• Prison Service archives to be made completely public
    02/16/2007

    Czech Prison Service archives will be made completely public at the start of next year, the head of the service Ludek Kula has said. The documents are said to include information on collaboration between prisoners and wardens and the StB, the communist-era secret police. The move is in line with the Interior Ministry's "Open Past" project, aiming to make previously unreleased StB files accessible to the public.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Menzel film awarded critics' prize in Berlin
    02/16/2007

    Film director Jiri Menzel has been awarded the Association of International Film Critics prize at the Belinale film festival for his film adaptation of Bohumil Hrabal's I Served the King of England. The prize will be awarded to the director on Friday evening during a gala ceremony.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Rosicky, fellow Arsenal team-mates, given audience with Queen Elizabeth II
    02/16/2007

    Star Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky, along with fellow Arsenal footballers had the honour of meeting with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on Thursday. The queen reportedly meets only rarely with sports figures. Tomas Rosicky described the event - which lasted about half an hour and included tea with the famous monarch - as "a most pleasant experience".
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Terror alert at airport after "psychic" warns of planned attack
    02/15/2007

    Anti-terrorism measures at Prague's Ruzyne airport will remain in place until at least Sunday, after a woman claiming to be a psychic said an aircraft was going to be attacked. However there has been a reduction in the number of uniformed and plain-clothes officers on duty compared to Wednesday evening, when the police received the warning. A spokesperson said police were focusing their attention on flights to destinations regarded as relatively risky.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • New plane sent to Japan to ferry Czech president
    02/15/2007

    The Czech army has sent a replacement plane to Japan to carry the Czech president, Vaclav Klaus. On Thursday the president was forced to cut short a visit to Hiroshima due to problems with his official jet, which had a battery fault. But Mr Klaus did get to visit a memorial to victims of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The president is on a four-day official visit to Japan with Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and a delegation of Czech businessmen.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • 1960s drug test killed jailed political leader, says daily
    02/15/2007

    A Social Democrat politician died after being given hallucinogenic drugs while in prison in the 1960s, Pravo reported. It quoted an StB secret police file made public by the Czech foreign intelligence service. It said Bohumil Lausman had developed a weak heart after over a decade in jail, and failed to withstand the StB's drug experiment. Lausman had escaped to Austria but was kidnapped in 1953 and brought back to Czechoslovakia, where he received a 17-year prison term.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Tlusty turns down chance to be next Czech Euro commissioner
    02/15/2007

    A former finance minister, Vlastimil Tlusty, turned down the opportunity to become the Czech Republic's next European commissioner. He told the daily Pravo he had been offered the post by Prime Minister and Civic Democrats chief Mirek Topolanek. But Mr Tlusty said he would not accept any post that would entail giving up his seat in the lower house. Mr Topolanek left Mr Tlusty out of his cabinet despite the latter's long experience as shadow finance minister. The mandate of the current Czech Euro commissioner, Vladimir Spidla, expires in 2009.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Civic Democrats remain in lead in polls
    02/15/2007

    The governing Civic Democrats remain the most popular party in the Czech Republic, suggests a poll released by the STEM agency. The poll, conducted in February, indicated just over 31% of Czechs would vote for the party. The Social Democrats were second in the survey with 23%, followed by another opposition party the Communists on 12.7%.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Austrian leader set to discuss Temelin power station in Prague soon
    02/15/2007

    The Austrian chancellor, Alfred Gusenbauer, is expected to discuss the Temelin nuclear power station in south Bohemia when he visits Prague in just under two weeks' time. While Mr Gusenbauer's office has not revealed particular details of his visit, the Czech foreign minister recently said a senior Austrian figure would discuss the power plant with Czech leaders soon. Opponents of Temelin say it is unsafe.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Number of counterfeit banknotes down last year but value higher
    02/15/2007

    The number of counterfeit banknotes detected in the Czech Republic fell last year. Some 7,800 fake notes were discovered, down almost 1,500 on 2005. However, the total value of counterfeit money found in 2006 was up compared to the previous year, said the Czech National Bank. A spokesperson said there was one counterfeit note to every 200,000 real notes in circulation in the Czech Republic; the European Union average is one fake note to 20,000 genuine ones.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

Pages