• Exhibition on the Romany Holocaust opens in Prague
    05/25/2006

    An exhibition on the Romany Holocaust, which premiered in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, opened on Thursday in Prague. It documents the fate of individuals and whole families who were killed by the Nazis during World War Two. The exhibition also aims to highlight prevailing discrimination against the Romany population in present day Europe. An estimated nine million Roma live in the EU countries and 15 million in the whole of Europe. Close to 11,000 people claimed Romany nationality in the Czech Republic's latest census but the country is believed to be home to some 250,000 Roma.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Soccer-Smicer World Cup doubt after injury setback
    05/25/2006

    Czech Republic midfielder Vladimir Smicer has suffered a setback in his recovery from a leg injury, putting his participation at the World Cup finals in doubt. The Girondins Bordeaux player has been struggling for fitness since a February tendon injury behind his right knee. At the Czech Republic training camp in Seefeld, Austria, team doctors found a blood clot in his thigh muscle. Team doktor Jiri Fousek said it was unlikely Smicer would play in friendlies before the side's first game at the World Cup against the U.S. on June 12.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Bill to support Czech film industry thrown out
    05/24/2006

    A bill aimed at increasing state support for the Czech film industry has been thrown out. The Chamber of Deputies had previously approved it, but on Tuesday failed to overturn a veto by President Vaclav Klaus. Under the bill cinemas, TV stations and video and DVD distributors would have had to contribute three percent of their sales to the state cinematography fund. The Czech Republic's stand at the Cannes film festival closed on Wednesday in protest at the bill's failure.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Press: neither main party has position on US anti-missile site
    05/24/2006

    Neither the governing Social Democrats nor the opposition Civic Democrats have a clear position on the possible building of a United States anti-missile site in the Czech Republic, Lidove noviny reported. Social Democrat Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek said he knew nothing about the project and would have to learn more about it. By contrast, Poland - the other candidate to host the site - has shown interest in further negotiations with US officials. The New York Times wrote on Monday that Czech parties were trying to avoid debate on the issue because of the upcoming elections.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Havel hoping bigger turnout could harm Communist Party
    05/24/2006

    A group of anti-communists including former president Vaclav Havel have called on Czechs to go to the polls in ten days' time. They say many people who did not vote in the 2002 elections would have voted for somebody other than the Communists, and an increased turnout could mean fewer seats for the party, who are currently third in the opinion polls. Mr Havel and a number of other personalities will appear in a series of photographs with their heads wrapped in barbed wire.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Cinema refuses to screen Da Vinci Code...
    05/24/2006

    A cinema in Jirkov, north Bohemia is refusing to show the hit film The Da Vinci Code. Manager Milos Kubelka told the newspaper Deniky Bohemia he was a Christian and said The Da Vinci Code undermined the values this country's democracy was founded on. Both the film and the novel it is based on have been slammed by Roman Catholic groups.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • ...while maker of Good Bye Lenin! says Civic Democrats do not understand film
    05/24/2006

    Meanwhile, the director of the German film Good Bye Lenin! says he does not understand why the right-wing Civic Democrats have used the movie in their election campaign. Wolfgang Becker said in a statement that the party's PR people could only regard the comedy as a warning against the dangers of communism if they were in a coma when they watched it.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech tennis team into semi-finals at World Team Championships
    05/24/2006

    The Czech Republic's tennis players have reached the semi-finals of the World Team Championships in Dusseldorf, after beating Italy 2:1 on Tuesday. Tomas Berdych and his team-mates take on Germany on Thursday for a place in the final.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech passes maturita on eve of World Cup
    05/24/2006

    The Czech international football goalkeeper Petr Cech has passed his maturita school leaving exam. The 24-year-old got a "one" in Czech, English and Social Science and a "two" in German in the exam, which took place at the Sportovni gymnazium in his home town of Plzen. Immediately afterwards he returned to Seefeld in Austria, where he is preparing for the World Cup with the Czech squad.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Parliament overrides presidential veto on Labour Code
    05/23/2006

    Czech deputies have overturned a presidential veto of a controversial Labour Code. The new law, which comes into effect on January 1 next year, was pushed through the lower house of parliament by the Social Democrats and the Communists. The opposition Civic Democrats and the two junior ruling coalition parties the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union say the bill threatens the flexibility of the labour market and is unconstitutional because it gives trade unions too much power, and makes it difficult for employers to let go of unproductive staff and employ new people.

    In November, over 25,000 members of 51 trade unions flocked to Prague to support the proposed new Labour Code in a demonstration that was the biggest that the country has seen since the Velvet Revolution sixteen years ago.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

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