-
09/26/2009
The Czech Film and Television Academy (ČFTA) has nominated the film Protektor by director Marek Najbrt to compete for the Best Foreign Language Film category at next year’s American Academy Awards. According to ČFTA director Petr Vachler, Protektor - which tells the story of a Czechoslovak Radio reporter and his Jewish wife during WWII - was chosen in part because of the success enjoyed by other Czech films with similar themes in America. Czech or Czechoslovak films have been nominated for the prestigious award nine times, most recently in 2003, when Ondřej Trojan’s Želary lost to the Canadian comedy The Barbarian Invasions. The final nominees for next year’s award will be announced on February 2, 2010.
-
09/26/2009
The daily Právo has reported that former MEP Jana Bobošíková is set to become one of the leaders of the new “Citizens’ Rights Party” that former prime minister Miloš Zeman has said he may form. Ms. Bobošíková declined to either confirm or deny the speculation. The formation of the party itself is to be decided on in October at a convention of the association “Friends of Miloš Zeman”. Ms Bobošíková, a former ally of President Klaus and erstwhile presidential candidate for the Communist Party, is also currently involved in a complaint against the Lisbon Treaty to be filed with the Constitutional Court.
-
09/26/2009
A woman was killed and a man is in critical condition after being struck by a police vehicle involved in a high-speed car chase Friday evening near the town of Krnov at the eastern Polish border. Police were in pursuit of a BMW that had escaped an order to pull over when the couple stepped out into the road. The woman, who was 23, was killed instantly. Police have since found the runaway vehicle and its driver.
-
09/25/2009
The lower house of Parliament has approved an austerity package for 2010, removing the threat of a government resignation. The package of tax-hikes and spending cuts will reduce next year’s budget deficit to 162.8 billion crowns that is 5.2 percent of GDP. Following a number of modifications, Finance Minister Eduard Janota’s austerity package was approved by all parliamentary parties with the exception of the Communists.
Friday’s vote gave wide political backing to the interim cabinet led by Prime Minister Jan Fischer, which is expected to lead the country until early general elections in mid-2010, after a court struck down plans to hold an early poll this autumn. Mr. Fisher said that his cabinet would present the lower house with a draft budget proposal for 2010 by September 30, along with the government’s policy programme for the coming months.
-
09/25/2009
Deputies in the lower house on Friday also approved a bill which would reduce the salaries of state employees and constitutional officials by 4 percent in 2010. This includes all civic servants, MPs, senators, judges and state attorneys and should save the state close to 127 million crowns. An earlier proposal for a 20-percent cut failed to win approval. The bill will now go to the Senate.
-
09/25/2009
Preparations are in full swing for the Pope’s upcoming three day visit to the Czech Republic. Pope Benedict XVI will arrive on Saturday for what has been described as a pastoral visit intended to bring a message of faith and hope to Czechs 20 years after the fall of communism. The visit, during which the Pope will serve two open-air masses, has been timed to coincide with St. Wenceslas’ Day, a state holiday in the Czech Republic in honour of the nation’s patron saint. Pope Benedict XVI will meet with the country’s leading political and cultural figures as well as Catholic dignitaries and representatives of other churches.
-
09/25/2009
The visit by the Pope is expected to revive a debate surrounding the controversial draft treaty between the Vatican and the Czech state which Parliament rejected six years ago on the grounds that it was disadvantageous for the Czech Republic and would give the Catholic Church an exclusive position among other churches in the country. The Vatican has rejected the argument, saying it has signed similar agreements with other countries.
-
09/25/2009
The Liechtenstein family will not try to reclaim family property in the Czech Republic that was confiscated from them after World War II on the basis of the Benes decrees, Prince Hans Adam said on Friday. The prince said his family would be glad to have the property returned, but it would take no legal steps to do so, because the most important issue was maintaining good-relations between the two countries. The Czech Republic and the Principality of Liechtenstein established diplomatic relations earlier this month after a 60 year rift caused by the property dispute. The Liechtensteins owned extensive properties in the Czech Republic, including the UNESCO-listed complex of the Lednice and Valtice chateaus in south Moravia.
-
09/25/2009
The Czech ambassador to Ukraine Jaroslav Bašta has dismissed allegations that his embassy had run an illegal visa operation in which applicants were asked to register with a private firm which collected money from them illegally. According to the Ukrainian news server Korespondent the operation lasted for over eight months during which time more than 30, 000 visa applicants paid 20 US dollars each to the private firms’ account. The server said the Ukrainian authorities were looking into the case.
-
09/25/2009
A former Czech finance ministry official wanted for fraud has been detained in Costa Rica. Karel Ponocný was sentenced in absentia in 2006 having escaped from the country before the verdict was delivered. According to the Costa Rican media he was detained on an Interpol arrest warrant on the outskirts of San Jose. Ponocný worked in the ministry’s foreign debts department and with the help of an accomplice siphoned off money to his own private accounts, damaging the country to the tune of 43 million crowns.
Pages
- « první
- ‹ předchozí
- …
- 5448
- 5449
- 5450
- 5451
- 5452
- 5453
- 5454
- 5455
- 5456
- …
- následující ›
- poslední »