News of Radio Prague
Police cracks down on illegal migrants
The police has cracked down on some 200 illegal migrants. At a press conference in Prague on Friday deputy police chief Vladimir Husak said that in a nation-wide operation police officers had checked out close to 8,000 people, targeting cheap accommodation quarters, railway stations, pubs and other places where illegal migrants spend time. The night operation involving over 1,000 police officers took place just hours after Czech, German and Austrian police announced mass arrests of human traffickers operating in central Europe. Twenty eight suspects were arrested in the joint operation, among them Moldavians, Romanians, Armenians, Poles, Russians and Czechs. The group is believed to have smuggled a total of 4,000 migrants from the east to Austria and Germany.
Union heads angered by Mil's dismissal from key posts
Union heads from 12 power stations run by the state run power utility CEZ are discussing a strike alert in protest of the dismissal of Jaroslav Mil from the post of general director of CEZ and chairman of the board. Mr Mil was dismissed by the supervisory board of CEZ. The voting was initiated by representatives of the Trade and Industry Ministry and was supported by a majority of seven out of the twelve-member board. The proposal for a personnel change was caused by disputes between the management of the company and the state, which disliked, among other things, CEZ's participation in the privatisation of coal producers Sokolovska uhelna and Severoceske doly. The Union heads said they would negotiate with the government and make a final decision regarding a possible strike alert at a crisis meeting on Monday.
Police called to restrain crowd at Roma king's deathbed
Police in the town of Ostrava had to intervene to restrain a crowd of mourners at the deathbed of a Romany "king" on Friday morning. About 140 people from the local Roma community were escorted out of the Ostrava Teaching Hospital by police after causing a major disruption of hospital routine. Hospital staff said they were all trying to get into the room to be close to their "king", moaning and clamouring for information. Vincent Lakatos was admitted to the Ostrava Teaching Hospital on Thursday with inflammation of the neck and brain. Doctors said his condition had been long neglected and there was little they could do for him at that stage.
Train kills herd of cows
A westbound fast train from Pilsen to Cheb ploughed into a herd of cows wandering across tracks in the western part of the country in the early hours of Friday. No one aboard the train was injured but the impact killed 15 cows. Fire fighters and rail workers spent four hours clearing the tracks. The train struck the herd just before dawn while the cows were heading to pasture.
Czech hunter dies in the Alps
A 52 year old Czech citizen hunting in the Rofan slopes of the Austrian Alps fell into a 150 metre deep gorge and was killed instantly, according to the APA news agency. The man had shot a chamois on the previous day and was returning to retrieve it when the accident happened. The man was found several hours later without any signs of life and attempts to revive him were in vain. The cause of death was found to be severe brain concussion.
Weather:
Saturday is expected to be partly cloudy and cold with day temperatures between 0 and 4 degrees Celsius.
