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The DPA news agency has reported that Czech-born film director Dana Vávrová - best known for her performance as a child actor in the children’s film Ať žijí duchové – has died in Germany at the age of 41. During her career Mrs Vávrová also directed numerous projects in Germany as well as the more recent children’s film Hurá na Medvěda (Bear on the Run). Mrs Vávrová had been suffering from cancer.

The Council of Europe’s anti-torture committee on Thursday demanded an immediate end to surgical castration for sex offenders in the Czech Republic. In a report following two fact-finding missions to Czech psychiatric hospitals and prisons, the committee said the practice amounted to “degrading treatment” and that it was questionable whether the patient’s consent was always truly free and informed. The use of surgical castration for sex offenders has stirred ethical debate around the world, with Britain, France and Poland favouring chemical methods of treatment for convicted sex offenders. In the past eight years around 300 Czech patients have undergone chemical castration, with around 50 undergoing surgery. In response to the criticism the Czech minister for human rights and minorities, Michael Kocáb, said he would push for chemical castration to be used exclusively, though only if it was proven to be as effective as surgical castration.

Hosting talks between the EU and Ukraine on Thursday, the Czech foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, warned Kiev it would need to work hard to regain the trust it lost during the recent gas crisis. Minister Schwarzenberg urged Ukraine to push ahead with political, economic and judiciary reforms and stabilize its internal policy. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko maintained that his country was not to blame for the gas crisis since it had been Russia who halted gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine. He said his country was aiming for fully-fledged EU membership and would strive for visa-free relations with all EU member states.

Senators for the ruling Civic Democratic Party are working on a new complaint to be lodged against the Lisbon treaty with the Czech Constitutional Court, the daily Lidové noviny reported on Thursday, citing one of the senators. Senator Petr Pakosta said he was working on the complaint with nine other colleagues but expected another 10 to 20 senators to support the initiative in due time. At least 17 members of the 81-seat Senate would have to sign such a complaint for it to be lodged. Last year the Civic Democrat dominated Senate had several articles of the treaty assessed by the Constitutional Court, which later ruled that they were not at variance with the Czech constitution.

Although it now presides over the EU, the Czech Republic is the only EU member state not to have voted on the EU reform treaty. On Wednesday the Civic Democrats and the Communists joined forces to postpone a ratification vote in the lower house yet again, at least until February 17th.