News

Social Democrats to consider abolition of Senate - iDnes

The acting head of the senior government Social Democrats and Prime Minister Stanislav Gross told the Internet news server iDnes that his party will consider the abolition of the Senate in the future, after the results of the second round of Senate elections were published on Saturday. According to Mr Gross, the Social Democrats will consider this measure because of the extremely low turnout, about 18 percent, in the second round of voting on Friday and Saturday. The head of the junior coalition Christian Democrats Miroslav Kalousek said he was surprised by this idea and compared the situation to someone who "loses a game and then wants to abolish the playing field".

Emmerova: Social Democrats considering early elections

The Health Minister, Social Democrat Milada Emmerova has said that the leadership of the party discussed the possibility of early general elections at its Saturday meeting. Speaking in a televised debate on Sunday, Minister Emmerova added that early elections were not the Social Democrats' first option but merely one of the possible alternatives. The Social Democrats experienced election defeats in June in the European elections, last weekend in the elections to the regional assemblies and in this weekend's second round of Senate elections, where no Social Democrat candidate was elected.

The senior opposition Civic Democrats won all three of the elections and the junior opposition Communist Party finished second, ahead of the governing Social Democrats.

Eurostat: Czechs have longest working week in EU

A report by the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Eurostat, says that Czechs have the longest working hours in the European Union. In the Czech Republic people spend more than 42 hours at work every week which is by five hours more than the European average. The Eurostat study also says that part-time employment in the Czech Republic is rare compared to other EU states and the country has a high rate of long term unemployment.

Justice Ministry: Commission on Roma immigration no longer necessary

A special commission which was set up to prevent mass immigration of Roma from neighbouring Slovakia will cease to exist, a spokesman for the Justice Ministry has said. He added that the fears of a mass influx of Roma economic migrants, following the cuts in social benefits in Slovakia and EU accession, have not materialised. In recent years, whole families moved over to live with their relatives in the Czech Republic hoping to improve their living standard. According to the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry the immigration only worsened the living conditions of the Czech Roma population as they now live in overcrowded flats, pay extra expenses, and crime, illegal money-lending and illegal employment are on the rise in the community.

Czech Republic beaten by Russia 3:6 in Karjala Cup

The Czech Republic was beaten 3:6 by Russia on Sunday evening in ice-hockey's Karjala Cup in the Finnish capital Helsinki. The Czech team under coach Ondrej Weissman their lost their chance to win the tournament.

Weather

Monday should be partly cloudy with occasional rain across the country. Daytime temperatures should range from 6 to 9 degrees Celsius.