News

Prime Minister Gross wins support of majority of party colleagues

Prime Minister and acting chairman of the Social Democrats Stanislav Gross will most likely be elected party leader at the next congress in March. The Social Democrats, the main ruling coalition party, held conferences in the country's thirteen districts, this weekend, to discuss their party's future and assess who will most likely be in the leadership. Mr Gross won the support of his colleagues in ten districts, while his competitor Transport Minister Zdenek Skromach only won the support of the Social Democrats in the Moravian town Zlin.

On Saturday, Mr Gross warned the Social Democrats had adopted an image of a divided and 'extinct' party that has nothing to offer its supporters. He called onto his colleagues to put aside their differences and unite to prove the party is active, has goals, and strives to achieve them.

Czech arms dealer arrested in Liberia

A Czech man, who escaped from a Liberian prison on Friday, has been found. Forty-two year old Dalibor Kopp was found guilty of the illegal trade in arms in the Czech Republic, in April 2004. He fled the country and was arrested in Liberia last December. He was being detained in a Monrovian prison, before he was to be extradited back to the Czech Republic this week. On Friday, Mr Kopp was on the run after he apparently managed to bribe his way out of jail. Back home, Mr Kopp could face up to ten years in prison.

Judaica Centre pays tribute to Czech musicians who passed through Auschwitz

A concert in Poland on Monday will honour four Czech musicians, who suffered at the Auschwitz death camp and died at the hands of the Nazis in the 1940s. Three days before the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the Judaica Centre will host the concert that features works by Pavel Haas, Gideon Klein, Viktor Ullmann and Hans Krasa, the latter known for his children's opera - Brundibar - first performed by children at the Terezin concentration camp as they were being prepared for transportation to Auschwitz, Belsen and Treblinka.

Czechs seeking jobs abroad mostly interested in Britain and Ireland

Of all European Union member states, Britain and Ireland have been most attractive for Czechs seeking employment abroad. Since the Czech Republic joined the EU in May, some 139,000 Czech pages on work and life abroad were visited on the EURES website, designed to support the free movement of labour across the Union. The large number of visited pages on Germany and Austria suggest these two countries are also attractive to Czechs. Some 29,000 pages on possibilities of finding a job in the Czech Republic have also been visited.

Weather

Meteorologists say it will continue to snow in most parts of the country, turning to sleet and rain towards the end of the week. Day-time temperatures over the next few days will drop further to reach some -7 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.