• Fewer bankruptcies noted in 2005 than in the previous eight years
    01/02/2006

    About 1200 companies went bankrupt in the year 2005 - the lowest rate in eight years, according to the Chamber of Specialists for Crisis Management and Insolvency. The business daily Hospodarske noviny said the lower bankruptcy rate was evidence of a healthy economy.
    Author: Brian Kenety

  • Winston Churchill wanted to 'flatten' German villages in retaliation for Lidice massacre
    01/02/2006

    Winston Churchill wanted the British Royal Air Force to wipe out German villages in retaliation for the 1942 massacre of Czech civilians in the village of Lidice, The Guardian newspaper reported on Monday. Newly declassified wartime cabinet documents show Churchill wanted to attack small German villages "on a three-for-one basis." The plan, voted down by his Cabinet, was formed five days after German forces murdered most of the 450 occupants of Lidice, a village north of Prague. The Lidice massacre came in retaliation for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
    Author: Brian Kenety

  • Czech supermodel Eva Herzegova of Wonderbra fame is to direct a film - about herself
    01/02/2006

    The Czech supermodel Eva Herzigova, who became a household name as a Wonderbra model, will make her directing debut in a new movie about her life. She told the Los Angeles Daily News the film would be a frank portrayal of her tough upbringing, wild life as a model, and brief marriage to the drummer of the rock band Bon Jovi.
    Author: Brian Kenety

  • President's New Year address to the nation
    01/01/2006

    President Vaclav Klaus has urged Czechs to show initiative and personal responsibility in shaping their own future and that of the Czech Republic. In his New Years address to the nation Mr. Klaus said that all round it had been a good year and that he was proud that the country had managed to successfully overcome a government crisis. 2006 should not bring any major upheavals or about turns, since the country had inner stability, a state further enhanced by the country's membership in the EU and NATO, Mr. Klaus said. On the European front, the Czech president said he was glad to see that a real debate on the future of the EU was finally being allowed to develop. Speaking of the 2006 general elections in the Czech Republic, the president urged politicians to refrain from making empty promises and he urged Czechs to go to the polls because the future of the country depended on each and every one of them.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Over 50 cases of unlawful sterilisation, says Ombudsman
    12/30/2005

    The Ombudsman's office has uncovered over 50 cases of unlawful sterilisation of women. In an interview for Czech Television, Ombudsman Otakar Motejl said his office had been looking into the cases for over a year. Mr Motejl said Health Ministry documentation on the sterilisations did not contain written requests, or evidence that the women had been fully informed about the procedure. He said the cases, which mostly involve Romany women did not reflect racial discrimination.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • North Moravia hit hard by snow, freezing temperatures
    12/30/2005

    North Moravia was the region hardest hit by heavy snowfalls and freezing temperatures on Friday; the Karvina area declared a state of disaster and Ostrava's Mosnov airport was forced to close. Many parts of the Czech Republic have experienced major problems on the roads and power blackouts in recent days. Forecasters have warned of ice and frost over the holiday weekend.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Communist Youth have until end of March to drop revolution call or face ban
    12/30/2005

    The Interior Ministry has given the Union of Communist Youth until the end of March to change its policy programme. If they do not drop a call for a worker's revolution the group face a ban, on the grounds that they are registered as a civic association not a political party. The young Communists say they have no intention of changing their policies.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Army having trouble recruiting specialists
    12/30/2005

    The Czech Army is having trouble recruiting doctors and other health workers, and people able to operate specialist equipment, Pravo reported on Friday. The paper says relatively low salaries in the Army made recruitment more difficult, while an Army spokesperson said such skills were in short supply across the labour market.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Health insurers to stop paying for contraceptive pills, spectacle frames
    12/30/2005

    The country's health insurers are to stop paying for such things as contraceptive pills and frames for glasses from the beginning of January. Subsidies for visits to swimming pools and saunas will also come to an end, Mlada fronta Dnes reported.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Janda comes third in first event of Four Hills ski jumping tournament
    12/30/2005

    Czech ski jumper Jakub Janda came third in the first event of the Four Hills tournament in Oberstorf, Germany. Janda came fifth in last year's Four Hills but this season has been dominating the sport of ski jumping. He will have a chance to catch up with leader Janne Ahonen of Finland at the German resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen on day two, New Year's Day.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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