News

Paroubek: Social Democrats to decide within two months on candidate for president

The Social Democrats should decide on their candidate for next year's presidential election within two months, chairman Jiri Paroubek said on Sunday. Speaking on Czech Television, Mr Paroubek said he wanted to put forward a resolution at his party's next conference against any of the Social Democrats' MPs or senators voting for the incumbent Vaclav Klaus in the bicameral secret vote. He said his party were willing to put aside their own interests in order to see the president replaced. Mr Paroubek also criticised Mr Klaus for remaining honorary chairman of the Civic Democrats after he became Czech president.

President Klaus reflects on four years in office in new book

Meanwhile, President Klaus is bringing out a collection of essays, speeches, articles and photographs called Rok ctvrty (Fourth Year). The president, who has published a number of books, is set to sign copies of his latest at a Prague centre bookshop on Monday.

Four die in crash after disco

Four men died near Opava in north Moravia in the early hours of Sunday morning when they crashed into a tree on their way home from a disco. The four were aged between 20 and 25. A woman passenger survived but is in a serious condition in hospital. Four other people died in accidents around the Czech Republic on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Two die when ultra-light plane crashes

Two men died on Sunday when their ultra-light plane crashed in north Moravia. The plane came down near the village of Trnavka, around 100 metres from a main road. Air traffic inspectors are now looking into the accident.

Rockers Kabat to be first ever Czech representative at Eurovision

The rock group Kabat will represent the Czech Republic at the Eurovision song contest in Helsinki in May. The band won Czech Television's Eurosong competition to find the country's first ever Eurovision representative. Kabat formed in 1983 but have become big stars only in recent years. Their latest CD Corrida was the biggest selling album in the Czech Republic last year, despite not being released until December.

MTV aiming to launch Czech version next year

The music and youth television station MTV is planning to launch a Czech MTV channel next year, the Czech Business Weekly reported. A representative of the station told the weekly that MTV was currently in talks with one or two potential partners in the Czech Republic and hoped to finalise a deal soon. MTV would find itself in competition with the German-owned music station Ocko, which has an estimated audience of 650,000 viewers a week.

Only female referee in Czech league top flight to miss spring part of season

The only female referee in the Czech men's first division will not be allowed to officiate in the second half of the season, which has just got underway after the winter break. Dagmar Damkova has been removed from the list of top-flight referees after missing a fitness test due to illness. Ms Damkova said she would now concentrate on reaching the Women's World Cup, which takes place in China in September.

Couple get married on rink before ice hockey game

A couple got married on the rink before a game at Hradec Kralove's ice hockey arena on Saturday. Nada Koutecka and Miroslav Labsky, dressed in hockey strips, made their vows in front of thousands of fans, while players made a guard of honour with their sticks. Getting married before a game was the idea of the hockey-fan bride, whose family are from Hradec.

Another relatively warm month predicted

Weather forecasters say the next month will be relatively warm. In the period from Sunday until April 10 they are expecting above average temperatures for the time of year, with average rainfall. Every month since last autumn has seen above average temperatures in the Czech Republic.

Weather

There should be more sunny spells over the next few days. Temperatures are set to reach up to 17 degrees Celsius in the early part of the week.