.
A Prague Town Hall commission has found that nobody is to blame for the flooding of the Prague metro in August, writes MLADA FRONTA DNES. In a report, the commission blames the flooding - which caused six billion Czech crowns worth of damage - on very poor regulations, unclear flood plans and poor maintenance. Contrary to some reports at the time, the report says the metro system was closed in time - closing it any earlier would have made no difference.
Staying with MLADA FRONTA DNES, the daily carries a long interview with Viktor Kozeny, often dubbed the 'pirate of Prague' for making billions through the privatisation process before skipping the country. The daily describes Mr Kozeny as a symbol of Czech tunneling (or asset-stripping), though he counters that the quarter of a million people who lost money in his Harvard Fund simply made a bad investment.
Mr Kozeny is embroiled in numerous court cases, and has lost a lot of his property in recent years. Asked how the change in his fortunes had hit him, he tells the daily that he has always considered himself rich in the spiritual sense. Viktor Kozeny no longer owns a yacht but he knows people who do. All you need to have a good time is the right friends, says the 'pirate of Prague'.
Most companies pay a thirteenth month's salary, says a headline in LIDOVE NOVINY. The thirteenth month salary is a form of bonus paid at the end of the year, which - unfortunately - is more heavily taxed than regular pay. One pundit tells the daily that the bonus is an anachronism, a left-over from the previous system. Most employees however take a thirteenth - or even fourteenth - month's salary for granted, says LIDOVE NOVINY.
MLADA FRONTA DNES reports on a case in which doctors removed the wrong kidney during an operation. The victim of the mix-up is now suing the hospital, having rejected a settlement offer. He says he can now drink a maximum of half a litre of liquid a day, and is not up to anything more than a short walk. That said, the victim is not bitter. The doctors should be sentenced, he says, but not to prison - anyone can make a mistake.
The debate in the press about the large neon heart which has been erected over Prague Castle continues in Wednesday's PRAVO. Preservationists have dubbed it tasteless, reports the daily. Romanesque architecture and neon just don't go together, one critic of the art-work tells the paper.
The neon heart is due to remain in place until Vaclav Havel's term as president ends in two months time. In an interview on Czech Radio on Monday, Mr Havel said he couldn't understand why it was being dubbed his symbol. Only a narcissist could accuse me of such narcissism, said the president.
