News
Thrown out Belarusian students may get study stays in Czech Republic
Students in Belarus, who are thrown out of their universities for taking part in demonstrations against their President Alexander Lukashenko could be allowed to continue their studies in the Czech Republic. The Czech government is to discuss this possibility at its session on Wednesday. Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek also plans to discuss the study stays with education minister Petra Buzkova. Massive protest demonstrations are being held in the Belarusian capital Minsk after Mr Lukashenko gained another term in a presidential election last weekend, which is widely believed to have been rigged.
Civic Democrats criticise Prime Minister over EU directive on services
The opposition right-of-centre Civic Democrats have strongly criticised Social Democrat Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek for failing to defend Czech interests at the EU summit in Brussels on Friday. The Czech Republic has backed down from its earlier demand for a stronger directive on the liberalisation of trade in services. The move was criticised at the Civic Democrats' Executive Council meeting in Karlovy Vary. The rival Social Democrats were also scorned for the large number of corruption scandals around the party, a lost arbitration case that could cost the state billions of crowns, and unrest in the health sector.
Vaclav Havel calls US visa policy absurd
Former Czech President and human rights advocate Vaclav Havel has spoken out against the United States' strict visa policy towards the Czech Republic. Mr Havel said the USA was being pedantic and to some extent absurd. Millions of Mexicans cross the border with bags of cocaine and heroin, but the authorities are worried about the Czech student staying too long, Mr Havel told the CTK news agency.
But unlike foreign minister Cyril Svoboda, Mr Havel believes reciprocal measures against US citizens are not necessary. Instead, Czechs should get the word out by openly talking about it, joking about it, and writing about it in papers, such as the New York Times, Mr Havel suggests.
German WWII soldiers' remains to stay at factory
The Czech government will not interfere in a decision to keep the remains of German WWII soldiers stored in a factory in the northern town of Usti nad Labem, Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek said on Saturday. The bodies of the Wehrmacht soldiers were exhumed from various graves around the country to be buried at a special cemetery in Prague. The organisers of the project ran out of money, and the remains were stored at the factory instead, where they have been for the last three years.
Medieval crane to be erected at Prague Castle
A replica of a medieval crane that used to be powered by men running inside two large wheels is to be erected at Prague Castle. The crane will be part of an accompanying programme to the Charles IV exhibition that is currently underway. It will be constructed according to images from the famous Wenceslas Bible and similar cranes preserved in the Czech Republic and abroad.
Weather
The next few days will remain cloudy with scattered showers. Meteorologists says day-time temperatures will rise steadily to reach 19 degrees on Monday.
