News

Police in Pilsen, west Bohemia, have arrested five men, in their early to late twenties, suspected of robbing homes in pensioner apartment blocs. The five are believed to have incurred damages of up to 8 million crowns, the equivalent of around 370,000 US dollars, stealing cash, bank cards, jewellery, and electronic items. Together, the suspects are thought to have hit more than one hundred apartments at facilities providing home care services throughout the country. Several dozen apartments were targeted in the Pilsen area alone. A court is to decide whether the suspects will be remanded in custody pending trial.

The centre-right coalition cabinet of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek faces a crucial vote of confidence on Friday which it hopes will end a seven-month period without a stable government resulting from inconclusive elections. The governing coalition of the Civic Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Green Party has exactly 100 votes in the 200-seat lower house but two MPs from the Social Democratic Party had agreed to enable the government to win Friday's vote by not taking part in it.

This is the second chance for Mr Topolanek to form a cabinet after his first minority Civic Democrat government failed a confidence vote in October. The coalition government has set itself an ambitious series of targets, such as to reform public spending and the pension and healthcare systems, but it is unlikely to find majority support for its goals in the chamber.

The European Court of Justice has ruled the Czech Republic is breaching EU law regarding recognition of qualification of medical doctors and dentists. The court upheld an earlier decision by the European Commission which will now decide on further steps against the Czech Republic. The EU criticises the fact that doctors and dentists from other EU countries working in the Czech Republic for a short period of time need to register with the Czech medical chamber while under EU legislation they only need certificates from their home countries.

Culture Minister Helena Trestikova says she is ready to resign from her post if she is forced to appoint Frantisek Formanek as her deputy. Mrs Trestikova said she had refused to appoint him earlier as she had chosen another candidate for the post. Mrs Trestikova said on Thursday she understood that the current political negotiations were complex but she was not willing to sacrifice her honour and dignity in order to keep her post.