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Czech ruling party seeks replacement for ousted PM
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The Czech Republic’s main ruling party is meeting today to search for a replacement for Prime Minister Petr Necas following his decision to quit over a spying scandal.
Necas resigned after prosecutors charged his closest aide Jana Nagyova with illegally ordering agents to survey people including Necas’s wife.
She is also accused of bribing members of parliament to drop a rebellion against Necas last year.
Necas’s decision to step down has been widely welcomed by some residents in Prague.
“I think the resignation was a necessary step, he (PM Petr Necas) did the right thing as a politician in this situation,” said Pavel Jirsa.
But Irena Piknova believes he should have stepped down earlier: “I think this is too late, he should have done this sooner. He should know what is happening around him and trust the information he has at his disposal.”
The Czech Republic now enters the formal process of replacing the entire centre-right cabinet which fell automatically with the prime minister.
Necas’s Civic Democratic party is aiming to form a new government with their current two-coalition partners to finish its term which expires next May.
But they need the consent of President Milos Zeman, a leftist opponent of Necas, who has not made any comment on who should succeed him.
More about: Czech politics, Czech Republic, Government resigns
Copyright © 2013 euronews
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British government accused of spying at G20 summits
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The UK’s Guardian newspaper revealed on Monday that foreign politicians and officials had their computers monitored and their phone calls intercepted by UK security services whilst in London in 2009 for two G20 summits.
The information was said to have been obtained from top-secret documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the ex-CIA whistleblower who previously revealed details of the US National Security Agency’s PRISM programme, which monitored communication via direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants.
The newspaper accused the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) of a number of intelligence collecting techniques, including setting up internet cafés with email interception programmes and accessing the delegates’ BlackBerrys to monitor their emails and phone calls. The information collected was then relayed live to 45 analysts, whose findings were in turn being relayed to British representatives at the G20 meetings.
Whilst the PRISM programme was defended as crucial in the fight against terrorism, the Guardians claims that the spying at the G20 summits was “for the more mundane purpose of securing an advantage in meetings”.
The documents indicate that the operation was approved at a senior government level and that it ran for at least six months.
It seems likely that this will put a strain on the G8 summit, which began on Monday in Northern Ireland and includes delegates from countries who were present in 2009 and who will now no doubt have questions regarding the leaks for Prime Minister David Cameron.
More about: CIA, G20, Phone hacking scandal, USA
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Thousands protest in Bulgaria against two-week-old government
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Demonstrations continued for a third day in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, demanding the resignation of the new Socialist-led government, with 15,000 protesters chanting “red trash” through the streets.
However, Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski said that stepping down would be “highly irresponsible” due to “the danger of again destabilising the country”.
The protests follow Saturday’s decision to reverse the appointment of Delyan Peevski to head of state security, after the choice was rushed through parliament without debate on Friday to widespread public anger.
The Socialist party said in a statement:
“We backed Peevski with the clear idea that we need a strong and decisive person who was able to open a front on organised crime and corruption … But we hear the voice of the people and we will comply.”
On Monday the Prime Minister promised to seek public approval with a new nomination for the position and invited protest leaders for talks.
The previous government of the centre-right GERB party was forced to step down in February following mass protests regarding living standards and administrative corruption. GERB became the largest party in parliament after elections last month, but failed to secure a majority, resulting in the Socialists forming a coalition with the support of a small nationalist party.
The Prime Minister warned that the collapse of the new government could deprive Bulgaria of billions of euros in European Union aid. The country remains the poorest member of the EU and is barred from joining the passport-free Schengen zone.
More about: Bulgaria, Bulgarian politics, Protest, Sofia
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Acropolis Museum fourth birthday
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On Thursday 20 June 2013, the Acropolis Museum celebrates its fourth birthday. The exhibition areas will remain open from 8 a.m. until 12 midnight. The restaurant will be open during the same hours. On this occasion, admission will be reduced (3 euros) for all visitors.
Visitors will have the opportunity to discover, together with Museum Archaeologist – Hosts, untold stories of the surviving blocks of the frieze, with the aid of 3D presentations on special screens installed in the Parthenon Gallery.
At 21:00 the Athens Municipality Philharmonic Orchestra will present a musical concert in the Museum’s entrance courtyard with famous melodies of the world band repertoire.
In addition, the Museum will commence the exclusive production of copies of two exhibits, the head of Poseidon and the head of Artemis from the east frieze of the Parthenon, available in the Museum Shops.
More about: Archaeology, Athens, Culture, Greece, Museum
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Google pledges $5 million to fight child porn
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American multinational corporation Google has announced a $5 million (3.75 million euro) effort to eradicate child abuse imagery online, which it described as “a global problem that needs a global solution”.
The company, which already uses “hashing” technology to tag child sexual abuse images, said that it was working to incorporate encrypted “fingerprints” of images into a cross-industry database.
This would allow law enforcement, charities and businesses to better collaborate to detect and remove such images, as well as to take action against the criminals.
The pledge includes a $2 million (1.5 million euro) Child Protection Technology Fund for the development of more effective tools to combat such content.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a not-for-profit US organisation, reported in 2011 that it had received 17.3 million images and videos of suspected child abuse. It said that behind these images are real, helpless children who are victimised through both the creation and distribution of such content.
Half of the images and videos reported came from outside the United States, demonstrating the need for borderless communication between organisations fighting the problem.
Google said on its official company blog: “We’re in the business of making information widely available, but there’s certain ‘information’ that should never be created or found.”
More about: Crime, Google, Internet, Protection of children, Technology
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Turkey minister declares strike ‘illegal’
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The Turkish interior minister has declared a nationwide strike “illegal” and threatened to suppress it.
Unions called the stoppage for Monday over the forced eviction of Istanbul’s Gezi Park and what they described as “police violence.”
After a weekend of clashes there is a strong police presence, with access to the area restricted.
The Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended the crackdown but many are unconvinced.
“They say at the meeting yesterday he (the prime minister) cleaned the park and now (the) Istanbul public can come to the park. But there is no public in the park. And he only lies. Big lies,” said a hotel employee called Tolgar.
“We don’t want him, we don’t want this kind of life. We want it free,” added Selim, who works in a bank.
Tens of thousands of Tayyip Erdogan’s supporters turned up to a rally in Istanbul on Sunday to hear the prime minister dismiss claims that he was behaving like a dictator.
He vowed to identify those he said had terrorised the streets. But for his opponents the police are to blame for the violence.
Hundreds of people were arrested amid clashes in Istanbul and Ankara on Sunday.
The Turkish Medical Association described the use of tear gas in particular as “savage”.
More about: Protest, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Strike, Turkey, Turkish politics
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