• Former head of Bar Association likely to be appointed justice minister
    08/27/2003

    It appears that the former head of the Czech Bar Association, Karel Cermak, will be appointed as justice minister. Mr Cermak confirmed on Wednesday that Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla had asked him to take the post and said he would be willing to accept. It is expected that the prime minister will announce his choice to succeed Pavel Rychetsky on Friday. Mr Spidla has had a great deal of trouble finding a replacement for Mr Rychetsky, who stepped down last month; the prime minister is currently himself acting as caretaker justice minister.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Police arrest animal rights campaigners over border blockade
    08/27/2003

    Police have arrested animal rights activists who blocked the Chotebuz crossing on the Czech-Polish border in north Moravia in protest at a truck carrying live horses. Around two dozen activists demanded on Wednesday that vets inspect the animals, which they said were not being transported humanely. A spokesperson for the animal rights campaigners said they would continue their protests in the future.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • British want Czech military police to stay in Basra, Iraq next year
    08/27/2003

    The commander of the British-led international division in the southern Iraqi city of Basra has requested that Czech military police in the city remain there next year, the Czech defence minister, Miroslav Kostelka, said on Wednesday. Mr Kostelka said it was likely his ministry would ask the cabinet to extend the police's stay in Basra as requested. There are currently 79 Czech military police officers in Iraq. A spokesman for the Defence Ministry said the Czechs were not viewed as negatively by Iraqis as their American and British counterparts.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Sudeten Germans angered by statements by German foreign minister in Prague
    08/27/2003

    The Sudeten German Landsmannschaft has strongly criticised statements made by the German foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, on a visit to Prague on Tuesday. Mr Fischer praised recent conciliatory statements about the post-war expulsion of Czechoslovakia's German minority by Czech President Vaclav Klaus and the prime minister, Vladimir Spidla. The leader of the Landsmannschaft, Bernd Posselt, said on Wednesday that Mr Fischer's comments distorted historical truth and undermined Czechs who were trying to honestly come to terms with their country's past.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Price of natural gas to fall in October
    08/27/2003

    The price of natural gas is to go down from October, the Czech Energy Regulation Office announced on Wednesday. Gas will be 3.1 percent cheaper for households and an average of 3.6 percent cheaper for other customers. The cuts are a result of the favourable exchange rate of the Czech crown to the US dollar, which makes importing natural gas cheaper.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Woman charged with robbing, killing men she picked up in restaurants
    08/27/2003

    Police have arrested a woman suspected of murdering two men. The woman, who is 38 and comes from north Bohemia, was arrested on Friday in the town of Decin. Police say she robbed and killed two men in Prague in May and August and met both of her victims in restaurants in the city. A police spokesperson said on Wednesday that they had never come across such a case before. The woman was previously convicted for murder in 1983.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Sparta Prague through to lucrative Champions League football competition
    08/27/2003

    Sparta Prague football club have succeeded in qualifying for the biggest event in club football, the Champions League. Sparta reached the prestigious and lucrative competition after drawing 2:2 with Macedonian club Vardar Skopje on Tuesday; that result was enough to put them through after a 3:2 win in the first leg.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Dispute between president and Senate over court appointments continues
    08/24/2003

    The dispute between President Vaclav Klaus and the Senate over filling vacant posts on the Constitutional Court has continued, with the head of the president's press office saying the court might never be complete. Spokesman Petr Hajek made the statement on Saturday in reaction to an alleged comment by Senator Edvard Outrata that none of Mr Klaus's candidates would have a chance of being accepted if he did not discuss them with the Senate first. The Senate has so far only approved five of nine candidates put forward by the president, leading Mr Klaus to describe its behaviour as "scandalous". Eight of the Constitutional Court's 15 judges retired in July.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • President Klaus signs civil service law
    08/20/2003

    President Vaclav Klaus has signed a number of new laws, including the much debated civil service law. The legislation defines the rights and responsibilities of roughly 80,000 state employees, who will have to swear an oath of loyalty to the state and will have to forego other sources of income. On the other hand civil servants will have the right to five weeks of paid holidays and will receive five months' severance pay.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • President Klaus feeling much better
    08/19/2003

    President Vaclav Klaus, who was hospitalized with health problems last week, is said to be feeling well and is recuperating at Lany Chateau. The President was released from hospital last Friday after doctors said they had not found anything seriously wrong. Mr. Klaus was taken ill after playing a tennis match in the heat and doctors believe that dehydration may have been the cause of the problem.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

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