• Turkish foreign minister denies talks on Iran threat with Czech counterpart
    03/02/2006

    Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has denied that his calls for US troops not to withdraw from neighbouring Iraq prematurely are out of fear from Iran. Turkish newspapers quoted Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda on Thursday as saying his Turkish counterpart confided in him last month that he feared the withdrawal of the US forces would boost Iran's influence.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Prague judges call onto Justice Ministry to help free two Czech nationals in Turkey
    03/02/2006

    Judges at Prague's Municipal Court have asked the Czech Justice Ministry to request the extradition of two Czech nationals, who are currently under investigation for drug smuggling in Turkey. The men have been in detention in Turkey since April 2004 when police at the Greek-Turkish border discovered 26 kilograms of a drug containing heroin in their car. Prague Municipal Court judges say the two men are innocent and were unaware that the drugs were in the car. Evidence presented at a separate trial is reported to prove their theory.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • EU cuts sugar production quota
    03/02/2006

    The European Union has agreed to introduce a temporary sugar quota cut for the 2006/2007 season. Fearing a sugar surplus, the European Commission proposed to reduce the production quota by 2.5 million tonnes. In the Czech Republic, this will reduce production from close to 455,000 tonnes to 411,332 tonnes.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Klaus signs bill on electronic road toll system
    03/02/2006

    President Vaclav Klaus has signed a bill that introduces a road toll system for vehicles above 12 tonnes in 2007. The state currently makes around 1 billion crowns (around 42 million US dollars) off special coupons that drivers have to buy to use the country's motorways. The new system, which is to be provided by the Austrian company Kapsch, is estimated to bring in around 10,5 billion crowns a year.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Czechs draw with Turkey in football friendly
    03/02/2006

    The Czech football team drew 2:2 in a friendly match with Turkey in Izmir on Wednesday night. Karel Poborsky and Jiri Stajner scored for the Czech Republic, who appeared to be heading for victory until the Turks scored two goals in the last four minutes. Earlier a team of Czech reserves had been beaten 3:1 by their Turkish counterparts.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Putin starts two-day visit to Czech Republic
    03/01/2006

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Prague for his first official visit to the Czech Republic. During his two-day visit, Mr Putin is expected to discuss energy issues as well as economic, cultural and military cooperation with an emphasis on the war against terrorism. His first engagement on Wednesday was meeting with his Czech counterpart President Vaclav Klaus.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Havel denounces Russian 'return to autocracy', ahead of Putin visit
    03/01/2006

    Just hours ahead of President Putin's arrival, former Czech president Vaclav Havel and several world-renowned statesmen launched an attack on Mr Putin and his policies in a text published in a Czech newspaper. The group, led by Mr Havel and including former UN Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and Nobel Prize winner Desmond Tutu, sharply accused Mr Putin of "censorship" of information from Chechnya and called for the world to stop "closing its eyes" to atrocities taking place in Chechnya.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Cesky Telecom to merge with mobile operator Eurotel
    03/01/2006

    Czech fixed-line operator Cesky Telecom, whose majority owner is Spanish phone giant Telefonica, has announced that it will merge with its wholly owned mobile-telephone business, Eurotel. The merged company to be named Telefonica O2 faces increased competition on the converging Czech telecoms market. T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom, jousts with Eurotel for the top spot among mobile operators and Vodafone is third, following its acquisition of Oskar Mobile from Canada-based TIW last year.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Poll: Social Democrats' popularity falling, Greens' rising
    03/01/2006

    A poll carried out by the CVVM agency suggests that 23 percent of Czechs would vote for the ruling Social Democrats if elections were held tomorrow, 4 percent less than last month. On the other hand, support for the Green party has increased to 6 percent compared to 2.5 percent in January. The opposition Civic Democrats lead the poll with 28.5 percent of public support. The Communists would get some 11.5 percent and the Christian Democrats are supported by 7.5 percent of voters, according to the poll.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Czech owner of Semtex name targets Madonna over trademark misuse
    03/01/2006

    The Czech company Explosia, which produces the plastic explosive Semtex and owns the rights to the trademark, has said it launched legal action to prevent American pop-star Madonna from misusing its most valued and internationally-recognized asset. The pop singer was revealed to have registered a company in Britain called "Semtex Girls Limited". Production of Semtex began in the 1960s but only became widely known in the 1980s as a favourite tool for terrorists because it was virtually undetectable. Because of the threat of global terrorism, the company has added a substance to make it easily detectable and now makes only small amounts of Semtex for use by the army and a number of Czech companies.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

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