• Tests confirm Prague zoo gorillas pregnant
    10/29/2006

    Two gorillas at Prague zoo will be giving birth next year. Pregnancy tests show that thirty-four year old Kamba is pregnant with her first baby and is due at the end of January. Fifteen year old Kijivu, who already has a two-year old girl Moja, is expected to give birth in May next year.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Civic Democrats clear winners of Senate elections
    10/28/2006

    The Civic Democrats have come out the clear winners of the elections of one-third of the Senate. Of the 27 seats that were up for grabs in the 81-seat upper house of Parliament, the right-of-centre party secured fourteen. Their biggest rivals, the centre-left Social Democrats won six seats, and the centre-right Christian Democrats four. The remaining three seats were divided between the Party for an Open Society, the Independent Mayors, and an independent candidate. Neither the Communists nor the Greens managed to win enough votes to secure a seat. The senators are elected for six-year terms.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Division of seats in Senate, Civic Democrats enjoy majority
    10/28/2006

    With a total of 41 senators in the 81-seat upper house, the Civic Democrats now enjoy a majority. The Social Democrats have 12 seats, the Christian Democrats 11, the SNK-European Democrats 3, the Communists 2, independent candidates 2, and smaller parties hold one seat each.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Civic Democrats gain majority in Senate
    10/28/2006

    The Civic Democrats and the Social Democrats have enough seats in Parliament to change the constitution if they were to join forces. The two parties have 53 of the 81 seats in the Senate and 155 of the 200 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. In order to amend the constitution, they will not have to depend on a single vote from the smaller parties.

    Together with the Christian Democrats, the Civic Democrats have 52 of the 81 seats in the Senate.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek blames police investigations for election result
    10/28/2006

    Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek says his party lost potential votes due to the recent arrests of several former Social Democrats. The party has secured five more seats than it enjoyed before the elections but had eleven candidates in the running. Mr Paroubek considers the arrests part of a smear campaign to undermine his party. Complaints and law suits will be filed, he told reporters on Saturday.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Second round of senate elections sees low voter turnout
    10/28/2006

    Just over 600,000 of the 2.8 million eligible voters (20.7 percent) have cast their ballots in the second round of Senate elections. Six years ago, voter turnout stood at 21.56 percent.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • 88th anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia
    10/28/2006

    Czechs marked the 88th anniversary of the foundation of an independent Czechoslovak state on Saturday. The national holiday continues to be celebrated in the Czech Republic although Czechoslovakia no longer exists. The country split into two separate states - the Czech Republic and Slovakia - on January 1st 1993. Neighbouring Slovakia no longer marks the event with a state holiday.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Memorial ceremonies at Vitkov Hill and National Museum
    10/28/2006

    At the traditional October 28th ceremony at the national memorial on Prague's Vitkov Hill, a minute of silence was held to commemorate those who fell in battle and wreaths were laid at the memorial of Hussite warrior Jan Zizka. Besides hundreds of spectators, the event was attended by senior politicians like the president, prime minister, defence minister, and Senate chairman, as well as the Army's chief-of-staff, and members of the Czechoslovak Union of Freedom Fighters.

    A separate ceremony was also held in Prague's National Museum on Saturday, organised annually by the Czechoslovak Union of Freedom Fighters and the Union of Czechoslovak Legions.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • President Klaus marks foundation of independent Czechoslovakia
    10/28/2006

    As has become tradition for every seated Czech head of state, President Vaclav Klaus marked October 28th with several events. At Lany, near Prague, Mr Klaus laid a wreath at the grave of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, the founder and first president of Czechoslovakia. The Czech President also received foreign diplomats.

    At a ceremony at Prague Castle on Saturday evening, President Klaus will award state honours and medals of bravery to over twenty personalities. Though it has not been revealed who will receive the state distinctions, it is believed that they will include cross-country skier Katerina Neumannova, Chairwoman of the Confederation of Political Prisoners Nadezda Kavalirova, football legend Josef Masopust, and actress Iva Janzurova.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • 500 new soldiers pledge allegiance and join professional army
    10/28/2006

    Some 500 soldiers who are joining the country's professional army pledged their allegiance at Prague Castle on Saturday. The soldiers, among them several dozen women, made their pledges in front of President Klaus, Defence Minister Jiri Sedivy, Chief-of-Staff General Pavel Stefka and members of their families. President Klaus also named five new generals and general Stefka named 19 new colonels.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

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