• President Klaus vetoes bill on compulsory purchase of property
    04/12/2006

    President Klaus has vetoed a bill on the compulsory purchase of property on the grounds that in its present form it could be abused. The bill would enable the authorities to issue a compulsory purchase order in the public interest. Mr. Klaus said that the bill was vague in specifying what public interest entailed and that in his view it was in violation of the Constitution.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Doctors planning more protest actions
    04/12/2006

    Doctors are planning more protest actions against Health Minister David Rath. The minister's radical reforms have met with opposition from a considerable number of doctors, dentists and medical staff who claim that they are undermining the quality of medical care. Rath's opponents say he has failed to consult any of the planned reforms with specialists in the field. A week of protests is being planned for mid-May although it is not yet clear what form they will take.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • High court upholds eight year sentence for Srba
    04/12/2006

    The High Court in Prague has upheld an eight year prison sentence for Karel Srba, a former foreign ministry official, who was found guilty of plotting to murder a journalist. The case was reviewed on the grounds of an appeal from the state attorney who considered the verdict too soft. Srba's collaborators received six year sentences. Srba ordered the murder of journalist Sabina Slonkova in order to prevent her publishing the details of a bribery scandal in which himself was involved.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Country should hold referendum on Olympic bid, says mayor
    04/12/2006

    The mayor of Prague, Pavel Bem, says Czechs should vote in a referendum on whether to apply to hold the Olympic Games in the Czech capital. Prague has signalled its intentions to bid to host the Olympics in either 2016 or, more realistically, in 2020. However, there has been some opposition to the proposal, with critics saying the city could not cope with such a huge international event.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • European Democrats stage protest
    04/12/2006

    The European Democrats, one of the smaller parties running in the June general elections staged a demonstration outside the government's headquarters on Wednesday in protest of alleged political discrimination. The party's leader Jan Kasl slammed the Finance Ministry's decision not to pay the party a 12 million crown subsidy which it had a right to on the basis of its results in the municipal elections. Kasl said that withholding the money two months before the elections amounted to political discrimination.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Pavel Horak may be next head of VZP
    04/12/2006

    The government on Wednesday approved the nomination of Pavel Horak to the post of general director of the country's largest state-owned health insurance company VZP. His appointment has yet to be approved by Parliament. Horak is currently director of the General Teaching Hospital in Prague. VZP has had a temporary director since its former head Jirina Musilkova was sacked for alleged poor management.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • New high speed train network to be in place by 2020
    04/12/2006

    A new network of high speed trains should be in place in the Czech Republic by the year 2020, Hospodarske noviny reported on Wednesday. Under a plan due to be approved by the government, the purchase of land for the creation of new rail corridors should begin next year. Currently the country has just one high speed train, the Pendolino, which has been running between Prague and Ostrava since December.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Celtic interested in signing rising Czech football star
    04/12/2006

    The famous football club Glasgow Celtic are interested in signing Michal Kadlec from Sparta Prague, according to press reports. The left back, whose father Miroslav Kadlec captained the Czech national team, said it would be hard to refuse such an offer. The 21-year-old has been a regular at Sparta since breaking into the team last season.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Czech league cancels FC Brno games after bug hits 17 players
    04/12/2006

    Czech football authorities have called off two matches involving first division FC Brno after 17 players came down with a flu like infection and have been quarantined for five days. FC Brno, currently just above the relegation zone, were due to host the team below them, FK Chmel Blsany, on Wednesday night. The away game to Slavia Prague on Saturday has also been postponed.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • NGO plans court action over use of caged beds in Czech institutions
    04/11/2006

    A Budapest-based NGO is planning a court challenge to the use of caged beds in mental hospitals and other institutions in the Czech Republic, the internet news site Aktualne.cz reported. A spokesperson for the Mental Disability Advocacy Centre said it was looking into specific cases to be used as the basis for legal action against the Czech state. Aktualne says hundreds of patients are restrained in caged beds in the Czech Republic.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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