Press Review
The suicide bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in which over thirty people died, and the anonymous blackmailer threatening to poison hospital food make the front-page headlines in all of the main papers today. A mix of photographs are also featured ranging from US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Riyadh to a man in a medieval costume at a demonstration against pension reform in Paris.
The Justice Ministry has proposed an amendment to the penal code that would include home sentences. Lidove noviny writes that from 2005, people guilty of minor crimes such as petty thefts, scams, or public disorder could be dealt with differently. Besides sentencing those guilty to social work or giving conditional sentences, judges could also give the less dangerous criminals home sentences. Justice Ministry spokeswoman Iva Chaloupkova tells the paper that the amendment is being prepared, as it is becoming a growing trend in democratic countries to step away from repressive punishment policies. She adds that in the case of home sentencing, the ministry is yet to decide how such a sentence would be controlled.
The Czech government's most recent plan to keep the state-budget deficit from growing will most likely affect half a million state workers, writes Mlada Fronta Dnes. The ruling coalition parties have agreed to indefinitely postpone a plan that was to be launched next year that would have benefited teachers, doctors, the police, scientists and others working at state institutions. Trade unions have said they would block the government plan, threatening to go on strikes and stage protests if necessary, the paper reports.
Hospodarske noviny looks at a European Commission analysis made in May, which found that purchasing power in the Czech Republic is the highest among the ten European Union candidate countries. Prices in the country are at forty six percent of the level of those in the EU. Economic analyst Guy Henry from ING Bank in Brussels tells the paper that the prices of goods and services are low because Czech producers have been able to survive strong competition and keep a stable position on the market. The commission's report shows that food prices in the Czech Republic are up to two thirds lower than in the current EU states, adding that they will gradually increase once the country joins the union.
The Czech Republic has built a research station for Antarctica, reports Lidove noviny. By the autumn, Czech scientists should be able to join colleagues from all over the world in meteorological, geological, and ecological research on the South Pole. The Czech Republic would be the eighteenth country to open a polar station in the region. The station, which cost fifty million Czech crowns was already built last year and is waiting for the green light to be transported to the South Pole. Some fifteen Czech scientists are expected to work in it. The station's construction and its operation, which is estimated to cost some 750 thousand crowns a year, is to be covered by the Education Ministry.
