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03/03/2007
The Czech Catholic Church has agreed to hand over the administration of St. Vitus Cathedral to Prague Castle. The Catholic Church is thus adhering to the ruling of the Supreme Court according to which the cathedral belongs to the state. This is yet another twist in a thirteen year long legal battle between the Church and state over ownership rights. The Church won the Cathedral back only last June under a ruling by the Prague City Court but has now had to relinquish its right to it. Cardinal Miloslav Vlk said the Church would consider taking the legal battle to a European court.
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03/03/2007
The Austrian government has asked lawyers to look into the possibility of filing an international lawsuit against the Czech Republic over the Temelin nuclear power plant in south Bohemia. Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer said that the request did not imply that the Austrian government had firmly decided to take court action. Austria remains concerned over safety standards at the nuclear plant and anti-nuclear activists question the Czech Republic's adherence to the so-called Melk agreement, which binds the Czech Republic to informing its neighbors about any problems at the plant within a set time limit.
The country's heads of government agreed last week to establish a joint parliamentary commission to monitor safety at Temelin, but Austrian anti-nuclear activists dismissed the talks and have continued to effect border blockades demanding the plant's closure.
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03/03/2007
President Klaus is to travel to the United States on Sunday for a three week visit which is expected to cover a number of outstanding issues in bilateral relations. His talks with US top officials will focus primarily on the US plan to build a US missile defense shield in the Czech Republic and Poland and the lifting of visa requirements for Czechs traveling to the United States. The Czech Republic has promised to give Washington an official response within a month on whether the country would be prepared to host a US radar base on its territory.
Although the final decision will be made by Parliament, the governing coalition is divided over the matter. The Civic Democrats and Christian Democrats support it, but the Green Party objects to the fact that the defense project does not involve the country's NATO allies.
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03/03/2007
Karel Bican, bishop of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, has not been excommunicated despite the sex scandal that surrounds him. The patriarch of the Hussite Church Tomas Butta said that Bican refuses to leave of his own accord and a vote by the Prague diocese had not gone against him. The 55 year old bishop recently admitted that he had demanded sex from a young man just released from prison in return for helping him find accommodation and work.
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03/03/2007
All applicants for jobs in the Czech Armed Forces will in future have to undergo compulsory screening for drug abuse, Defense Minister Vlasta Parkanova told journalists on Friday. The decision comes shortly after it emerged that nine professional soldiers at the prestigious Caslav military air base - home to the country's Gripen fighter jets - use drugs. Tests were ordered at the base after the police arrested two soldiers on suspicion of drug-dealing. Minister Parkanova said that in future all soldiers would be subjected to random tests.
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03/03/2007
Fans of Shakira have flocked to Prague for her first ever concert in the Czech capital. The 29 years old Latin American pop singer-songwriter will perform at Prague's Sazka Arena on 3rd March 2007. She will be singing hits from her latest album Oral Fixation. Tickets range from 1300 to 1600 crowns.
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03/03/2007
The Krkonose Mountains rescue service has called a high avalanche alert in all mountain resorts. Fresh snowfall overnight in combination with relatively high daytime temperatures are said to have increased the risk of avalanches several fold.
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03/02/2007
A new poll by the CVVM agency has suggested that around 61 percent of Czechs are opposed to the idea of the US deploying a radar base on Czech territory. The US has officially asked the Czech Republic to consider such a base as part of a broader anti-missile defence system aimed at preventing potential attacks. The Czech government has indicated a willingness to open negotiations but is expected to reply to the US request only by the end of March. The idea of the radar base, which would complement a rocket installation in Poland, has divided the Czech political scene. The ruling Civic Democrats are in favour, while some of the smaller parties have stressed the need for the project to be implemented within a NATO framework. The Communist Party - most opposed - is calling for a referendum on the issue.
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03/02/2007
The regional council in Karlovy Vary, west Bohemia, has agreed on an advance payment of two million crowns to a Czech woman, Zuzana Rokosova, who was paralysed after undergoing a medical procedure at a local hospital in 2003. Regional councillors agreed on the payment for Mrs Rokosova, despite the fact the region has appealed a court decision in February awarding the woman 17 million crowns - the equivalent of around 800,000 US dollars. The governor indicated on Thursday the region did not want to complicate matters for her or her husband, but the region chose to appeal mainly because of contradictory assessments in the case. Mrs Rokosova's husband was not available for comment, but reportedly would like to build a home with special facilities for his wife so she will not be confined to an institution.
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03/02/2007
A proposal by Czech-born architect Jan Kaplicky has been chosen by an international jury as the winning design for the new national library building to be built on Prague's Letna plain. The news was announced during a special press conference on Friday. Mr Kaplicky, the founder of the London-based studio Future Systems, has designed landmarks such as the space-age Selfridges building in Birmingham. Mr Kaplicky said on Friday that he was surprised by the decision, calling it "perhaps the most important moment of his life". Jan Kaplicky is widely-considered one of the most important architects working today.
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