News

The Iranian Embassy in Prague has sent a letter of protest to Czech diplomatic officials. The Foreign Ministry's spokesman Vit Kolar said on Friday that the letter was in response to the reprinting of a caricature depicting the Prophet Mohammed by two Czech newspapers. In recent days, the caricatures, first printed by a Danish newspaper, sparked vehement and sometimes violent protests in Muslim communities from Asia to the Middle East. The Czech dailies - Mlada Fronta Dnes and the financial newspaper Hospodarske Noviny - defended their decision to reprint one of over a dozen caricatures, on the grounds that it was for "illustrative purposes" only. The Iranian Embassy has asked for an official apology. But, the Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda, while denouncing the cartoons, has stressed it is up to the dailies themselves to choose what to print.

A much-discussed amendment to the country's media law has passed in the Lower House. On Friday 88 of 120 MPs present voted in favour, to lay the foundations for widespread digital broadcasting. Currently, the country has four nation-wide analogue channels, two belonging to public broadcaster Czech TV, two to commercial broadcasters TV Nova and Prima. It is estimated that under the wave of digitalisation as many as 24 new channels could come into being, both for national as well as regional audiences. Some digital broadcasting began in the Czech Republic last year, not covering the whole of the country.

All analogue broadcasters are expected to make the transition to digital between the years 2010 - 2012.

The Lower House on Friday passed an amendment to the bill on civilian aviation that will soften the conditions for the security clearance of pilots and flight attendants. Under the law, pilots and attendants will not have to pass as demanding security vetting carried out by the National Security Office in the future. They will be vetted under more standard procedures by employers themselves. In this way MPs have reacted to demands by civilian pilots who have long sought to abolish Security Office vetting. Pilots objected to the demand of a high number of personal documents including information about their families, short and long foreign trips or contacts with persons living abroad. The NBU has already screened most of the 14,000 pilots and stewardesses who applied for clearance. If passed by the Senate and signed by the president the bill will take effect in July 2006.

On Friday the XX Olympic Winter Games will officially open in Torino, Italy, lasting from the 10th of February until February 26th. The Czechs have an unprecedented 82 athletes competing. Medal hopefuls include the ice hockey team lead by Jaromir Jagr and Dominik Hasek, who will be attempting a gold-medal run similar to the Czech team's success in Nagano, Japan, in 1998. Team representatives are approaching the challenge cautiously, saying that the Czech team is only one among a strong group of favourites that includes Canada, Sweden, and the United States.