News of Radio Prague
Interior and Defence ministers plan to sue weekly Respekt over wiretapping article
Spokesmen for the Interior and Defence ministries have announced that Interior Minister Stanislav Gross and Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik are planning to sue the Czech weekly Respekt, over an article the journal published last week describing the two men's alleged telephone contacts with the manager of a Prague brothel. In the article the paper wrote that up to three ministers and nine parliament deputies, suspected of possible legal transgressions, were on police wire-tapping lists compiled over several months. The spokesmen said lawyers for Mr Gross and Mr Tvrdik will file their suit in the coming days, demanding an apology and asking for compensation of 500, 000 crowns. Respekt's editor-in-chief has declined to comment on the planned suit for the time being.
Czech Republic receives further 81 million Euros from EU
The Czech Republic has received another 81 million Euros (2.4 billion Czech crowns) from the EU's Phare and ISPA programmes. The money is to help the country prepare for its accession to the European Union. The financial memorandum to the programme was signed in Prague by the head of the EC delegation in the Czech Republic Ramiro Cibrian and Czech Deputy Finance Minister Zdenek Hruby on Friday. According to Mr Cibrian, much of the money from the Phare programme is to be used in problem areas named in the EU's last evaluation report, while the funds from the ISPA programme are to help improve the country's sewage system. The programme, made up of 26 different projects, will also create better education and unemployment opportunities for the Roma community, improve the Czech justice system, and fight against money laundering.
63 year-old doctor out of danger after machete attack
A 63 year-old doctor is out of danger after suffering an attack by a machete-wielding patient on Thursday. The doctor suffered severe blows to the head and hands and was immediately taken to hospital, where he underwent a ten hour operation. Doctors say the man's condition is now stable. Police have not yet speculated on the reason for the attack; the incident is the second such attack involving a patient against his doctor in Prague this year.
Metro security chief resigns
The man responsible for the security system of Prague's metro network, Jiri Svoboda, has resigned. Mr Svoboda's resignation was announced by the Transport Authority on Friday, following a city council meeting discussing a report on the reasons behind last year's extensive damage of the metro system. The floods in August left a third of the metro's 51 stations under water, forcing them to be closed down for months. According to Prague mayor Pavel Bem, experts have come to the conclusion that the metro was flooded because it was only built to withstand so-called "century floods" - floods which arrive just once a century.
Change of broadcast
In light of Radio Prague's Czech service broadcasting live from celebrations of Czech Radio's 80th birthday this Sunday, we will not be broadcasting our English programme from 2000 - 2027 UTC on 5930 kHz and 11600 kHz., i.e. in N.W. Europe, S.E. Asia and Australia.
Weather
Saturday is expected to have partially clear skies throughout the day, turning cloudy towards the evening. Scattered showers have been forecast in Bohemia on Saturday night. Day-time temperatures will range between 19 and 23 degrees Celsius.
