Section Archive Current Affairs
22nd edition of Prague Writers’ Festival brings international literature greats like Hanif Kureishi to Czech capital
On Saturday, the 22nd edition of the prestigious Prague Writers’ Festival
kicks off in the Czech capital, under the theme of “Only the future
exists”. For five days, visitors will have the opportunity to attend
readings, discussion panels and film screenings featuring writers from
around the world. As every year, the festival brings writers of
international caliber to the city, with the British novelist and
screenwriter Hanif Kureishi probably the most famous guest this year. Sarah
Borufka spoke to the festival’s president, Michael March, about the
guests, the mission and the theme of the festival. More
Business analyst: government’s austerity plans should not undercut growth
The government on Wednesday approved far-reaching austerity plans to
gradually lower the gap in public finances to well below 3 percent of the
GDP. The strategy combines savings and tax hikes that are expected to
impact all strata of society. Radio Prague asked business analyst David
Marek whether such extensive austerity measures were called for and who
would bear the brunt of the fiscal reform. More
Exhibitions & street art a part of Czech cultural season in London
Czech Open 2012 is a cultural season in London that began last month and
will last through to August, also during with the summer Olympic Games.
Organised by the Czech Centre in London, the season offers a variety of
programmes in the borough of Islington, including an exhibition called Coal
and Steel and Disorient Express which is set to open, and a street art
project being worked on now by two Czech and British artists. More
Government reaffirms commitment to extensive fiscal reforms
The centre-right Czech government weathered the latest in a series of
crises on Tuesday, putting aside its differences in the interest of what
the prime minister called its sole raison d’être – putting the
country’s finances in order. The three parties reaffirmed their
commitment to implementing budget savings and tax hikes which should bring
the budget deficit below 3 percent of GDP next year and down to 1.9 percent
in 2014. More
Berdych puts Czechs through to Davis Cup semi-final
The World number 7 in men’s tennis, Tomáš Berdych, proved key in Davis
Cup action at the weekend, helping the Czech Republic win three points
against Serbia to put the Czechs through to the semi-final. Although his
match against Janko Tipsarevic was a decidedly even affair he held on and
at the weekend didn’t lose a single set. More
Coalition leaders likely to reach deal on government’s future
The fate of the Czech government will be decided later on Tuesday as
coalition leaders are meeting in an attempt to save the cabinet. The junior
coalition Public Affairs party rocked the boat once again last week when
they threatened to pull out of the coalition. But before the week was over,
the party seemed happy to accept an offer by the Prime Minister to settle
their disputes at the negotiating table while latest reports suggest the
coalition leaders are indeed likely to reach agreement. More
Political pundit: Abolishing three ministries merely attempt at distracting attention from government’s real problems
Talks between the ruling government coalition’s Civic Democrats and
junior partner Public Affairs on Thursday failed to produce a solution to
disputes within the coalition. However, the senior Civic Democrats are
considering reducing the number of ministries by three, one of the
conditions posed by Public Affairs, which earlier this week threatened to
quit the coalition should its demands not be met. But is the step to merge
the culture, environment and regional development ministries with other
existing ministries a sensible one? We put the question to political pundit
Jiří Pehe. More
New initiative calls for probe into links between politics and organized crime
A group of Czech NGOs has launched a new initiative to fight the uphill
battle against corruption in the Czech Republic. Entitled You Stole Our
Country, Give It Back, the initiative seeks to put Czech parliamentarians
under enough public pressure to allow for a thorough probe into alleged
links between politics and organized crime. The NGOs behind the new project
include the Czech Helsinki Committee, the Romany advocacy group Romea, the
student initiative Democracy Czech-Up as well as the Anticorruption
Endowment Fund. Radio Prague spoke to the fund’s founder, the businessman
and philanthropist Karel Janeček and asked him what the main goals were. More
Latest storm in coalition government leaves junior party weakened and divided
The storm that threatened to bring down the centre-right Czech government
appears to be over, but it has left Public Affairs, the junior coalition
party that started it, badly battered. As Public Affairs leaders went back
to the negotiating table to debate what appear to be face-saving
concessions, the smallest party in government fielded questions from
reporters about the deepening split in party ranks. More
Analyst: early elections not to advantage of any of the coalition parties
The latest flare-up between Public Affairs and the two senior parties Civic
Democrats and TOP 09 appears to have taken the continued existence of the
centre-right cabinet to the very brink. Are we close to early elections or
did the smallest party in government, in trying to gain concessions, simply
overplay its hand? More
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