• Kubinyi appoints deputy ministers, plans to put forward reform by end September
    04/23/2004

    The new Health Minister, Jozef Kubinyi, has criticised the method through which state-run hospitals were transferred under the administration of individual regions last year. Regional governors have repeatedly criticised the government of Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla for handing over to them hospitals burdened by billions of crowns worth of debts. Minister Kubinyi has also appointed his new deputies, raising their number from four to six. He plans to put forward a reform of the health-care sector by the end of September. Mr Kubinyi's predecessor, Marie Souckova, was recalled last week for failing to produce a sound reform plan for the ailing health sector.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Milos Forman awarded at San Francisco International Film Festival
    04/23/2004

    The Czech-born American film director Milos Forman has received the 2004 Film Society Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing at the International Film Festival in San Francisco. A leading representative of the 1960s' "New Wave" of Czech film, Milos Forman moved to the United States after the Soviet-led occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968. He continued his filmmaking career in the U.S. and directed many films, including Oscar-winners "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus".
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Czechs beat Canada in World Championships warm-up, Lener names squad
    04/23/2004

    The Czech Republic has beaten Canada 8:5 in their last warm-up game before the ice hockey World Championships. After the match, Czech coach Slavomir Lener announced his 25-man squad for the competition, which begins on Saturday and takes place in Prague and Ostrava.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Lower house overturns Klaus veto to reduce top VAT rate to 19 percent
    04/22/2004

    A bill reducing the top value added tax rate from 22 to 19 percent has been passed by the Chamber of Deputies, overturning a veto by President Vaclav Klaus. All Chamber business had been suspended since Tuesday to allow the foreign minister, Cyril Svoboda, more time to recover after a recent car crash. Mr Svoboda was flown to Prague by helicopter from his hospital in Brno; his vote was crucial because the government has a majority of only one in the 200-seat lower house.

    Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said the new VAT rate could take effect as of Friday, when it is published in the Czech Republic's Collection of Laws. Minister Sobotka had been pushing hard to have the change adopted ahead of European Union accession on May 1, saying failure to do so would have harmed Czech trade with other EU states.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • EU accession means end of independent state, says President Klaus
    04/22/2004

    Meanwhile, President Vaclav Klaus has said the Czech Republic will cease to exist as an independent state once the country joins the EU. In an article in the newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes, Mr Klaus - a long-term critic of European integration - said the Czech Republic and the other nine countries joining the Union should assert themselves or be lost within the expanded 25-member bloc.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Klaus becomes the first Czech president to meet Chinese counterpart
    04/22/2004

    Mr Klaus is currently on an official visit to China, where he has made history by becoming the first Czech president to meet his Chinese counterpart. During Thursday's meeting in Beijing, President Hu Jintao pointed out that ten years ago Mr Klaus had been the first Czech prime minister to visit his country.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Irish PM Ahern discusses EU constitution on Prague visit
    04/22/2004

    On a visit to Prague on Thursday the Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern, discussed preparations for a new EU constitution with his Czech counterpart, Vladimir Spidla. Mr Ahern also addressed the EU constitution in a speech to the Czech Senate; he said he would seek a spirit of compromise and flexibility from all EU states, so as to reach agreement by the end of Ireland's presidency of the Union at the end of June.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Tenth case of BSE in Czech Republic confirmed
    04/22/2004

    The Czech Republic's tenth case of mad cow disease has been confirmed. The disease was discovered in a six-and-a-half-year-old animal in east Bohemia, a spokesperson for the State Veterinary Administration said on Thursday. The country's first case of BSE was discovered in June, 2001.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Customs officers accused of taking bribes from truck drivers
    04/22/2004

    A total of 19 customs officers from Breclav in south Moravia have been charged with taking bribes from lorry drivers from Balkan countries, a police spokesperson said on Thursday, adding that more arrests were expected. About half of the 800 or so trucks which cross the border at Breclav every day are from the Balkans.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech ice hockey Hall of Fame opens at new arena in Prague
    04/22/2004

    Just days before the World Ice Hockey Championships get underway in Prague and Ostrava, a new Czech hockey Hall of Fame has been opened at Prague's Sazka Arena, the main venue for the competition. A Hall of Fame for all Czech sport is also planned for the recently opened arena.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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