-
04/17/2005
The Archbishop of Prague, Cardinal Miroslav Vlk, who will be in the conclave which will elect a new pontiff, has called on Czech believers to pray for the right decision. Cardinal Vlk praised the role of Pope John Paul II, describing him as possibly the best pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church. The 115 Roman Catholic cardinals eligible to vote have gone into sequestered lodgings and will dine together on Sunday night, before entering their momentous conclave in the Sistine Chapel on Monday afternoon. The 85 year old Czech Cardinal Tomas Spidlik is too old to vote but he was invited to deliver a "meditation" to the cardinal electors.
-
04/16/2005
The Czech government is in disarray, following the resignation of seven cabinet ministers. The country was thrown back into political turmoil on Thursday after a fragile deal between the three governing parties on forming a new pro-European government collapsed within hours after being clinched, raising the prospect of early elections. The deal, which would have paved the way for Prime Minister Stanislav Gross to resign in the wake of a scandal over his private finances, was rejected by his own party leadership. Mr. Gross himself voted against it, which has evoked criticism from some high ranking members of his own party. There is now speculation that some of Mr. Gross' own party ministers may turn against him and enforce the demise of the whole Cabinet at its Wednesday session.
-
04/16/2005
President Vaclav Klaus said on Friday that he would push for early elections unless the three parties in the collapsed governing coalition could come to an agreement on forming a new government within a reasonable time-frame. Mr. Klaus ruled out a possible third alternative - a minority Social Democrat government. The President said he was very disappointed by the break down in talks and urged the three coalition parties to let him know without delay whether they were capable of resolving the protracted crisis.
-
04/16/2005
A clean up operation is underway at Moravia's Pernstejn Castle, which was extensively damaged by fire on Friday. Sixteen fire units fought the blaze for twelve hours. The damage is estimated at around 100 million Czech crowns, around 4 million US dollars. Fortunately, parts of the castle which are open to tourists have not been damaged, although a storeroom containing antique furniture and 300 hundred valuable paintings was completely destroyed. The Gothic-Renaissance castle dates back to the 13th century and is often described as "a pearl of Moravian architecture". The cause of the fire remains unknown.
-
04/16/2005
A twenty five year old driver who was caught speeding in a stolen car in the early hours of Saturday crashed into seven vehicles and injured a policewoman before giving himself up to the police, the CTK press agency reports. The young man, who assaulted police officers after he was forced to stop and get out of the car, is believed to have been on drugs.
-
04/15/2005
With the Czech government in disarray, President Vaclav Klaus said on Friday he would push for early elections unless the three parties in the collapsed coalition of Prime Minister Stanislav Gross agree to form a new government. Mr Klaus said he would not allow a third alternative - a minority Social Democrat government.
The president said he was angry that Mr Gross's party had rejected a deal on the creation of a new majority government with the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union to lead the country until elections next year. Under this agreement, agreed late on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Gross could have stood down without the need for early elections.
-
04/15/2005
After the leadership of the Social Democrats voted against the deal on Thursday evening, Defence Minister Karel Kuhnl and Justice Minister Pavel Nemec - both members of the Freedom Union - quit the cabinet. Seven ministers have now resigned.
-
04/15/2005
Prime Minister Gross said on Friday he would push once again for what he calls a "pro-European" government without senior coalition party representatives. It was the presence of senior Christian Democrat and Freedom Union figures in the newly agreed cabinet that led the Social Democrats to reject the agreement.
Jan Kohout, the career diplomat chosen to replace Stanislav Gross as prime minister, has returned to Brussels, where he is the Czech ambassador to the European Union.
-
04/15/2005
Meanwhile, Mr Gross has paid almost 900,000 Czech crowns (around 40,000 US dollars) to businessman Rostislav Rod in the latest turn in the controversy over the financing of the prime minister's flat. Mr Rod says he lent the money to Mr Gross's uncle, who then lent it to the prime minister. Allegations of impropriety on the part of Mr Gross and his wife sparked the ongoing political crisis.
-
04/15/2005
Pernstejn Castle near the city of Brno has been damaged by a fire which started around 6 am on Friday. A collapsed roof is thought to have destroyed a store containing valuable furniture and around 300 paintings. The cause of the fire is not yet known, but the damage is estimated at around 100 million Czech crowns (over 4 million US dollars). The Gothic-Renaissance castle is considered one of the finest in Moravia; it was built in the 13th century and belonged to the Pernstejn noble family.
Pages
- « první
- ‹ předchozí
- …
- 6667
- 6668
- 6669
- 6670
- 6671
- 6672
- 6673
- 6674
- 6675
- …
- následující ›
- poslední »