News
If Poles receive visa waiver, Czechs should too, says Paroubek
If the United States lifts visa requirements for Polish citizens, Prague will push for the US to do likewise for Czechs, the Czech prime minister, Jiri Paroubek, said on Friday. Under legislation passed by the US Senate this week, visa requirements will be discontinued for any country which is in the European Union, does not pose a threat to US security and has at least 300 soldiers in either Iraq or Afghanistan. The Czech Republic meets the first two conditions, but not the third: it currently has 200 troops in those countries. The law still has to go before the US House of Representatives.
Two new cases of bird flu detected
Two new cases of bird flu have been discovered in the Czech Republic. Two dead swans were found near Breclav in south Moravia; at least one of them had the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, said a spokesperson for the state veterinary authority. Previously 12 cases of bird flu were detected in south Bohemia.
Czech "castaway" deported from Sweden
A 39-year-old Czech man found on a raft off the coast of Sweden has been escorted back to the Czech Republic. Jiri Kvapil was discovered floating in the North Sea a month ago and subsequently betrayed almost nothing about what he was doing there to the Swedish authorities. A Swedish official said while Mr Kvapil had not requested political asylum or done anything illegal, he was being deported because he had no papers and refused to explain his case.
Pastoral letter said to give Catholics pointers on voting in forthcoming elections
A pastoral letter aimed at helping Catholics decide who to vote for in the coming elections is to be read at Roman Catholic churches around the country this Sunday, newspapers reported. The letter does not mention any particular party by name but seems to favour the Christian Democrats. The head of the Roman Catholic church in the Czech Republic, Cardinal Miroslav Vlk, denied the pastoral letter gave concrete instruction on who to vote for. But he said Catholics should not vote for the Communist Party, which persecuted the church when it was in power.
Large number of civil cases unresolved in slow court system
Around 9,000 civil cases have been in the Czech court system for a period of at least five years, according to new Justice Ministry figures quoted in Mlada fronta Dnes. In the last eight years the number of unresolved cases has risen by about 3,000. For their part judges complain they are too few in number, and say they get bogged down in paperwork. Most cases the Czech state loses at the European Court of Human Rights concern the excessively slow resolution of cases within the Czech court system.
Czechs preparing to take on Finns in World Championships semi-finals
The Czech ice hockey team are preparing to play Finland in the semi-finals of the World Championships in Riga on Saturday. The Finns have the best defensive record of any team in the tournament, although the Czechs scored three goals against them in a drawn game in the first group stage.
Weather
It is expected to remain warm, with temperatures set to reach as high as 28 degrees Celsius on Monday. It should be sunny but with some storms in places.
