• 08/06/2008

    The Christian Democrats may be hovering on the brink of parliamentary extinction according to most polls, but that has not stopped the party from taking on an unpopular subject – banking fees. In a statement, the party noted that Czech banking fees are the fourth-highest in the EU as a proportion of GDP, and that lack of a transparent and competitive environment is detrimental to consumers. Officials within the party have also called for a public debate on the issue.

    Author: Dominik Jůn
  • 08/05/2008

    Czech neo-Nazis are planning to hold their biggest ever gathering on August 16, Lidové noviny reported. One of its organisers told the newspaper they were expecting five to six thousand people to attend a so-called “musical-political afternoon”, at an as yet undisclosed location in east Bohemia. The date of the planned event is the anniversary of the death of leading Nazi Rudolf Hess.

    Experts on extremism have told the Czech Press Agency they believe the Czech far right is planning to try to enter politics at the national level. The neo-Nazis long-term strategy involves a concerted effort to not break the law in order to gain broader support with an eye to eventually entering Parliament, a member of the Czech Helsinki Committee said. The Interior Ministry recently said it would put more energy into monitoring far-right groups.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 08/05/2008

    A Taiwanese-owned factory in central Bohemia has announced layoffs, just two months are going into full operation, the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes reported. The company Foxconn employs 1,000 people in Kutná Hora and had said it was planning to hire 4,000 more. However, on Tuesday the firm said it would let 300 of its workers go by the end of the summer. A spokesperson said Foxconn was making the workers redundant because the town would not sell the company land beside the factory on which it wanted to build a satellite town. That suggestion is denied by the Kutná Hora authorities, who say the local zoning laws need to be changed before any such project can go ahead.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 08/05/2008

    A Czech Airlines flight to New York had to be cancelled on Tuesday due to problems with the plane’s hydraulics, the news website idnes.cz reported. On Friday a CSA flight to New York had to turn back after just half an hour because of a defect in its motor. The Prague-New York route is served by Czech Airlines’ oldest aircraft, the Airbus A310. Airline officials said passengers booked on Tuesday’s flight would be given seats on other planes. However, the fact it is the summer season means many flights are sold out and finding room could be difficult, idnes.cz said.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 08/05/2008

    July was the worst month for tourism in Prague since the floods of 2002, Lidové noviny reported. The city’s hotels, restaurants and souvenir sellers have been affected by the down-turn, the head of the Association of Czech Travel Agents, Tomio Okamura, told the daily. He attributed the poor figures to the strength of the Czech crown and low standards of service. Tourism outside the capital has not been affected so much because most tourists in the regions are from the Czech Republic itself.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 08/05/2008

    The Czech Republic has the fourth lowest level of part-time work in the Europe Union, according to a study by Eurostat. Only 5 percent of Czech workers have part-time jobs, compared to 46.8 percent in the Netherlands, the EU state with the highest percentage in part-time employment. A new bill to be put forward by the Czech Labour Minister Petr Nečas later this year is intended to make it easier to allow the parents of young children to work part time.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 08/05/2008

    The mayor of the village of Valy in east Bohemia faces charges over an attack on minors who were causing damage to municipal property, Prima TV reported. Mayor Dušan Doležal and some friends allegedly attacked three teenage boys who were throwing stones at a street light, leaving one of them needing treatment in hospital. The father of one of the boys has filed charges against the mayor and the other adults involved. For his part, Mayor Doležal denies the allegations of violence and said that the boy, who was 14, had been drunk at the time of the incident.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 08/05/2008

    An Irishman wanted on suspicion of child abuse has been extradited to the United Kingdom. The Czech police handed Patrick Burnell over to their British counterparts at Prague Airport on Tuesday, a few weeks after he was arrested in the Czech capital. Mr Burnell, who is believed to have been living in Prague for two years, is to face 16 charges of having sex with girls of 12 and 13.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 08/05/2008

    Most Czech punters are betting on their country to win fewer medals in Beijing than at the last Olympic Games, bookies have reported. The majority of bets are for the Czech Republic to take home fewer than seven medals, a spokesperson for the betting agency Fortuna said on Tuesday. One gambler has placed a million-crown bet on the country getting three or fewer medals. At the last Olympics in Athens the Czech Republic picked up eight medals. Among the individual athletes currently receiving the most backing are canoeist Štěpánka Hilgertová, a two-time Olympic champion, and javelin world champion Barbora Špotáková.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 08/04/2008

    A Czech army contingent has left for Afghanistan where it will replace Czech troops who have ended their mission in the province of Logar, serving on a provincial reconstruction team. The change of guard will take place in several stages. Two hundred Czech soldiers and civilians will spend six months supporting the central government and Afghan security services in the province of Logar, as well as working on humanitarian projects and reconstruction. Two Czech soldiers died in a suicide bombing in Logar earlier this year.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková

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