• 07/14/2003

    Czech President Vaclav Klaus has thanked Constitutional Court judges for their work at a farewell ceremony at Prague Castle on Monday. On July 15, eight of the fifteen judges at the court retire after a ten year term. While President Klaus has already nominated suitable candidates to the constitutional court, their appointment is yet to be approved by the Senate, which is expected to meet on Wednesday.

    Author: Dita Asiedu
  • 07/13/2003

    The Czech foreign minister, Cyril Svoboda, has held talks in Jerusalem with the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and other senior Israeli officials. Mr Svoboda said on Sunday the two countries had longstanding good relations. The foreign minister did not meet representatives of the Palestinian Authority; he is planning to visit the territory in August.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/13/2003

    The 38th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival closed with an awards ceremony on Saturday night at which the Italian film Facing Window took the main Crystal Globe award for best film. The American actor Morgan Freeman was given an award for services to world cinema.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/12/2003

    The foreign minister, Cyril Svoboda, has reopened the Czech embassy in Baghdad. Mr Svoboda also held talks with the American civil administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer, who praised the Czech government for the part it is playing in the reconstruction of the country. Mr Svoboda was also due to visit Basra on Saturday and to meet members of a Czech military field hospital based in the city. On Sunday the foreign minister is moving on to Israel, where he will meet Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other senior Israeli officials.

    Meanwhile the Czech Catholic Charity Association has sent a tonne and a half of medicines to Iraq. The medicines, mainly antibiotics and vitamins for children, were flown to Basra on Friday night in a Defence Ministry plane.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/12/2003

    A 21-year-old man burned himself to death in the north Moravian town of Frydek-Mistek on Friday evening. The man, said to have been a drug addict, doused himself in flammable liquid and set it alight. He died before doctors managed to reach the scene. It was the 17th case of suicide, or attempted suicide, by burning in the Czech Republic since the beginning of March.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/12/2003

    More than a dozen people were injured when a local passenger train collided with a truck at Rokytnice in the Orlicke Mountains, east Bohemia on Saturday. The truck driver was flown to hospital in Hradec Kralove with serious head injuries. The train was derailed in the accident, which occurred at an unmarked crossing between two towns in the mountains.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/12/2003

    The pilot of an ultra-light plane died in a crash near the north-west Bohemian town of Louny on Friday. The man's daughter had been a passenger in the plane and escaped with light injuries. The cause of the crash is now being investigated.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/12/2003

    The Czech Republic's volleyball team have been beaten 3:0 by Brazil in the World League semi-finals in Madrid. Though they were clearly outplayed by Brazil on Saturday, the fact the Czechs got so far in the competition is regarded as a great success. They play Italy for third place on Sunday.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 07/10/2003

    The leader of Britain's opposition Conservatives has unveiled his party's vision of Europe during a visit to Prague. Conservative leader Ian Duncan Smith signed a declaration in the Czech capital on Thursday calling for the strengthening of national democracies to resist the formation of what he called a European superstate. Mr Duncan Smith, speaking to reporters after meeting President Vaclav Klaus, said his party supported European integration, but opposed unification and excessive bureaucracy. The declaration was also signed by the party Mr Klaus led until last year - the opposition Civic Democrats. The Czech Republic will be one of 10 new countries to join the EU next year.

    Author: Rob Cameron
  • 07/08/2003

    The Information Technology Ministry has released the first stamp bearing the portrait of President Vaclav Klaus, who was elected in February this year. The stamp will be available in post offices as of July 30 and will cost six crowns 40 hellers. The authors of the green, orange and pink-purple stamp are painter Oldrich Kulhanek and graphic designer and engraver Milos Ondracek.

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