News

As of January 1, drivers registering used cars will pay an environmental fee of up to 10,000 crowns. The new fee will concern some 2.5 million cars, which is more than half of all passenger cars in the Czech Republic. More than a third of all cars in the country, nearly 1.5 million vehicles, are older than 15 years and therefore they don’t meet any of the Euro emission standards. Owners of these cars will have to pay a fee of 10,000 crowns at the next registration after January 1, an amount that often exceeds the price of the vehicle itself. The registration authorities have been bursting at the seams before the end of the year, with people trying to sell their cars or cancel their registration at the last moment.

The Tour de Ski sprint competition at Prague’s Výstaviště was won by Norway’s Tor Arne Hetland and Italy’s Arianna Follis. Czech skier Lukáš Bauer has not qualified for the finals. The reigning Tour de Ski champion finished in 48th place. The best Czech Aleš Razým finished 13th. Following Monday’s sprint in Prague, the Tour de Ski competition moves to another Czech venue Nové Město na Moravě on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, before coming to a close in the Italian resort of Val de Fiemme next weekend.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has supported Israel’s right to self-defence against rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Sunday, Mr Schwarzenberg said that firing rockets on civilian settlements was unacceptable and that it disqualified the Palestinian organization Hamas as a partner for any political dialogue. The Czech foreign minister expressed regrets over the poor living conditions in the Gaza Strip which make young people join radical organizations. Mr Schwerzenberg also said that the situation may only be improved if both sides restore cease-fire.

The Czech Education Ministry will introduce cyber-bullying as a punishable offence in Czech schools. A new regulation, which will come into force in January 2009, will allow headmasters to punish pupils who record teachers or classmates on mobile phones. Cyber-bullying will also include attacks via e-mail or posting offensive personal materials on the internet. Experts say that the number of such incidents in the Czech Republic has been on the rise. Last year, a pupil in Ostrava recorded a classmate beating three other school children; other students recorded their friends bullying a teacher in the classroom, and posted the footage on the web.