Press Review

It's two major events that make the headlines in all Thursday's papers - the parliament's vote of confidence in Vladimir Spidla's cabinet, and the devastating floods in South Bohemia.

It's two major events that make the headlines in all Thursday's papers - the parliament's vote of confidence in Vladimir Spidla's cabinet, and the devastating floods in South Bohemia.

Mlada fronta Dnes features a picture of a woman in front of a house, wading through a river of water that reaches high above her ankles. Floods swept through South Bohemia yesterday after torrential rains hit the region, writes the paper. Dozens of people had to be evacuated and numerous areas have been completely cut off by the water. Several roads had to be closed by the police. Mudslides near a major train track between Ceske Budejovice and Prague caused that many trains were delayed.

The Czech Ambassador to Pakistan and Afghanistan Petr Pribik who has been dismissed from his post is considering filing a law suit against ex-Foreign Minister Jan Kavan, writes Mlada fronta Dnes. According to the paper, Mr. Pribik finds the official reasons for his dismissal false and obscure.

Along the same lines, Lidove noviny cites Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda who disapproves of Mr. Pribik's behaviour as he finds it is inappropriate for an ambassador to discuss problems with the media and not communicate directly with the Ministry.

Lidove noviny carries a story about a Czech model who had to be saved from a Turkish mafia by the Czech diplomatic services. 23-year-old Petra Kocarova who ended fourth in a Czech beauty queen contest in 2000 was invited to travel to Turkey and participate in Miss Globe beauty competition. However, upon her arrival she found she had been followed, and later threats came as well. She was told that if she didn't give her services to a Turkish TV magnate who had become interested in her, she would never be able to leave Istanbul again.

According to the paper, the whole situation was dramatic as a TV station and police got involved and as Petra Kocarova had to struggle to escape her pursuers. With the assistance of the local police, she managed to get to the Czech embassy, which then helped her fly back to Prague.

Local councillors from the Mlada Boleslav region may need to stand during the next session, writes Pravo. This is because on Monday night someone broke into the town hall and stole 20 upholstered chairs, worth over 20 000 crowns, from the conference room. The local authorities are now investigating the odd case.

Pravo also informs readers that 28 elderly homeless people will find housing in October. An old school building in Prague is being turned into a residential home for the needy. The entire project has been financed by the non-profit organisation Nadeje which started the reconstruction four years ago. The project hasn't received any state funding, and thus has been entirely dependent on donations and other non-profit organisations.

And finally, Hospodarske noviny reports that the Czech Republic's Ombudsman Otakar Motejl has called for the rights of the bereaved to be respected. Mr Motejl has pointed to a particular case in which a 24-year-old prisoner died and his family never found out why. The law binds doctors with confidentiality and does not allow the bereaved to see the medical report of their dead relative.

Mr Motejl sees this as a violation of rights of the bereaved but the Health Ministry and many doctors are not in agreement with him on the issue. According to the paper, they say that if the law is modified, the bereaved could discover information that could hurt them - for example if the dead person had suffered from a sexually transmitted disease. Former Health Minister Zuzana Roithova also believes that a person who dies should have the right to keep intimate details of his or her life secret.

Author: Kamila Rosolová
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