-
08/07/2007
At a press briefing in Prague on Tuesday Jiri Cunek thanked his party and the prime minister for having retained their faith in him and supported him through the crisis. He slammed the opposition Social Democrats for trying to implement a presumption of guilt for politicians, saying that this was not the way to go. "I am immensely relieved that this matter has finally been closed and that my name has been cleared" the Christian Democrat leader told newsmen.
-
08/07/2007
MEP and former Czech foreign minister Josef Zielenec says his candidacy in next year's presidential elections depends on whether he can find broad support in Parliament. Mr. Zieleniec, whose nomination was proposed by the Independents' Association - European Democrats, said on Tuesday he had yet to make up his mind whether to accept it. Political commentators say this is a wise decision since Mr. Zielenec may find it hard to garner enough support. Reacting to news about his possible candidacy the opposition Social Democrats said on Monday they were not prepared to support him, and neither can he expect to win votes from the Civic Democrats who have pledged to support incumbent president Vaclav Klaus. Another possible nominee is Jiri Dienstbier, former foreign minister and special UN envoy for human rights.
-
08/07/2007
The lower house of Parliament is to re-convene on August 14th to debate the government's fiscal reform package. The package is aimed at reducing the deficit in public finances to below 3 percent of GDP and has evoked plenty of controversy in the lower house despite having passed through its first reading. The opposition Social Democrats and the Communist Party have slammed the government's proposal saying that such reforms would benefit the rich and disadvantage the lower and middle classes. The proposed package has also come under fire from right-wing politicians for allegedly not being radical enough. The Prime Minister has linked his cabinet's future to the reform plan saying that he would resign if it fails to win approval. With a razor-sharp majority in the lower house the centre right coalition government needs the vote of every single one of its deputies.
-
08/07/2007
President Vaclav Klaus is to address a UN conference on global warming in September, his spokesman Petr Hajek told the CTK news agency on Tuesday. The Czech president is a strong critic of what he calls "the hysteria surrounding global warming" and has even published a book on the subject called "Blue, not Green Planet" in which he claims that freedom -not the climate - is endangered by "ambitious environmentalism". President Klaus himself confirmed he would be attending the conference, telling Radio Free Europe that he was looking forward to the event and planned to give a very tough speech.
-
08/07/2007
The Prague High Court has ruled that judge Anna Bimova made grave mistakes when presiding over the case of the former choir master Bohumil Kulinsky, who is charged with sexual abuse of underage girls. Judge Bimova allegedly opted for a number of non-standard procedures which have cast doubt on the final ruling. The High Court thus cancelled the verdict of the Hradec Kralove court which acquitted Kulinsky of two cases of sexual abuse and returned the case to the same court stipulating that it should be given to another judge. The scandal surrounding the former choirmaster of Bambini di Pragua, the country's most famous children's choir, broke in 2004 when several dozen girls testified they had been sexually harassed by him. Kulinsky faces charges in 49 cases.
-
08/07/2007
Czech state-run power producer CEZ has won a tender to build a power station comprising three steam-gas blocks with output of 600 megawatts in Moscow. The power station will be situated in the northern part of Moscow, about six kilometres from the Kremlin. A contract on the construction should be signed in six months' time. The power station is the second Russian project announced by CEZ this year. In April, CEZ signed a contract on a joint venture with Russian energy concern RAO-EES on the reconstruction of a power station in Shchokino, about 200 kilometres south of Moscow.
-
08/07/2007
Nine teaching hospitals are to form the backbone of the country's medical services in the future, the daily Hospodarske Noviny writes in its Tuesday edition, reporting on the health ministry's reform plans. The hospitals will remain under state control, they will cover all vital medical services and will receive special subsidies from the state.
-
08/06/2007
The case of Jiri Cunek has come to an end, the daily Lidove Noviny's website reported on Monday. State prosecutor Arif Salichov, responsible for the case, dropped all charges against Jiri Cunek, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Regional Development and the chairman of Social Democrats, one of the three parties in the government. According to Deputy Head State Prosecutor in Olomouc Igor Striz, whose office was supervising the case, no criminal offence was committed.
Jiri Cunek was being investigated for taking bribes during his term as the mayor of Vsetin, North Moravia. The case, which took almost eight months to resolve, caused a lot of tension in the government. Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, of Civic Democrats, was under pressure from the opposition to dismiss Cunek from his government.
-
08/06/2007
Former foreign minister and current Member of the European Parliament Josef Zieliniec expressed his intetntions of facing the incumbent Vaclav Klaus in the presidential elections next year, the website tyden.cz reported on Monday. He will be nominated by a small liberal party known as the Association of Independent Candidates - European Democrats. The party is to issue an official statement on Tuesday.
Between 1992 and 1997, Josef Zieleniec was the Czech foreign minister in governments formed by the Civic Democrats. He later became both an MP and a Senator. In 2004, he was elected a Member of the European Parliament. Mr Zieliniec is another politician, after Jiri Dienstbier, who expressed his intentions to run for office in the presidential elections held in February next year.
-
08/06/2007
The Supreme Court has upheld a lower-instance court decision on ownership rights to Spejbl and Hurvinek, two legendary marionette characters dating back to Czechoslovakia's First Republic. The court on Monday confirmed last year's ruling that the rights belong to Helena Stachova, director of the Spejbl + Hurvinek theatre in Prague. The registered trademark had been contested in a nine-year-long legal battle by a theatre in Pilsen with ties to puppeteer Josef Skupa, the original voice behind both characters. He was succeeded by Milos Kirschner, who later had the trademark registered. It was inherited by his widow. The names Spejbl and Hurvinek are instantly recognisable to most Czechs; the characters are also well-known internationally.
Pages
- « první
- ‹ předchozí
- …
- 5595
- 5596
- 5597
- 5598
- 5599
- 5600
- 5601
- 5602
- 5603
- …
- následující ›
- poslední »