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President Vaclav Havel stable after the tracheotomy
President Vaclav Havel's health deteriorated overnight, according to statements released by his medical team Tuesday. Peter Smith has more.
Havel is apparently being 'intensively' treated for what the doctors claim is an 'irregular heartbeat', as well as the onset of bronchial pneumonia.
The President's breathing is being aided by a respirator, a day after the surgeons were forced to perform a tracheotomy on Havel's throat. This became necessary after his right lung collapsed on Sunday evening because of an infection.
Tuesday morning, the doctors said simply in a statement that 'Computer analysis confirmed the initial stages of bronchial pneumonia,' adding President Havel was exhibiting irregularities in his heartbeat and that they were treating the condition.
On a more positive note, however, the medical team asserted that Havel's collapsed right lung was returning to normal after the tracheotomy and that his temperature had been steadily decreasing.
Furthermore, the wife of the President, Dagmar Havlova, was quoted as saying this afternoon that in her opinion, the president already appeared to be feeling slightly better.
EU arms trade code
Thirteen countries outside the European Union have lined-up with the
block's new code of conduct of arms trade, which is designed to give
greater weight to morality in the export of military equipment. Alena
Skodova has more.
The countries are Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia
and Slovenia.
The countries, 11 of which are heading toward EU
membership, "align themselves to the criteria and principles contained
in the Code, which will guide them in their national export control
policies," says an EU statement.
The code, formalised by EU ministers in
June, lays down eight criteria which countries must take acount of when
deciding whether or not to approve the export of arms. It includes for
instance refusal to issue an export licence if there's a "clear risk"
that the equipment might be used for internal repression.
Special
caution and vigilance will also be exercised in issuing such licences to
countries where serious violations of human rights have been
established, and participants will not allow exports which will "provoke
or prolong" armed conflicts.
Before a participating country allows
exports which have been turned down by another country within the last
three years, it must first consult the country which originally denied
the licence.
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