• Eurostat: one in three Czech babies born outside marriage
    10/27/2005

    One third of children in the Czech Republic are born outside of wedlock, which is the EU average, according to data released by the Eurostat agency. In 1980 only 5.6 percent of Czech babies were born outside marriage.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Investigation into alleged police killings of homeless men
    10/27/2005

    Police are investigating whether two police officers charged with the killing of a homeless man this month also carried out other brutal attacks - one of which led to the death of another homeless man - earlier in the year. The Zlin-based officers, aged 25 and 31, are being held in custody.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Club may not allow Baros to play for Czechs in World Cup play-offs
    10/27/2005

    The Czech football star Milan Baros has said his English club Aston Villa may not allow him to play in the Czech Republic's World Cup play-offs in the middle of November. The club's manager expressed frustration recently when Baros returned from international duty injured and unable to play. The Czech team's other first-choice striker, Jan Koller, underwent an operation recently and is not expected to play for another six months.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Svoboda disappointed by BBC Czech language service closure
    10/26/2005

    The Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda said on Wednesday that he was deeply disappointed that the BBC World Service had decided to close down its Czech language service. Mr. Svoboda said he had discussed the matter on several occasions with his British counterpart Jack Straw and written letters to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a bid to save the Czech service, which now broadcasts around 5 hours a day. BBC World Service bosses announced the imminent closure of the station on Tuesday, along with nine other BBC foreign language services. The move is part of a radical re-structuring which includes the launch of an Arab-language television station.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Ten injured in rail crash
    10/26/2005

    Ten people were injured, one seriously, when a locomotive ploughed into a passenger train in the eastern part of the Czech Republic on Wednesday morning. Paradoxically the locomotive was on its way to help the passenger train which had got stuck between the towns of Zator and Milotice, where the rails had become clogged with dead leaves. In heavy fog, and possibly due to the state of the tracks the locomotive failed to brake in time and collided head on with the passenger train. The cause of the accident is being investigated.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Lower House postpones decision on police salaries
    10/26/2005

    The Lower House has postponed by a year a definitive decision on salary increases for policemen, customs officers and secret service agents. The amendment to the law passed by the Lower Chamber on Wednesday limits wage increases in the coming year and lowers the ceilings on allowances and severance pay. The opposition Civic Democrats have criticized the postponement, saying that the police force will now have to do for another year without a new service law that would open the way for its reform.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Criticism of new deputy health minister
    10/26/2005

    Czech pharmacists' and dentists' associations are refusing to deal with David Rath, the recently appointed deputy health minister, while he remains head of the Czech Medical Chamber, an association of Czech doctors. Pharmacists and dentists claim that this violates the conflict of interest law and is a breach of professional ethics. President Klaus used the same argument last week when he refused to appoint David Rath to the post of health minister. Mr. Rath has said he would suspend his chairmanship of the Medical Chamber only if he is appointed health minister.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Dohnal likely to head Supreme Audit Office
    10/26/2005

    Frantisek Dohnal is likely to be the new head of the Supreme Audit Office.

    Dohnal, whose candidacy was proposed by the Christian Democrats, won overwhelming support from deputies in the Lower Chamber. His nomination will now be put to President Vaclav Klaus. The post of president of the Supreme Audit Office has been vacant since June of 2003 when Lubomir Volejnik died in office. Since then Parliament has been unable to agree on who should replace him.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Court ruling: St. Vitus cathedral is church property
    10/25/2005

    A court in Prague has ruled that St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle is church property. The Church and the state have been fighting over ownership rights for some thirteen years. A 1954 government resolution gives Prague Castle the authority to manage the cathedral and surrounding property but the judge who ruled in favour of the church reasoned that the transfer of management did not automatically imply a transfer of ownership. The state plans to appeal her verdict.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Prime Minister says TV polls "manipulate public opinion"
    10/25/2005

    Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek has called for a meeting with the heads of the country's two leading commercial TV stations Nova and Prima. Both stations commission opinion polls during TV discussion programmes to assess what participant is considered more trustworthy among the general public. Results of a poll on a discussion between Mr Paroubek and the leader of the opposition Civic Democrats Mirek Topolanek last Sunday suggested that the prime minister only won over 36 percent of respondents. Mr Paroubek says a separate poll commissioned by his party, the Social Democrats, suggested over 50 percent of public support and accuses the TV stations of "a scandalous attempt to manipulate public opinion".
    Author: Dita Asiedu

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