• 01/26/2007

    The Czech Roman Catholic Church has called on the media not to pass judgement on priests who collaborated with the secret police under the communist regime. The Bishops Conference said clergy were sometimes forced into collaboration. An estimated 150 Czech priests collaborated with the StB secret police.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/26/2007

    One of the most highly regarded Czech-Americans in Washington Irena Kirkland has died at the age of 81. After surviving Auschwitz she fell foul of the communist authorities in Czechoslovakia before moving to Israel and later the USA. Irena Kirkland did a lot to help the anti-communist movement in her native country and received the Czech Foreign Ministry's Gratis Agit award just a week before her death.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/26/2007

    The Pendelino high-speed train crashed into a truck at a railway crossing near Olomouc on Friday afternoon. Thanks to the quick reactions of the train's driver it had slowed to 10 km an hour by the time it hit the truck and no injuries were caused.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/26/2007

    The Finance Ministry has dropped a 2.4 billion-crown fine against the company Mittal Steel Ostrava, the website iDnes reported. The steelmaker received the fine in December for overcharging for coke. The ministry refused to give an explanation for the decision. Mittal Steel Ostrava, formerly Nova hut, is part of multinational giant Mittal Steel.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/26/2007

    The Czech figure skater Tomas Verner has won a silver medal at the European Championships in Poland. Verner, who is 20, had his hopes of gold dashed when he fell coming out of a quadruple toe loop. It was the Czech Republic's first medal in the competition in 12 years. Verner's trainer Vlasta Koprivova said his success could help bring back the good times for Czech figure skating.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/25/2007

    The United States has asked the Czech government if it can locate a planned radar base in the Brdy military zone in central Bohemia. One other location had been under consideration, Libava in north Moravia. The radar would be part of the United States' global missile defence programme. If approved by the Czech parliament, the radar base should house around 200 US soldiers and civilians and go into operation in 2011.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/25/2007

    Senator Vaclav Jehlicka has accepted an offer to become culture minister. His party the Christian Democrats turned to Mr Jehlicka after its previous nominee Helena Trestikova resigned from the post on Wednesday, just over two weeks after being appointed. She said Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek had tried to pressure her into appointing a deputy of his choosing.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/25/2007

    Flights from Prague's Ruzyne airport resumed at 9 a.m. on Thursday. The airport had been closed for almost 30 hours due to heavy snows. The closure forced airlines to cancel hundreds of flights, stranding thousands of passengers.

    The heavy snows also caused a marked increase in road accidents; there were over 1,100 accidents on Wednesday, more than twice the usual number, police said.

    Firefighters have issued a warning against falling icicles. They have removed dangerous icicles at scores of locations in Prague alone. Ambulance crews, meanwhile, say they have been called out to deal with dozens of injuries caused by people slipping on snow and ice.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/25/2007

    Deputy Prime Minister Jiri Cunek has apparently given conflicting explanations as to the origin of half a million crowns which he is accused of having taken as a bribe. Police suspect the Christian Democrats leader of receiving the money from a building company when he was mayor of the town of Vsetin. In recent days Senator Cunek has said the money represented family savings. But police say that during earlier questioning he said he had forgotten where he got the money.

    The Senate's immunity committee has recommended that Mr Cunek be stripped of his parliamentary immunity to allow criminal proceedings against him to begin. A final decision will be made in about two weeks' time.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/25/2007

    Former orderly Petr Zelenka may have killed up to five more patients than previously believed at a hospital in Havlickuv Brod, according to a Health Ministry expert commission. Zelenka has been charged with using a blood-thinning drug to kill eight patients, but Health Minister Tomas Julinek said the real number of victims could be up to 13.

    Author: Ian Willoughby

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