• Czech worker killed in Germany
    10/27/2007

    One Czech and two Slovak nationals died on Thursday at a construction of a power plant in Grevenbroich, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The men were working on scaffolding that was pulled down by parts of the construction that had collapsed. Another four Czech workers were injured in the accident, three of them seriously.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Male killer nurse accused of seven murders, ten attempts
    10/27/2007

    The police in Jihlava have concluded the investigation of male nurse Petr Zelenka who faces accusations of committing seven murders and ten attempted murders in a hospital in Havlickuv Brod, eastern Bohemia. Mr Zelenka, who was working at the hospital's intensive care unit, killed seven patients between May and September 2006 by giving them lethal doses of anticoagulants.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Daylight saving time ends
    10/27/2007

    Clocks in the Czech Republic as well as in the rest of Europe will shift back by 60 minutes at 3 o'clock on Sunday morning that marks the end of the daylight saving time. The time change will affect transportation schedules; in the Czech Republic, 12 international trains will stop at train stations for the extra hour.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Announcement of planned far-right march through Jewish Quarter invalid, says Town Hall
    10/26/2007

    The Prague Town Hall says a planned march through the city's Jewish Quarter by neo-Nazi extremists should not go ahead, as an announcement filed by its organisers is invalid. The group which announced it was holding the procession, Mladi narodni demokrate (Young National Democrats), was not legally registered when the declaration was made, Prague Town Hall spokesman Jiri Wolf told journalists on Friday. The march is planned for Saturday November 10, the anniversary of the Kristallnacht Nazi pogrom of 1938. Jewish groups and politicians at both national and local level have called for it to be banned. However, two Town Hall injunctions against the march were found to be unlawful in court.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Euro trades at under 27 Czech crowns for first time ever
    10/26/2007

    The common European currency has traded below 27 Czech crowns for the first time ever. One euro was valued at 26.94 crowns on Friday afternoon. Some analysts believe the crown will further strengthen towards the euro, and could breach the 26.70 mark in November; in the last twelve months the crown has gained almost five percent against the common European currency. Meanwhile, the crown also reached a new record against the US dollar - it was 18.73 to the dollar on Friday.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Skoda Auto makes more in third quarter than whole of 2006
    10/26/2007

    Skoda Auto increased its pre-tax profits by almost 40 percent in the third quarter of this year. In the three-month period profits for the Mlada Boleslav carmaker reached 14.8 billion crowns - more than the 14.2 billion crowns it earned in the whole of 2006. By the end of September Skoda Auto had produced almost 450,000 vehicles, representing an increase of almost 10 percent on the same nine-month period last year.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • New bill means prisoners cannot refuse to work for local, regional authorities
    10/26/2007

    Prisoners will no longer be able to refuse to work for local and regional authorities, under a bill passed by a large majority in the lower house of Parliament on Friday. Inmates who work earn money towards their keep in prison; under the new legislation, said Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil, those who are in good physical condition but refuse to work will have to pay towards the cost of keeping them in jail after their release. Currently inmates have a duty to work for the state, but can turn down work at local or regional level. The new bill must now go before the Senate and the president.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • New Czech army planes named after war heroes launched in Prague
    10/26/2007

    President Vaclav Klaus, Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova and the chief of staff of the Czech army Vlastimil Picek were among the dignitaries who attended the launch of two new Czech army Airbus planes on Friday. The aircraft are named after two Czechoslovak World War II heroes, Karel Janousek and Josef Ocelka. Ocelka flew in Britain's RAF, while Janousek fought in the resistance in the two world wars and set up a Czechoslovak unit in the RAF during the second.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Referendum on US radar base rejected by lower house
    10/26/2007

    The Chamber of Deputies has, as expected, voted down a proposal by the opposition Social Democrats and Communists for a referendum on a planned United States radar base in the Czech Republic. The governing Civic Democrats have consistently rejected the idea of a referendum on the issue. Parliament is set to decide next year on whether to allow the US base, which would be part of a global anti-missile defence shield.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Doctor gets prison, five-year ban for sexual abuse of teenage patients
    10/26/2007

    A hospital doctor has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for the sexual abuse of nine teenage female patients, three of whom were younger than 15. Doctor Ivan Drnek, who worked at a hospital in Litomerice, has also been barred from practising medicine for five years.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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