Press Review
The front pages feature a variety of domestic as well as international stories today, including ex-minister Jiri Rusnok's resignation from his parliamentary seat, President Vaclav Klaus's visit to neighbouring Austria and the latest measures introduced in China to fight the deadly SARS virus.
Pravo reports on Wednesday's talks between Czech President Vaclav Klaus and his Austrian counterpart Thomas Klestil. Mr Klestil said that two issues still remained unresolved in Czech-Austrian relations - the south Bohemian Temelin nuclear power plant and the post-war Benes decrees sanctioning the expulsion of Sudeten Germans from Czechoslovakia. Mr Klaus said he was prepared to talk about the issues but not to negotiate - that is the government's responsibility, Pravo quotes President Klaus as saying.
Mlada Fronta Dnes writes that with traffic accidents still on the increase, the Transport Ministry is planning to clamp down on undisciplined drivers. Among the proposed measures are tougher punishments for drivers including permanent confiscation of their licences. The paper predicts that this particular measure will be difficult to push through. Mlada Fronta Dnes quotes former Transport Minister Martin Riman as saying that a country which does not have a life sentence for criminals is unlikely to introduce a life ban on driving.
Lidove Noviny warns that snails are becoming scarcer in the Czech Republic as some Czechs have discovered that what's crawling in their gardens could easily be turned into extra income. The paper writes that every year around 500 tonnes of snails are collected around the Czech Republic and exported to France. The Czech Republic, Greece and Hungary are the largest producers of snail meat for the French market, writes Lidove Noviny and adds that in some regions of the country snails have nearly become an endangered species and snail gathering had to be prohibited.
The Czech Prison Service is going to choose four prison wardens who will watch over suspects in the UN detention centre in The Hague, Lidove Noviny reports. Among those waiting there for the verdict of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia is for example the country's ex-president Slobodan Milosevic. The director of the Czech Prison Service Kamila Meclova told Lidove Noviny that the offer to send four Czech wardens to The Hague was made to her last autumn by the head of the prison of the International Criminal Tribunal Timothy Mac Faden. Ms Meclova also said she regarded the offer as a great honour for the Czech Prison Service.
And finally on a lighter note, Mlada Fronta Dnes reports that a young mother-of-two has won an unbelievable amount of 57,112,612 crowns in the national Sportka lottery. The lottery's spokeswoman told Mlada Fronta Dnes that the winner was so excited that she could not collect her prize herself and sent her father and husband instead. The numbers the young woman put her money on were important family dates.
