News

Rudolf Slansky, a former diplomat and dissident, has died at the age of 71. He was expelled from the Communist Party following the Soviet-led invasion of 1968 and later signed the Charter 77 protest document. From 1990 to 1996 he was Czechoslovak and then Czech ambassador to Moscow, where he had spent the war years as a boy. His father, also Rudolf Slansky, was executed in the 1950s after Czechoslovakia's most notorious show trial.

The leading Czech men's tennis player Radek Stepanek has reached 12th in the ATP world rankings, the highest position of his career. Stepanek won his first ATP title in Rotterdam in February, after previously losing three finals.

The first secretary of the Czech Embassy in Havana, Stanislav Kazecky, has been given three days to leave Cuba after local authorities refused to renew his visa, accusing him of subversive actions and working for the United States. The Czech Foreign Ministry has called on Cuba's charge d'affaires in Prague to explain the decision, which it regards as tantamount to expulsion. It said the move was clearly in response to the Czech Republic's policy of criticizing human rights abuses in Cuba and supporting the island state's opposition. Reuters reported that Mr Kazecky had close contacts with dissidents in Cuba.

A Czech Foreign Ministry spokesperson said it would respond in kind by not renewing the visa of a Cuban diplomat in Prague next week. Tensions have been high between the two countries for some years.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus today signed a bill to facilitate bankruptcy proceedings, strengthen creditors and provide aid to companies in financial trouble. It should prevent commercial bankruptcies from leading to automatic liquidation, which could save jobs. The law has also introduced personal bankruptcies for individuals and allows insolvent people to clear debts without the necessity of property seizure. The authors of the bill say it is intended to alter how the country's previously inadequate bankruptcy laws are viewed in Europe.