• PM to discuss US anti missile bases with Polish counterpart
    02/16/2007

    Czech officials have said that Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek will discuss plans for a US anti-missile defence system with bases in the Czech Republic and Poland when he meets with his Polish counterpart, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, during an official visit next week. Last month the US officially asked the Czech Republic to host a radar base on its soil and for interceptor missiles to be deployed in Poland as part of an expanded anti-missile system. The plan has drawn strong criticism from Russia. Both Mr Topolanek and Mr Kacynski have backed Washington's plans but political parties and the public in both the Czech Republic and Poland remain divided on the issue.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Czech Republic to donate weapons, helicopters to Afghanistan
    02/16/2007

    The Defence Ministry is to donate a large number of weapons to the government of Afghanistan, the Czech daily Pravo has reported. According to the newspaper, the weapons - 20,000 submachine guns and 650 machine guns - are valued at more than 30 million Czech crowns (the equivalent of 1.4 million US dollars). The Defence Ministry said the weapons were surplus to their requirements, adding that the donation was part of international efforts to bring stability to Afghanistan. The guns will be followed by the delivery of 12 transport and combat helicopters.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Langer: security measures not tied to psychic "warning"
    02/16/2007

    Interior Minister Ivan Langer has told public broadcaster Czech TV that security measures introduced at Prague's international airport this week were not taken in reaction to a clairvoyant warning about a possible terrorist attack. Armed police have been patrolling the airport since Wednesday. An armoured vehicle has also been stationed in the area. Originally the fact that a psychic had contacted the police about a threat was confirmed by a spokesman for the counter-intelligence service. A number of politicians including the leader of the opposition Social Democrats, have criticised the interior minister's actions, but officials have said that special security measures will remain in effect throughout the rest of week.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Poll suggest majority thinks government will not be successful
    02/16/2007

    A new poll released by the STEM agency has suggested that two thirds of Czechs think the current coalition government will not be successful, with only thirty percent of those queried saying they thought the government would rule until 2010. A majority of those polled told the agency they did not think that the government would be able to push through key reforms. The government, led by Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, made up the Civic and Christian Democrats and the Greens, barely won its confidence vote in January. It had to rely on an agreement with two rebel MPs to allow it to gain a majority.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Prison Service archives to be made completely public
    02/16/2007

    Czech Prison Service archives will be made completely public at the start of next year, the head of the service Ludek Kula has said. The documents are said to include information on collaboration between prisoners and wardens and the StB, the communist-era secret police. The move is in line with the Interior Ministry's "Open Past" project, aiming to make previously unreleased StB files accessible to the public.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Menzel film awarded critics' prize in Berlin
    02/16/2007

    Film director Jiri Menzel has been awarded the Association of International Film Critics prize at the Belinale film festival for his film adaptation of Bohumil Hrabal's I Served the King of England. The prize will be awarded to the director on Friday evening during a gala ceremony.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Rosicky, fellow Arsenal team-mates, given audience with Queen Elizabeth II
    02/16/2007

    Star Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky, along with fellow Arsenal footballers had the honour of meeting with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on Thursday. The queen reportedly meets only rarely with sports figures. Tomas Rosicky described the event - which lasted about half an hour and included tea with the famous monarch - as "a most pleasant experience".
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Terror alert at airport after "psychic" warns of planned attack
    02/15/2007

    Anti-terrorism measures at Prague's Ruzyne airport will remain in place until at least Sunday, after a woman claiming to be a psychic said an aircraft was going to be attacked. However there has been a reduction in the number of uniformed and plain-clothes officers on duty compared to Wednesday evening, when the police received the warning. A spokesperson said police were focusing their attention on flights to destinations regarded as relatively risky.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • New plane sent to Japan to ferry Czech president
    02/15/2007

    The Czech army has sent a replacement plane to Japan to carry the Czech president, Vaclav Klaus. On Thursday the president was forced to cut short a visit to Hiroshima due to problems with his official jet, which had a battery fault. But Mr Klaus did get to visit a memorial to victims of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The president is on a four-day official visit to Japan with Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and a delegation of Czech businessmen.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • 1960s drug test killed jailed political leader, says daily
    02/15/2007

    A Social Democrat politician died after being given hallucinogenic drugs while in prison in the 1960s, Pravo reported. It quoted an StB secret police file made public by the Czech foreign intelligence service. It said Bohumil Lausman had developed a weak heart after over a decade in jail, and failed to withstand the StB's drug experiment. Lausman had escaped to Austria but was kidnapped in 1953 and brought back to Czechoslovakia, where he received a 17-year prison term.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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