News

Czech singer Karel Gott has won the overall TyTy award for most popular TV personality, awarded yearly in the Czech Republic. The awards ceremony was televised in the Czech Republic on Saturday night. Mr Gott also triumphed in the best male singer category, while Lucie Bila won in the best female singer category. In other categories: Miroslav Donutil and Daniela Sinkorova were chosen as the country's most popular actors. The annual TyTy awards are voted on by TV viewers themselves.

According to the Czech daily Mlada Fronta Dnes, Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek is going to present a proposal to the government introducing a flat income tax rate of 15 percent as part of planned reforms. He is expected to put forward the proposal in two weeks time. The rate is lower than was previously expected. Currently the amount of income tax one pays in the Czech Republic depends on one's overall yearly earnings and those are rated along a four-point scale. Mlada Fronta Dnes points out that the new rate, if approved, will most benefit those earning incomes upwards of 35,000 crowns per month. At the same time, the finance ministry has said that under the proposal it will raise tax allowances. If the government backs the plan and it finds backing in the Lower House of Parliament, the changes could come into effect in 2008.

In related news, the village of Trokavec near Brdy, central Bohemia (the region slated for the possible US radar base) has held a local referendum on the issue. The village of one hundred inhabitants began voting on Saturday morning, with 90 percent having cast their ballot by two in the afternoon. All indications are that most residents voted "against". In the referendum locals were asked to vote either "for" or "against" town representatives trying to block the US proposal. Neighbouring villages in the area are also expected to hold their own referenda on the issue in the coming weeks.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and his Slovak counterpart Jan Kubis agreed in Prague on Friday to jointly continue efforts to obtain visa-free admission for Czech and Slovak citizens visiting the United States. The US still has to take several steps towards changing its visa regime that could result in the lifting of entry visas for Czechs and Slovaks, Mr Schwarzenberg said. Earlier this week, US senators approved the proposal; now the legislation will be debated in the House of Representatives.