• Ski-jumper Mazoch released from hospital in Poland
    01/31/2007

    The Czech ski-jumper Jan Mazoch has been released from hospital in Krakow, ten days after crashing badly in a World Cup event in Poland. Mazoch, who had been put into an artificial coma to limit damage to his brain, has been transferred to a hospital in Prague. A medical official at the hospital in Poland said there was no reason he could not ski again if his rehab went as expected.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Number of murders up in 2006
    01/31/2007

    The number of murders in the Czech Republic increased last year, according to figures released by the police on Wednesday. There were 231 murders in the country in 2006, up from 186 during the previous twelve months. Police solved 170 cases. The overall crime rate fell slightly.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Photos of wall separating residents from Romanies in Usti on display at UN HQ
    01/31/2007

    Photos of a wall built by the authorities in the north Bohemian town of Usti nad Labem to separate local residents from Romanies have gone on show at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The wall was built in 1999. It was removed after being criticised by human rights groups as an example of institutional racism in the Czech Republic. Romany groups are calling on the UN to appoint a special representative on Romany issues.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Health Ministry ordered to explain why insurance should cover certain medicines
    01/31/2007

    The Constitutional Court has ordered the Health Ministry to create a new system of coverage for medicines by public health insurance by the start of next year. The court said the current system was not based on objective criteria and was not justified. It called on the Health Ministry to state clearly why the costs of certain medicines should be covered.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Pravo: Police president could be replaced
    01/31/2007

    The president of the Czech Republic's police force, Vladislav Husak, could be removed, Pravo reported. The interior minister, Ivan Langer, dismissed a suggestion he would replace Mr Husak with Martin Kotlan; however, the minister added that nothing was definitive. Mr Kotlan was deputy police president from 1998 to 2002.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Footballer Zapotocny joins Italy's Udinese
    01/31/2007

    Footballer Tomas Zapotocny has left Slovan Liberec for the Italian Serie A club Udinese. Zapotocny has played three times for the Czech Republic. The defender is the second Czech signed by Udinese during January's transfer window; the club recently bought Tomas Sivok from Sparta Prague.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • O'Reilly: US has additional options regarding radar, rocket bases
    01/30/2007

    A Pentagon official from the US Missile Defence programme has indicated that the United States has other options if proposed radar and rocket installations do not find backing in the Czech Republic and Poland. Speaking to journalists on Monday, Brigadier General Patrick O'Reilly expressed optimism over the plan's implementation, saying that within a number of years the system could be fully-operational. The US is to begin negotiations with the Czech Republic on a missile defence radar site that would complement a proposed rocket base in Poland.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Protest against US radar base goes ahead despite ban
    01/30/2007

    In related news, opponents of the US radar base in the Czech Republic took part in a protest event in Prague on Monday evening. Their march through the city centre went ahead despite a ban by Prague city hall. Some two thousand people are estimated to have taken part. Civic groups and associations who organized the march say that the presence of a US radar base in the Czech Republic would harm the country's security interests. They have called for a referendum on the issue.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Debate on EU constitution, US base not included in lower house agenda
    01/30/2007

    The opposition Social Democrats failed on Tuesday to push through a proposal in the lower house for a parliamentary debate discussing the Czech position on the EU constitution. A proposal by the Communist Party that the lower house discuss the possibility of a US radar base in the Czech Republic also did not pass. Both were rejected by votes from the ruling coalition. The Chamber of Deputies deputy chairman Lubomir Zaoralek said he expected the issue of EU constitution to be raised again in the near future.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Autopsy confirms Svoboda suicide
    01/30/2007

    Following autopsy results, police have confirmed that the death of composer Karel Svoboda on Sunday was indeed a case of suicide. The body of the 68-year-old Svoboda was found by his wife on Sunday evening at the couple's property in a Prague suburb. He had taken his life using a registered firearm. Karel Svoboda was a household name in the Czech Republic for more than thirty years: he wrote the music for numerous hit songs and also wrote well-known scores for films, musicals and theatre productions.
    Author: Jan Velinger

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