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04/03/2007
The Constitutional Court has ruled that local town halls are fully entitled to ban prostitution in public places. The legal dispute arose when several town halls issued regulations banning prostitution in all public places and pushing it to the outskirts of town. The interior ministry questioned their right to set such a norm. The court ruling will now help other towns that are plagued by the problem. Many mayors have called on Czech MPs to set clear rules as regards "the oldest trade in the world". Although pimping is illegal in the Czech Republic prostitution is not and there have been calls for it to be legalized and brought under control -with taxes and regular medical check-ups.
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04/03/2007
The entire board of directors of CzechInvest, a government agency promoting business and investment, has resigned in protest of last week's dismissal of the agency's general director Tomas Hruda. Trade and Industry Minister Martin Riman sacked Mr. Hruda last week citing poor management. The dismissed general director ascribed the decision to problematic personal relations with Mr. Riman. Since the news broke the vast majority of CzechInvest's 300 employees have threatened to resign.
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04/03/2007
Industry Minister Martin Riman on Tuesday likewise sacked the head of the Czech Inspection Office Jiri Pekny. According to a ministry spokesman Mr. Pekny was sacked for poor management. The spokesman cited lack of coordination and inefficiency, saying that the office had made occasional random inspections without any clear goals and priorities. Jiri Pekny is to be replaced by Jana Prihodova, a former employee of the Inspection Office who served as deputy mayor of Prague 1 up until 2006.
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04/03/2007
According to the results of a survey conducted by the STEM polling agency 60 percent of Czechs have trouble making ends meet on their salary. A fifth of respondents said that family budgeting was difficult and often left them counting the days till pay day. 31 percent of respondents said they managed just fine on their income and a mere eight percent said they could afford a luxuries and had all they wanted.
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04/03/2007
A seven months old baby boy was placed in one of the three baby boxes currently operating in the Czech Republic early on Tuesday. Doctors said the boy was in good health and showed no signs of abuse. He will now be placed in an orphanage while the authorities look for a foster family or adoptive parents for him. The three baby boxes have already saved six lives. The first was introduced in Prague in 2006 amidst much controversy. Opponents of the idea argued that baby boxes would encourage mothers to abandon their children more easily than they might otherwise do. Its advocates pointed to the fact that babies died every year after being left somewhere out in the open or killed and thrown on a rubbish dump.
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04/03/2007
A female passenger in a vehicle was shot by police in a suburb of the east Moravian city of Ostrava on Monday and seriously injured. The incident was reported on the Internet server of commercial broadcaster TV Nova. The shooting reportedly took place during a pursuit of the vehicle in a residential area. The woman was taken into hospital shortly after 8 pm. Police have not released additional details.
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04/02/2007
The Czech Republic has lost an arbitration dispute with the Netherlands-based company Eastern Sugar BV, the parent company of a Czech branch that is the Czech Republic's second largest sugar producer. Both the head of the Czech branch of Eastern Sugar and a spokesman for the Finance Ministry on Monday confirmed the decision, after the story was first reported by the Prague-based journal Czech Business Weekly. The arbitration case saw Eastern Sugar seeking the equivalent of close to 120 million US dollars in damages for unfair quota allocation by the government, a case dating back to 2003. The final amount awarded is less than what was being asked for: 700 million crowns, the equivalent of around 33 million USD.
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04/02/2007
The Greens have asked Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek to hold a meeting of the leaders of the three government parties to decide whether "embattled" Minister for Regional Development Jiri Cunek should remain in the cabinet. Members of the Green Party have said that comments made by Mr Cunek last week, alluding to Romany citizens, had damaged the government's credibility. In a Czech tabloid on Friday Mr Cunek suggested that "non-Roma" wishing to earn state subsidies like the Roma needed to get "a suntan" and "cause trouble". The comments were denounced as xenophobic by the prime minister. Mr Cunek has since apologised for the incident. Political pressure on Mr Cunek has continued to increase, as he is also the subject of an on-going police investigation for alleged bribe-taking in 2002.
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04/02/2007
Rovshan Nazarov, the son of a former political advisor who was granted asylum in the Czech Republic, has reportedly been arrested in his homeland Azerbaijan. The Czech news agency CTK released the information on Monday after receiving news from Mr Nazarov's brother. Two years ago the Nazarovs' father Sadai - who received asylum in 1998 - was arrested for treason and persecuted by the regime of President Heydar Aliyev. He was released only after heightened diplomatic pressure and involvement by human rights groups. Mr Nazarov's son travelled to Azerbaijan this year on March 19th and was reportedly arrested seven days later.
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04/02/2007
The Czech Republic has launched its part in the EU campaign aimed at battling discrimination, entitled the European Year of Equal Opportunities. On Monday Czech EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Vladimir Spidla said that EU countries have not yet succeeded in fulfilling the idea of equal opportunities, although he indicated comparing particular states was difficult. The Czech campaign includes seven larger projects as well as seminars, conferences, and festivals aimed at increasing awareness. At the same time, the Czech Republic still lacks anti-discrimination legislation for which the country faces potential EU sanctions. Minister without Portfolio Dzamila Stehlikova - in charge of minorities - has said that the legislation could be passed this year.
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