• 08/11/2007

    Cabinet minister Cyril Svoboda, who heads the government's legislative council, has proposed that all Catholics in the country should send one percent of their monthly income to the Czech Catholic Church which would help it to become independent from the state. The minister outlined the proposal in an interview for Saturday's edition of Mlada Fronta Dnes. It comes in reaction to drawn-out disputes about the restitution of church property that was confiscated by the Communists after 1948. Several church-restitution bills have been debated in Parliament since the early 1990's but none was approved. The restitution of church property and the role of the Church in the Czech Republic remains a sensitive issue.

  • 08/11/2007

    The Czech Foreign Ministry has decided to close seven of its diplomatic missions, three embassies and four consulates. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova said the ministry would release the names of the given countries only after these countries have been officially informed. The government has already approved the closures. According to the news server Aktualne.cz the missions to be closed include the Czech embassies in Zimbabwe and Uruguay, and consulates in Katowice, Poland and Cape Town, South Africa. The server writes that the missions to be closed are in countries that are visited only by a low number of Czech tourists and that do not have intensive trade relations with the Czech Republic.

  • 08/11/2007

    Around 800 young people are reported to be taking part in a techno party near Havirov in the eastern part of the country. Police are monitoring the weekend event and say that aside from isolated complaints about noise pollution there have been no problems. The party is taking place on private property.

  • 08/11/2007

    A three year old boy was badly hurt after falling into the monkey's enclosure on a visit to the zoo on Saturday. Eyewitnesses said the child leaned too far and toppled in before his mother could catch him. One of the monkeys attacked him and the child was badly bitten when the keeper got him out minutes later. He was rushed to hospital for treatment. Doctors said the injuries were serious but the child is said to be recovering well.

  • 08/11/2007

    Police are investigating the theft of a money machine from a supermarket in Brno, Moravia. The machine was stolen during the night and was found empty, discarded by the roadside several hours later. The police say it must have been loaded onto a truck parked outside the supermarket and are looking for witnesses. The machine contained over half a million crowns. Lately there have been an increasing number of money machine thefts as well as cases where the thieves steal the whole till in a shop rather than wasting time breaking it open on the spot. Some shop keepers have taken their precaution of nailing their till to the shopping counter.

  • 08/10/2007

    The High Prosecuting Attorney's Office in Prague has commissioned additional expert analysis to determine whether the leaking of a confidential dossier to the media last year was a criminal offence, write Czech dailies Lidove Noviny and Pravo. Christian Democrat MP Pavel Severa is suspected by police of having leaked the report following the meeting of a parliamentary committee. But the prosecuting attorney's office is reportedly not convinced the leak was intentional. The so-called Kubice report, presented to the defence and security committee last year by police specialist Jan Kubice, caused a stir because it suggested there were links between the state sector and organised crime. The contents of the report were leaked just days before the general election, which was won by the opposition Civic Democrats. The Social Democrats, who lost, accused their rivals of intentionally leaking the report, which they say "reversed" the election's outcome.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 08/10/2007

    A Russian pilot and fellow crew member emergency ejected following an incident on Thursday in which the pilot apparently lost control during training of a Czech-made L-39 Albatross. The accident happened near a base in Central Russia; both men landed safely. Russian officials have not revealed additional details. L-39s - made between the years 1971 to 1999 by Aero Vodochody - are flown in training in some thirty countries around the world. The Russian Air Force is said to rely heavily on the planes for training purposes. Accidents there in the past have usually been attributed to pilot errors or poor machine maintenance.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 08/10/2007

    The Czech Republic has signed a joint statement with five other new EU states expressing disappointment over new US legislation that was meant to loosen criteria for some countries being included in the US visa-waiver programme. The signatories made clear in their statement that from their perspective the US had not gone far enough. As it stands, of the six countries which include Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Latvia, and Lithuania, only the Czech Republic would likely meet current conditions for acceptance. The joint statement signed on Thursday said the US legislation retained "artificial barriers" for close US allies; the signatories made clear they would continue seeking changes.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 08/10/2007

    The country's largest opposition party, the Social Democratic Party, has pledged to strike down fiscal reforms planned by the government - if approved - once the party returns to power. Party leader Jiri Paroubek said as much at a press conference on Friday, criticising the reforms put forward by Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek. He called them "bad" and said they would lower the living standards of 90 percent of Czechs. MPs will begin debating the government's reform package next Tuesday. The ruling parties enjoy a slim majority in the lower house, but a number of their own MPs, too, have expressed reservations on a number of reform issues.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 08/10/2007

    According to a poll released by the Factum Invenio agency, the ruling Civic Democrats would defeat the country's largest opposition party, the Social Democrats, were a national election held today. The poll suggests the Civic Democrats would win three percent more of the vote, earning 33.9 percent, while the Social Democrats would get 30.7 percent.

    Author: Jan Velinger

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