• Paris conference could help improve Czech understanding of global warming, says delegate
    02/03/2007

    One of the Czech delegates at a major conference on global warming says it could prove important in educating the Czech public on the issue. Speaking after an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meeting in Paris, former environment minister Bedrich Moltan said its conclusions could lead to a serious revision of the naïve and uneducated views of those who deny man's responsibility for global warming.

    On Friday the spokesman of President Vaclav Klaus, Petr Hajek, described those who believe human civilisation is responsible for global warming as naïve. Mr Klaus has also questioned whether people are responsible for climate change.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Environment minister considering tax on carbon dioxide emissions
    02/03/2007

    The environment minister, Martin Bursik, is planning to put forward a tax on carbon dioxide emissions. Mr Bursik said the tax, a measure against global warming, could be introduced in 2010. The Green Party boss also said he intended to use European Union environmental funds to replace coal-fuelled boilers in Czech households with cleaner alternatives.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Police close street after man threatens to blow up bar
    02/03/2007

    A Slovak man was arrested after holding two women hostage in a Prague centre bar and threatening to kill them, police said. At 6 am on Saturday the man phoned the emergency services from the bar saying he would blow it up. Police closed off the street before managing to arrest the man after one of the women escaped. A search revealed he did not have any explosives.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Former prime minister says he received bomb threats ahead of January vote
    02/03/2007

    Former prime minister Jiri Paroubek said he received death threats ahead of a vote of confidence in the new Czech government. The Social Democrat leader told the daily Blesk he had received an anonymous warning his flat would be bombed last month.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Christian Democrat leader's alleged misdemeanors target of new billboards
    02/03/2007

    The leader of the Christian Democrats, Jiri Cunek, is ridiculed in new billboards drawing attention to his alleged misdemeanors. The ads feature his photograph and the words "I haven't taken bribes (and I like Gypsies)". Mr Cunek rose to prominence after expelling Romany rent defaulters from a town where he was mayor. He is also under investigation for allegedly taking a bribe from a building company. In the last couple of years several billboards have appeared poking fun at the county's political leaders.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Young Czech speed skater Sablikova tops World Cup podium for first time
    02/03/2007

    The Czech speed skater Martina Sablikova has come first in a World Cup race for the first time in her career. The 19-year-old finished ahead of the pack with a time of 4:03.88 in the three km at the Olympic oval in the Italian city of Turin.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Social Democrats to vote no to US radar base
    02/02/2007

    The opposition Social Democrats say they will vote against the building of a United States radar base in the Czech Republic. Party leader Jiri Paroubek said they will also demand a referendum on the issue. The US recently asked the Czech government if it could locate the radar - part of a planned global missile defence system - in central Bohemia. So far only the biggest party in the governing coalition, the Civic Democrats, have said they will support the plan.

    On Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would come up with a "highly effective" response to Washington's plan to build parts of its anti-missile system in the Czech Republic and Poland. Mr Putin dismissed claims the system would defend Europe from Iran, saying it would directly affect his country.

    Czech MEP Libor Roucek and other members of the Socialist bloc at the European Parliament on Thursday sent a letter to the Council of the European Union asking it to express its position on the matter.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Prime minister apologises for making rude gesture in Chamber of Deputies
    02/02/2007

    Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has apologised for raising his middle finger to opposition deputies in the lower housethe website Novinky reported. Mr Topolanek made the rude gesture after the opposition benches demanded the presence of the cabinet in the Chamber of Deputies. The prime minister first said he had raised his finger at Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek, with the latter also claiming it had been directed at him. But Mr Topolanek later admitted it had been aimed at Social Democrat and Communist rivals. He said he deeply regretted the gesture.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Rebel Social Democrats MPs cross floor
    02/02/2007

    Two rebel Social Democrat MPs who allowed a centre-right government to pass a vote of confidence have crossed the chamber and are now sitting with coalition deputies. Milos Melcak and Vladimir Pohanka recently moved out of offices they had been sharing with Social Democrat colleagues.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Police officer confesses to taking photo of dead composer
    02/02/2007

    A police officer has confessed to taking a photograph of the dead body of composer Karel Svoboda. After Mr Svoboda committed suicide last Sunday a photo appeared in the tabloid Blesk showing the dead man's hand and a pistol. The officer, who is 22 and has been in the police for two years, was a member of the first team to arrive on the scene. Police investigators have recommended that he face charges of abuse of office.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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