• Svoboda - funeral
    02/06/2007

    Hundreds of people packed Prague's Strasnice crematorium on Tuesday to pay their last respects to the successful Czech composer Karel Svoboda who died a week ago at 68 years of age. It is believed he committed suicide at his home on the outskirts of Prague. Karel Svoboda wrote the music for numerous hit songs, the scores for films, theatre productions, musicals and television serials.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • GPs to go on one-day strike
    02/06/2007

    General practitioners in the Zlin region will go on a one day strike on February 14th in protest at mounting problems in the health sector. The head of the Zlin Association of General Practitioners Lubomir Necas said that the reforms so-far undertaken were inconsistent and had done more harm than good. The quality of healthcare in the region is said to be at risk because doctors are allegedly receiving less money for treatment from insurance companies than last year, there is a lack of young GPs to replace aging doctors and restricted access to further education in the field.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Czech man gets eight and a half years in prison for child abuse
    02/06/2007

    The regional court in Ostrava has sentenced sixty-four year old Ladislav Kovalsky to eight and a half years in prison for sexually abusing his niece for close to seven years, making her pregnant and later abusing the fourteen-month old baby as well. His niece Aneta came from a broken home and her relatives would often put her in her uncle's care. The abuse started when she was twelve. Even at 18 the girl refused to say whose child she was carrying, giving Kovalsky the opportunity to abuse his own baby daughter as well. Police officers working on the case said it was one of the worst cases of sexual abuse they had ever come across.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Rosicky voted Czech footballer of the year
    02/06/2007

    Arsenal midfielder and captain of the Czech national team Tomas Rosicky has been voted Czech Footballer of the Year for the third time in his career. Goalkeeper Petr Cech who plays for Chelsea came second, followed by Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedved. The results were announced on Monday night at a ceremony in Prague.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Interior Minister orders checks of police officers' screening certificates
    02/05/2007

    Interior Minister Ivan Langer has charged police president Vladislav Husak with examining the validity of police officers' screening certificates. Minister Langer said the checks will concern some 1,000 people. Police officers are required to produce a screening certificate proving they did not collaborate with the communist secret police before 1989.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Press: Head of Czech branch of Interpol passed vetting using false name
    02/05/2007

    The Interior Minister's decision comes amid media reports that the head of the Czech branch of Interpol was a secret police agent before 1989. The daily Lidove noviny reported on Monday that he used a false name when acquiring security clearance. Interior Minister Ivan Langer confirmed to the paper that Pavol Mihal used the name Pavel Mihal when applying for the clearance. Last week Czech Television reported that Mr Mihal had begun collaborating with the communist secret police in 1984.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Decision on US radar base next spring, says defence minister
    02/05/2007

    A decision on whether to allow the United States to build a radar base in central Bohemia should be made in the spring of next year, Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova said. The minister said between now and then there would be debate in the Czech Republic on the issue, culminating in a vote in parliament. The radar base would be part of a planned US global missile defence system. If approved, it should go into operation in 2011 and house around 200 military and civilian personnel.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Social Democrats admit possible change of position on US radar base
    02/05/2007

    The chairman of the opposition Social Democrats, Jiri Paroubek, says his party's negative stance towards the planned US radar base in the Czech Republic may not be definitive. After meeting the US Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Richard Graber, on Monday, Mr Paroubek said his party's position may change should the upcoming negotiations produce new information or if the base became part of NATO's collective defence system.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Ukraine calls US missile plans a "threat"
    02/05/2007

    In related news, the Ukrainian deputy prime minister Mykola Azarov has said that plans by the United States to build an anti-missile defence system in neighbouring Poland and the Czech Republic pose a "threat" to Ukraine. He insisted that Kiev should react strongly to the situation, referring to the 1962 missile crisis between the US and Cuba. The US plans have also provoked protests from Russian officials.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • CR vows to increase share of bio-fuels, reduce greenhouse emissions
    02/05/2007

    The government has vowed to increase the share of bio-fuels in petrol and diesel consumption in transport to 10 percent by 2020 and by the same year reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 20 percent compared to the year 1990. Environment Minister Martin Bursik said the government will submit a new document on the country's energy policy to the European Commission next week.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

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