It was no tool or prefab unit but a whole bridge that dropped from the hands of those working above one of the Czech Republic's busiest railway, Zizka points out. This is beyond any comprehension.
The explanation of the constructers who say a technical mistake was behind the bridge's collapse, seems rather incredible. "If it were true, God save all of us, as how many similar bridges are there in the Czech Republic? Hundreds, thousands?" Soccer Players Must Be Released for Olympics, FIFA Rules ...
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South Ossetian rebels order mobilisation ... Zizka writes. "Companies will probably blame each other for the accident. Let's hope that we will learn one day whose mistake it was, whether it is to blame on the construction workers, who [neglected their duties as they] were looking forward to the Olympic broadcasts, or the managers who needed to meet a deadline. Or businessmen, eager to gain another public order? Zizka asks. However, if repair construction works are made at places where people might be endangered, measures must be taken to absolutely prevent a tragedy, he adds. It is only Brussels that has come up with a clear position on the project of the new Czech National Library (NK) building, Zbynek Petracek writes in Lidove noviny, referring to the project that has been accompanied by question marks and disputes for more than a year. He reacts to the EC's statement earlier this week that the international competition from which architect Jan Kaplicky's NK project emerged victorious in the spring 2007 was at variance with Czech legislation. Uninvolved in the Czech dispute, the EC's verdict can be viewed as impartial and it cannot be challenged by either the fans or opponents of Kaplicky's project, Petracek writes. The EC only says the architectonic competition was at odds with Czech laws. No one can believe that by this statement the EC wanted to harm Kaplicky and his supporters or back [the project's prominent critic] Czech President Vaclav Klaus and his supporters, Petracek says. Brussels has not examined whether Kaplicky is close to Eva Jiricna, head of the competition jury, nor has it pondered whether Prague Mayor Pavel Bem acts in a way to please Klaus at any costs. Brussels does not assess the narrow-mindedness or generosity of Czechs, but the observance of rules, Petracek writes. If this is what the Brussels bureaucracy means, it cannot be but welcomed, Petracek writes. Unlike the ancient Olympics in Greece, modern Olympic games have been practically always accompanied by parallel wars elsewhere in the world, as wars are conducted permanently in the modern era, Jiri Hanak writes in Pravo, alluding to the war in the Caucasus that burst out on the eve of the Beijing Olympics this week. Russia acts as a protector of Southern Ossetia, Georgia's separatist province where Georgia has now decided to introduce constitutional order. Russia is unable to the solve similar problems otherwise but by applying brutal force, Hanak writes, recalling Moscow's steps in reaction to Chechnya's separatist attempt in the past years. The current war over Southern Ossetia is unlikely to last long, as it could pose a danger to the international community. It will most probably illustrate the wise saying that the weak cannot dare the same what the powerful can dare, Hanak writes. Russia was in the past allowed to wage a war to prevent Chechnya's separation. In the second Chechen war, organised by Putin, Islamist terrorists arrived in Chechnya and it was no problem for Moscow to say the war was aimed against international terrorism, Hanak writes. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili cannot offer anything similar. In Ossetia there are no Islamist terrorists but only Russian "peaceforming" units, Hanak says.
(Ceske Noviny)
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