• Doctor and nurse fired over baby mix-up now reinstated
    10/31/2007

    A doctor and nurse dismissed from a hospital in Trebic after a high-profile baby mix-up have been reinstated. The head of the hospital's children's unit, Jan Kozak, and the unit's senior nurse, Jitka Pospisilova, were fired in October after it emerged that two babies were accidentally swapped at birth almost a year ago. However, both have now been offered their positions back by the hospital, and have accepted, Dr Kozak told reporters.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Crown again hits record high against US dollar
    10/31/2007

    The Czech crown has again hit a new record high against the US dollar. During trading on Wednesday morning 1 dollar was going for 18.56 crowns, the lowest rate ever. The dollar fell on world markets ahead of a meeting of the US Federal Reserve.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Finance Ministry revises upwards growth estimate
    10/31/2007

    The Ministry of Finance has again revised upwards its estimate of growth in the Czech economy this year. The ministry said growth should reach 5.9 percent in 2007, a slight increase on the 5.8 percent forecast it made in June of this year. Last year the Czech Republic saw record GDP growth of 6.4 percent.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Berdych keeps Shanghai hopes alive with win in Paris
    10/31/2007

    Czech men's tennis number one Tomas Berdych has kept his hopes of reaching the prestigious season's end Masters Cup in Shanghai alive, after advancing to the third round at the Paris Masters with a 6-3 6-3 win over Croatia's Mario Ancic. A good run in Paris could secure Berdych a place in the elite eight player tournament. The Czech now faces Spain's David Ferrer in the third round.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Smicer hoping for return after two-month injury lay-off
    10/31/2007

    Czech footballer Vladimir Smicer is hoping to make a return for Slavia Prague this weekend after being out injured for over two months. Smicer, who is 34, has made few appearances for Slavia since making a high-profile return to the club in the summer. The midfielder is now in full training again and says he should be ready for Saturday's game against Teplice. Smicer has scored 27 goals in 81 appearances for the Czech Republic.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • US-based author presented with Skvorecky literary prize in Prague
    10/31/2007

    The writer Jan Novak has been presented the Josef Skvorecky Award for his novel Deda (Granddad). Novak, who settled in the United States after leaving Czechoslovakia the late 1960s, also received a cheque for CZK 250,000 (over USD 13,000) from the organisers, Prague's Josef Skvorecky Private College.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Jiri Cunek to hit Czech TV with libel suit
    10/30/2007

    Deputy Prime Minister Jiri Cunek has said he will sue Czech Television for claiming that back in 1997 he and his family had drawn welfare benefits at a time when he was making millions of crowns. The country's public broadcaster said on Monday it had certificates to prove that Mr. Cunek drew social benefits and housing allowances from the state at a time when he deposited 3.5 million crowns (close to 190,000 US dollars) into three different bank accounts. Mr. Cunek told journalists that all he had received from the state were birth and child allowances, both across-the-board benefits any parent is entitled to. However the daily Pravo on Tuesday published a copy of a certificate allegedly proving that the state provided Jiri Cunek with both a housing allowance and social benefits in 1997. Since entering high politics Mr. Cunek has been dogged by scandal. In February of this year the police accused him of corruption but the prosecution was halted due to a lack of evidence.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Prague City Hall bans eight more extremist marches
    10/30/2007

    Prague City Hall says it is determined to prevent a march by right-wing extremists through Prague's Jewish quarter on November 10th, the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom on Jews in 1938. In the past 24 hours right-wing extremists have announced eight marches along eight different routes and the city hall has banned them all. The planned march, the pretext of which is opposition to Czech involvement in the occupation of Iraq, has raised a great deal of criticism from leading politicians, Jewish organizations and members of the public.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Third round of talks on US radar
    10/30/2007

    Czech and US experts have started a third round of talks on the possibility of siting a US tracking radar on Czech soil. According to the Czech Foreign Ministry the talks are focusing exclusively on the legal and technical details of the plan. A foreign ministry spokesman stressed that Washington's controversial proposal for a Russian presence at the site was not on the agenda. The US proposal was unveiled by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Prague last week and caused outrage both among politicians and the public. The Czech prime minister said later that only Russian observers, and not soldiers, might be permitted at the facility, but the proposal remains highly sensitive.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Development aid to Brdy region
    10/30/2007

    The government has earmarked 1.25 billion crowns in development aid to municipalities bordering on the potential site of the US radar. In an effort to overcome opposition to the plan the government promised to boost the local infrastructure, finance new sewage and water systems and invest in a number of local projects. This is to be done whether or not the radar is built. The mayors of the Brdy region originally asked for three times as much money but a special government commission said their demands were exaggerated.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

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