• Three more football referees arrested as unprecedented bribery scandal grows
    05/11/2004

    The police have arrested three more football referees in connection with a bribery scandal which is being described as the worst in the history of Czech football. After a senior official at Synot football club and two referees were arrested last week, on Monday the police arrested three more officials on suspicion of fixing a match in which Synot beat Blsany. The police are looking into the results of every Czech first division game played since the beginning of the season last August.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Svoboda: US soldiers found guilty of abuse of Iraqis must be brought to justice
    05/11/2004

    Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda has said US soldiers found guilty of abusing prisoners in Iraq should be brought to justice quickly. However, said Mr Svoboda, the scandal should not threaten the efforts of democrats in the "fight against terrorism". He added that it was important to hand the administration of Iraq over to the Iraqis as soon as possible.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Communists offer to support Social Democrats over referendum bill
    05/11/2004

    The opposition Communist Party have said they will support the ruling Social Democrats over a constitutional bill on referendums. Social Democrats deputy chairman Zdenek Skromach said on Tuesday his party would accept the support of the Communists. The Social Democrats have submitted several referendum bills in the past, and this time are doing so in connection with a vote on a possible European Union constitution. The opposition Civic Democrats say linking the bill with the EU constitution is blackmail.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Restaurant owners to protest further against VAT rise
    05/11/2004

    Restaurant owners are planning further protests against a VAT increase which has forced many of them to increase their prices, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes reported on Tuesday. One of the protest organisers said around 2,500 people would hold a demonstration in front of the Office of the Government during the first week of June. Following a recent VAT rise restaurant prices have increased by between five and ten percent.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Architect Libeskind unveils model of Prague Dali museum
    05/11/2004

    The world-renowned Polish-born architect Daniel Libeskind has unveiled his model of a new Salvador Dali museum for Prague, which should be completed by 1997. If the planned museum goes ahead it will stand where Revolucni Street meets the Vltava River. Mr Libeskind said on Tuesday that in the modern world cities had to compete in various areas, and the Dali museum would allow Prague to compete in the area of culture. The architect is best-known for the Jewish Museum in Berlin and his project for the site of the World Trade Center in New York.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Shorter truck queues at borders hitting prostitution business
    05/11/2004

    Reports say the Czech Republic's recent accession to the EU has hit the prostitution business in the border regions; with truck drivers no longer having to queue at the border for hours, fewer of them are availing of the services of prostitutes. The daily Pravo on Tuesday quoted the mayor of Dubi as saying many brothels in the border town had already shut down or were up for sale.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Havel: EU Constitution too complicated for ordinary citizens
    05/10/2004

    The EU constitution in its draft form is too complicated for ordinary citizens to understand, former Czech president Vaclav Havel said on Monday. Mr Havel, who was in Brussels to take part in EU enlargement celebrations, welcomed steps to introduce a European constitution but noted it needed to be formulated in simple terms in order to assure citizens voting in referenda know exactly what they are voting for. Mr Havel added that he would like to see a constitution that one-tenth as long and uncomplicated enough for children to study it in schools.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • EC official meets Czech Romany leaders in Ostrava
    05/09/2004

    The chairwoman of the monitoring committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Commission, Josette Durrieu, has had a meeting with representatives of the Romany community in the north Moravian city of Ostrava. After Sunday's discussion, she said Czech authorities had done a lot to improve the situation of Romanies, but a lot more remained to be done. Ms Durrieu also said Czech Romanies needed to decide what they wanted to achieve and take more control of their own destinies.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Prague metro celebrates 30th anniversary
    05/09/2004

    Thousands of people have been attending an open-day at Kacerov metro station, to mark the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Prague underground rail system. The first Prague metro line ran from Kacerov to Sokolovska station, which is now known as Florence, in 1974. In those days there was only one seven-kilometre metro line with nine stations. Since then the system has been expanded to three lines covering around 50 kilometres.

    Sunday also saw an open-day at Prague Castle, with thousands of people availing of the opportunity to see parts of the Castle not normally open to the public.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Prague ceremony commemorates Soviet soldiers who died in World War II
    05/09/2004

    Elsewhere in the Czech capital, around 200 people attended a ceremony at the Olsansky cemetery in memory of Soviet soldiers who died during World War II. Until 1991, May 9 was celebrated in Czechoslovakia - as in Russia - as the end of World War II in Europe. Now it is marked in the Czech Republic a day earlier, on May 8.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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