• 09/18/2006

    King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia has begun a week-long visit to the Czech Republic. The 52 year old monarch, who speaks fluent Czech, is expected to meet with the country's top politicians and cultural figures. He is also scheduled to visit Cesky Krumlov on Wednesday, and plans to see Dagmar Havlova, the wife of former president Vaclav Havel, perform at Prague's Vinohrady Theatre. King Sihamoni will also receive honorary citizenship of Prague where he lived for 13 years, studying ballet at the Prague conservatory.

  • 09/18/2006

    Former deputy chairman of the Civic Democratic Party, Miroslav Macek, has received a 3000 crown fine for slapping former Health Minister David Rath at a May conference of dentists. The fine was set by the office of Prague 2, on the basis that Mr. Macek committed a public offence. Mr. Macek says that he will not appeal the decision and will pay the fine. The conflict between the two men came to blows after Mr. Rath made statements alluding to Mr. Macek having married for money. Mr. Rath filed a complaint after the incident, which was broadcast by media across the globe.

  • 09/18/2006

    Former Social Democratic Minister of Education, Petra Buzkova, has confirmed that she will run for the office of the Mayor of Prague. On Monday representatives of Prague's Social Democrats nominated her as their party's candidate in the upcoming municipal elections. After more than a week of deliberating, Ms. Buzkova has accepted the nomination and says that her experience in the world of high politics would help her fulfill the role of the capital city's mayor. Ms. Buzkova was a long-serving Social Democratic MP who held posts as the Minister of Education, deputy leader of the lower house, deputy leader of the Social Democratic Party, and she also served as the leader of the Prague's Social Democrats. Having recently retired from politics, Ms. Buzkova is currently a partner in a law firm.

  • 09/18/2006

    According to a new poll by the Factum Invenio Agency, the Civic Democratic Party would win elections with 36.3% of the vote if Czechs were to go to the polls in September. Support for the Social Democrats is set at 32%. The results show that the ten percent margin between the two biggest parties recorded in August has been decreased.

  • 09/18/2006

    A Japanese LCD screen joint venture between Hitachi, Panasonic and Toshiba announced on Monday that it had started construction of a 92-million-euro (116-million-dollar) plant in the Czech Republic, AFP reports. Production at the new plant, at Zatec in northwestern Bohemia, is expected to start in 2007 and create jobs for 2,000 people.

  • 09/17/2006

    A Czech coach traveling through Austria plunged into a ravine Sunday morning killing four passengers and injuring 45, according to the APA news agency. Police said the coach driver told them a car had cut in front of him on a main road near the town of Schrems making him swerve. The coach then hit a tree before careening into a five-metre (16 foot) deep ravine and landing upside down. The injured passengers were hospitalised in the region.

    According to police statistics ten Czechs were killed in car accidents over the weekend - the worst figure since the introduction of a new road legislation intended to curb the number of deaths on the road.

  • 09/17/2006

    The new Czech finance minister Vlastimil Tlusty said in a televised debate on Sunday that the government intends to sell a part of the Czech power giant CEZ. Mr. Tlusty said the plan was to sell 16 percent of the company's shares on the Prague stock market. This would still leave the state a majority owner. It currently has a 67 percent stake.

    The finance minister also said that the state was short of 153 billion crowns to cover the cost of environmental damages, which could result in huge fines. He indicated that the former Social Democrat-led government had left the country with many hidden debts and said there was no way the deficit in public finances for next year could be kept below 100 billion crowns. The opposition Social Democrats have said they will not support a budget with a higher deficit.

  • 09/17/2006

    Czech expats from around the world met in the Slovak capital Bratislava over the weekend to establish new contacts and exchange information about the work of expat associations in their home towns. Czechs living in Bratislava organized a cultural evening of poetry, song and dance. The weekend programme in Bratislava marks the start of a Week of Czech Expats held in Prague under the auspices of Czech President Vaclav Klaus.

  • 09/17/2006

    King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia is expected to arrive in Prague on Monday for a week-long visit. The 52 year old monarch, who speaks fluent Czech, is expected to meet with the country's top politicians and cultural figures. King Sihamoni will also receive honorary citizenship of Prague where he lived for 13 years, studying ballet at the Prague conservatory.

  • 09/17/2006

    The new trade and industry minister, Martin Riman, says he wants the new Civic Democrat government to ensure that the planned purchase of over 500 transport trucks for the Czech military from Tatra Koprivnice go ahead as planned. Plans for the sale were allegedly shelved by the former government due to significant cuts in the military budget. Mr. Riman said that he considered it unacceptable for purchases involving foreign companies to receive full-scale funding while domestic-oriented ones, which were important for the country's industry, to be shelved. The Defense Ministry said the purchase had been merely postponed not cancelled but Trade Minister Riman said he would push to find a solution so that the military could confirm the order as soon as possible.

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