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04/15/2007
Most Czechs agree that the country needs fiscal reform but oppose the government's proposed plan, an opinion poll commissioned by Czech TV suggests. In the poll, conducted by the STEM agency, only 24 percent of respondents support the tax reforms and believe that the new plan hinders people from abusing sick leave benefits. The poll also indicates that less than one fifth of the population think that it would benefit from the reform package.
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04/15/2007
Cabinet, at its session on Wednesday, is expected to discuss an amendment to the road traffic law that lowers a number of penalties, criticised as exaggerated. Under current law, for example, drivers and even cyclists who cause an accident and injure themselves only are penalised. The amendment proposes to do away with the penalty. Under the current law, drivers who park in a spot for people with disabilities are fined and lose their license. The amendment proposes to punish the drivers with a fine only.
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04/15/2007
Eighteen year old Katerina Sokolova has been crowned Miss Czech Republic 2007. The brunette secondary school student from the town of Pruhonice near Prague also won the Miss Silhouette title on Saturday. One of her priorities, she says, will be charity work with the aim at improving care for the elderly. Sokolova also hopes to be able to finish school. Twenty-one year-old Veronica Pompeova from the Bohemian town of Jesenice is first runner-up and Miss Elegance, while 20 year-old Veronika Chmelirova from Znojmo, South Moravia, is second runner-up and also Miss Congeniality.
The beauty and talent show's rival, Czech Miss, was held two months ago and was won by 19 year-old Lucie Hadasova from the town of Straznice.
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04/15/2007
On a related note, the crown of Miss Czech Republic 2007 has been auctioned off for one million Czech crowns. Slovenian national Loris Pozar bought the crown as well as that of Miss Congeniality for a total of 1.2 million. But it will not be another two months before Mr Pozar will have the crowns delivered because they are still being made. The original crowns were stolen before the show; the crowns worn by the contestants on Saturday were borrowed from last year's winners. The proceeds from the auction will go to a children's home.
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04/14/2007
The Czechoslovak Hussite church has suspended its bishop for Prague Karel Bican pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings against him in the wake of a sex scandal. The fifty-five-year-old bishop who is married had been caught on tape demanding sex from a former male convict whom he had helped upon his release from prison. The scandal erupted last autumn when extracts of the tape were published by a Czech magazine. Mr Bican had initially denied the veracity of the tape, but then confessed when church authorities said they wanted to subject it to voice analysis. The Protestant Hussite Church was established after Czechoslovakia became an independent state in 1918. With over 100,000 members, it is the third largest church in the Czech Republic.
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04/14/2007
Germany and the Czech Republic have clashed over US visa policies, Mlada fronta Dnes reports. The paper wrote on Saturday that Germany's ambassador to the United States Klaus Scharioth wrote to US congressmen asking them to consider discussing a proposed US visa waiver programme within a United States-European Union framework and not with individual EU countries. The daily claims that in the same letter, Mr Scharioth also protested against planned tougher security measures, which many western European Union countries whose citizens currently don't need visas to the US would also have to adapt to. The German ambassador, whose country currently holds the presidency of the European Union, said his stance reflected the EU's position on the issue of US visas. The Czech Ambassador to the US Petr Kolar said that he had expressed his "frustration" to Mr Scharioth over the letter's contents. The Czech government had previously indicated it was hopeful that visas for its citizens travelling to the US will be waived in the near future.
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04/14/2007
Czech anti-drug police have arrested an Israeli citizen in Prague whom they say is suspected on organising supplies of ecstasy to North America, Spain and Australia, the Nova television reported on Saturday. According to TV Nova, police arrested the 27-year-old man in a flat in Prague 2 and also seized a kilo of cocaine, hashish and an undetermined amount of cash. The station says an arrest warrant has been issued for the man by the US Drug Enforcement Agency and describes him as one of the most dangerous drug bosses in the world. The man has been taken into custody and may be extradited to the United States, where he faces up to 90 years in prison.
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04/14/2007
Prague's mayor Pavel Bem, who has taken two months' leave to climb Mount Everest, was stopped by Chinese border police upon trying to enter Tibet this week. It is not known why the mayor and his climbing team were not allowed across the Chinese border. The Tyden.cz server, which reported the news, said it had interviewed a Dutch member of another climbing group who witnessed the incident and said it was obvious to him that the Civic Democratic mayor and his companions were "obviously on some kind of blacklist". Mr Bem is now expected to try and reach Everest via Nepal.
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04/14/2007
The Green Party has reiterated its demand for deputy prime minister and regional development minister Jiri Cunek to leave government. Party leader Martin Bursik said on Saturday that if Mr Cunek will not leave government of his own accord or if he was not dismissed by his own Christian Democratic Party, then Prime Minister Jiri Topolanek should dismiss the minister himself. Mr Bursik also said that he had asked the prime minister to call a meeting of the coalition parties to discuss the issue, but that he was not going to give Mr Topolanek an ultimatum that his party would leave government if Mr Cunek remained. The Green Party have also demanded that Mr Cunek refrain from commenting on Roma matters or interfering with the work of minister without portfolio Dzamil Stehlikova, who also has responsibility for minorities. Mr Cunek has been under pressure to resign from government since being charged with taking a bribe as mayor of the town of Vsetin five years ago. He has also been heavily criticised for making offensive remarks about Romanies
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04/14/2007
The Czech minister without portfolio Dzamila Stehlikova plans to introduce special identity cards for pregnant women, which would give them priority in queues and on public transport. Saturday's edition of Mlada fronta Dnes reports that the minister wants to begin a trial run with the cards in a Czech city by the start of next year. Some critics have dismissed the proposal as a "populist" move.
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