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11/03/2007
The opposition Social Democrats will nominate economist Jan Svejnar for president if he can secure support across the political spectrum. The Social Democrats' Milan Urban said they would give him until December 8, when the party will again discuss their candidate, to speak to the other parties in parliament. If those talks prove successful, Mr Svejnar will face the incumbent Vaclav Klaus in bi-cameral elections due in early February. Senior Social Democrats say they believe the respected academic could find some support within Mr Klaus's party the Civic Democrats.
The Greens, the smallest party in the governing coalition, said on Saturday that they would back Mr Svejnar if he runs for president.
Jan Svejnar, who is 54, is based in the United States, where he has spent most of his life. He was an economic advisor to former Czech president Vaclav Havel for almost a decade.
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11/03/2007
Meanwhile, the Social Democrats have called for a vote of no-confidence in the coalition government, if it does not resign. The biggest opposition party says the cabinet is in crisis following the announced resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Jiri Cunek, who faces allegations of bribe-taking and welfare abuse.
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11/03/2007
The Finance Ministry has launched an investigation into the purchase of new Tatra trucks by the Czech army, Lidove noviny reported. The supplier was selected directly, not through a tender, and critics say the trucks are both over-priced and fail to meet the army's requirements, the daily said. Inspectors and auditors from the Finance Ministry are investigating the CZK 2.6 billion deal signed by former defence minister Jiri Sedivy last December. At the time the government said it had selected Tatra as it was a Czech firm and provided thousands of jobs in the north Moravian region.
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11/03/2007
Vlastimil Tlusty, a former finance minister, has lost his only remaining position of influence in the governing Civic Democrats, after withdrawing from a vote for chairman of the party's central Bohemian branch in Kladno on Saturday. The position was won by Petr Bendl, the governor of the region. Earlier this year Mr Tlusty, overlooked for the post of finance minister in the current cabinet, went against the Civic Democrats leadership over his objections to elements of a major package of tax and welfare reforms.
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11/03/2007
A 20-year-old man has been sent to prison for 19 years for beating his girlfriend's mother to death with a hammer. His girlfriend, who is 17, got a 10-year sentence for urging him to commit the deed during an argument between the couple and the girl's mother in Chomutov, north Bohemia last December. Court experts described the girl as normal and clever, but said the man, Petr Jiskra, was unfeeling and had no compunctions about killing, a regional edition of Mlada fronta Dnes reported.
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11/03/2007
Cardinal Miloslav Vlk held a mass marking the 'dusicky' tradition of honouring the dead at the church of SS Petr and Pavel at Prague's Vysehrad on Friday evening. The head of the Czech Roman Catholic Church also conducted a service at the nearby Slavin, a pantheon containing the remains of some of the greatest figures in Czech cultural history. People around the Czech Republic honour departed relatives and friends every year on 'dusicky', November 2.
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11/03/2007
A truck driver from the Czech Republic was left stranded for three nights in south-west England after his satellite navigation system directed him down a narrow country lane, UK newspapers reported on Friday. When driver Yuri Odenhai's 40-tonne lorry got stuck on a sharp bend his Czech-based company refused to pay for an expensive recovery operation. The vehicle was eventually towed out by a tractor after trees on the lane were trimmed. The driver spent the nights in the truck's cabin rather than pay for accommodation.
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11/03/2007
Slavia Prague are now six points clear at the top of the Czech football league after a 1:0 home win over second-placed Teplice on Saturday. The only goal of the biggest game of the first division's 12th round was scored by Ladislav Volasek in the 30th minute. Slavia take on Arsenal in the Champions League in Prague next Wednesday; in front of their home crowd, the Czech league leaders will be hoping to make some amends for their 7:0 away drubbing by the London club in their last Champions League outing.
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11/03/2007
Spanish guitar player Paco de Lucia played a sold-out concert at Prague's Congress Centre on Friday night. His well-received set featured various genres, including flamenco, the style which has won the musician world renown.
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11/02/2007
The US Ambassador to Prague Richard Graber has revealed numbers showing the Czech Republic has come significantly closer to meeting requirements for visa-free status with the United States. According to the numbers, the number of visas rejected for Czechs was 6.7 percent of applications put forward, a drop from around 9.5 percent. Under legislation adopted in the US this year countries could theoretically be granted visa-free status providing they meet key criteria, first and foremost posting less than 10 percent of applications rejected. Earlier this week, Canada struck down visa requirements for Czechs for short-term visits, a move welcomed by Czech officials. The US Ambassador to Prague Richard Graber said on Friday that steps towards visa-free status with the US could be achieved by the Czech Republic within one or two years.
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