• PM explains Social Democrat plan to solve political deadlock to President
    08/01/2006

    Prime Minister and Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek has met President Vaclav Klaus to give him details about his party's plan to solve the political deadlock after the June national elections. Mr Paroubek declined to comment on what he called a "comprehensive" plan of the Social Democrats. He only indicated that it should involve an agreement between the Civic Democrats who won the elections and his Social Democrats who came second.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Senate chairman convenes extraordinary session
    08/01/2006

    Meanwhile, the chairman of the Senate, Premysl Sobotka, has convened an extraordinary session of the upper house of the Czech Parliament for next Wednesday. The Senators should discuss the possibility of early elections to the lower house. They are also going to discuss an amendment to the Constitution which would enable the President to dissolve the lower chamber, provided that a majority of MPs have approved it and the government has stepped down. Under current legislation, the procedure is considerably lengthier.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Press: TPCA makes loss worth almost 100 million USD
    08/01/2006

    TPCA, the car manufacturing joint venture between Toyota and PSA Peugeot Citroen, made a loss of 2.2 billion crowns (77.3 million euros, 98.6 million dollars) in 2005, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes reported on Tuesday. According to the paper, TPCA turnover in 2005 reached 21 billion crowns (737.6 million euro, 941.9 million dollars). In 2005 the company produced only a third of its eventual capacity, TPCA president Yasuhiro Takahashi told the paper. This year turnover should rise to about 1.8 billion euros with car production climbing to 300,000 units, a spokesman added.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Hasek returns to NHL Red Wings
    08/01/2006

    Dominik Hasek, the 41-year-old Czech goaltender known as the "Dominator", signed a one-year National Hockey League contract on Monday with the Detroit Red Wings. Hasek was not kept by the Ottawa Senators and the six-time Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL's top netminder had said he would only play another season for the Senators. He was lured back to the Red Wings, who he helped win a Stanley Cup in 2002, for a 750,000-dollar contract that could bring up to 1.1 million dollars in playoff bonus money. Hasek was a hero for the 1998 gold medal Czech hockey team, helping them capture the first Olympic tournament to feature NHL players at Nagano, Japan.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Number of road deaths on significant decrease
    07/31/2006

    The number of road deaths has decreased by half compared to last year, preliminary figures for the month of July suggest. While 52 people died in road accidents in the first 26 days of the month, there were 104 road deaths in the same period in 2005. The sharp fall is attributed to the new points system for driving offences that was introduced on July 1. Police say the number of road accidents has also dropped by 30 percent.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Point-system: Civic Democrats in favour of raising demerit points to 18
    07/31/2006

    In related news, the Civic Democratic Party, which won the parliamentary election and is in the process of forming a new government, says it would be in favour of raising the number of points drivers have to collect before they lose their license. Under the current points system, a driver loses his license with 12 collected points. The Civic Democrats, who say the system is too strict and leaves too much room for corruption, would like to raise the limit to 18 points.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Sharp rise in fake brand-name goods seized in Czech Republic
    07/31/2006

    There has been a sharp increase in the number of counterfeit brand-name goods seized in the Czech Republic. In the first half of this year the Czech Business Inspectorate confiscated over 600,000 counterfeit items, around the same figure for the whole of 2005, the Pravo newspaper reported on Monday. The most common fake goods are clothing, footwear, cigarettes, alcohol, CDs and DVDs. Experts say that while in the past most counterfeit goods were imported from East Asia, production in illegal factories in the Czech Republic is now on the increase.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Czech soldier in Kosovo most probably committed suicide
    07/31/2006

    A Czech soldier, who was found dead in Kosovo, most probably committed suicide. The 34-year-old military policeman was serving with the international KFOR mission. His body was discovered by a colleague at the Sajkovac military base on Sunday morning. So far, the Czech Army's investigation into the cause of his death suggests the soldier had shot himself.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • New directive affects prices of some 10,000 medicaments
    07/31/2006

    Pharmacists in the Czech Republic are busy re-labelling drugs as a new health ministry directive that changes the pricing system comes into effect on August 1. The new regulation affects some 10,000 products; of which 6,700 are partly covered by insurers. Under the directive, health insurers will have to cover a much smaller share of medicine prices. Health Minister David Rath hopes pharmaceutical companies will be forced to lower their prices. But, according to the Czech Chamber of Pharmacists, patients will be at a disadvantage as they will have to pay up to forty percent more for their medicine.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Record jackpot win shared
    07/31/2006

    The record jackpot in the Czech Republic's biggest lottery Sportka was won on Sunday. Two winners share in the jackpot of 127.1 million CZK (over 5.7 million USD).
    Author: Dita Asiedu

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