• More local organisations back Topolánek ahead of leadership battle
    11/11/2008

    Local organisations of the Civic Democrats in Ostrava and Jičínsko have become the latest to give their backing to chairman Mirek Topolánek ahead of a leadership vote at the start of next month. In terms of pledged support from party branches, Mr Topolánek is ahead of the only other candidate to date, Prague mayor Pavel Bém, who enjoys considerable support in the capital.

    Prime Minister Topolánek is in favour of the current government with the Christian Democrats and the Greens seeing out its full term. Mr Bém has been critical of the coalition, and there has been speculation he would try to enter some form of power-sharing deal with the opposition Social Democrats.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Social Democrats leader Paroubek does not rule out becoming chair of lower house
    11/11/2008

    After initially rejecting the idea, opposition leader Jiří Paroubek now says he does not rule out becoming the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes reported. At the weekend, Prime Minster Mirek Topolánek floated the idea of the leader of the Social Democrats chairing the lower house, in order to ensure the smoother running of the Czech Republic’s first presidency of the EU, from January to July next year. The current chairman is another Social Democrat, MP Miloslav Vlček.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Paintings by Zrzavý and Špála stolen in armed raid in museum
    11/11/2008

    Paintings by two renowned Czech 20th century artists were taken in an armed robbery at a museum in east Bohemia on Tuesday morning. Works by Jan Zrzavý and Václav Špála were stolen from the museum in Nový Bydžov near Hradec Kralové, after an armed man tied up a 68-year-old member of staff. The total value of the items taken, which also included rare books, jewels and coins, was around CZK 4 million.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Chamber approves doubling of guarantees on bank deposits
    11/11/2008

    The Chamber of Deputies has approved a government-sponsored amendment to the banking law doubling guarantees on deposits in Czech banks to EUR 50,000 (around CZK 1.25 m). All 171 MPs present in the lower house on Tuesday voted for the amendment, which was proposed in response to the international banking and credit crisis.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech mint producing more 2,000-crown-notes due to increased demand for cash
    11/11/2008

    The Czech mint has been producing two-thousand-crown notes instead of the planned two-hundred-crown notes in recent weeks due to an increased demand for cash, Mladá fronta Dnes reported. The amount of cash in circulation increased by around 45 billion crowns in the first half of October – normally it would increase by a couple of billion in that period. The rise in demand for cash followed the global financial crisis, the newspaper said.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Head of IAEA praises Czech nuclear safety standards
    11/11/2008

    The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed El-Baradei, has praised Czech safety standards. On a visit to Prague on Tuesday, he said he was very satisfied with Czech nuclear safety standards, which he said were very good. The Czech Republic has two nuclear power stations, Dukovany and Temelín.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Národní třída metro station closing for shorter period than originally envisaged
    11/11/2008

    Národní třída metro station in Prague will be closed for 10 months during the construction of a new building, rather than the originally expected 12 to 16 months, Prague city councilor Radoslav Šteiner said on Tuesday. The station’s vestibule, which is currently at street level, will be underground when construction work is completed on the Copa centre being built on the site on Spálená St. The centre will feature shops, offices, flats and a car-park and will be linked to the Tesco building which is adjacent to the current Národní třída metro station. Several thousand people signed a petition against the closing of the station.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Baník go second in league after victory over Mladá Boleslav
    11/11/2008

    Baník Ostrava are now second in the Czech football league after beating Mladá Boleslav 2:0 away in the last game of the 13th round on Monday evening. That result leaves Baník four points behind leaders Slavia Prague and one in front of Mladá Boleslav, who are in third. There are three rounds of the league left before the winter break.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Špotáková not in running for World Athlete of Year
    11/11/2008

    The Czech Olympic javelin champion Barbora Špotáková is not in the running for a prize at the World Athlete of the Year awards later this month, having failed to make the top three in the nominations. Špotáková placed seventh in the women’s category. As well as taking gold in Beijing, she set a new women’s world record in the javelin this year.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • President Klaus protests to Austrian counterpart about film portraying accident at Czech nuclear plant
    11/10/2008

    The Czech president, Václav Klaus, has protested to his Austrian counterpart about a film broadcast on Austrian TV simulating an accident at a Czech nuclear power plant. In a phone call to Heinz Fischer on Friday, Mr Klaus described the fake documentary broadcast on Austrian public television as most unfortunate, the Czech news website novinky.cz reported. The 90-minute film, entitled The First Day, was shown on ORF on Thursday as part of an evening marking the 30th anniversary of a referendum in which the Austrians rejected nuclear power. While its makers flagged it as a fictional film about an accident near Austria’s borders, it mentions the Czech power station Dukovany by name. The Czech Republic is portrayed as a country incapable of relaying information correctly and promptly to its neighbours, novinky.cz reported.
    Author: Dominik Jůn

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