• Cabinet approves programme aimed at improving language skills of Czechs
    12/22/2005

    The cabinet has approved a plan to improve the foreign language skills of both children and adults. From September school pupils will begin a first foreign language in third class, at the age of 8 or 9, and take up a second language five years later. There will also be more language lessons from the beginning of the next school year. The government says the five billion crowns invested in the programme will be well spent, as Czechs need language skills to succeed on the European labour market.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Resistance hero General Rudolf Pernicky dies at 90
    12/22/2005

    Czech World War II hero General Rudolf Pernicky died on Wednesday at the age of 90. General Pernicky played an important role in the anti-Nazi resistance and was later imprisoned by the Communist regime. He was rehabilitated after the Velvet Revolution and this year was awarded the highest Czech state honour, the Order of the White Lion.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Lower house passes bill on public tenders
    12/21/2005

    The lower house has passed a bill on public tenders aimed at curbing corruption and increasing transparency. Under the legislation it would no longer be possible to "direct" a public tender towards one company. The bill's authors also hope that announcing tenders on the internet will lead to a decrease in corruption levels.

    Deputies have also voted to strip Civic Democrat Vladimir Dolezal of his immunity. Police accuse Mr Dolezal of acting as a go-between in a bribery affair involving a Prague councillor who is also a member of the Civic Democrats.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech Army surgeons complete mission in southern Iraq
    12/21/2005

    A team of Czech Army surgeons have returned from Iraq. The six surgeons' mission came to an end due to a redeployment of British troops, who were their main patients. The team carried out around 70 operations in a year and a half in Shaiba in the south of Iraq.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Pirate of Prague Kozeny to remain in custody until extradition hearing
    12/21/2005

    A court in the Bahamas has refused to release Viktor Kozeny from custody. Mr Kozeny will remain on remand until January 30th, when a hearing begins into whether or not he will face extradition to the United States. The Pirate of Prague, as he is known, is wanted in both the US and the Czech Republic on charges of large-scale fraud.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Remains of general executed during WWII may receive state funeral
    12/21/2005

    The remains of Czech General Alois Elias, who was prime minister of the Nazi Protectorate but was later executed by the Germans for his work organising the resistance, have been acquired by the Military History Institute. The cabinet is now deciding what to do with his ashes, which were saved by a friend. The defence minister, Karel Kuhnl, has called for a state funeral with military honours for the general and his wife, who also supported the anti-Nazi resistance.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Quarter of a million to visit over Christmas, New Year
    12/21/2005

    A quarter of a million visitors are expected to spend Christmas and New Year in the Czech Republic, a tourism monitoring agency told Hospodarske noviny. Most tourists are expected to visit Prague, though the country's health spas will also do good business in the next couple of weeks.

    Meanwhile, around 12,000 Czechs are planning to spend the festive season on exotic beach holidays, while twice that number will go skiing abroad.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Spidleruv Mlyn hosts first Alpine ski world cup event in Czech Republic
    12/21/2005

    The first ever Alpine ski world cup event in the Czech Republic began in the north Bohemian resort of Spindleruv Mlyn on Wednesday morning, despite unfavourable weather conditions. World cup competitions were held in Czechoslovakia, but in the Tatra Mountains in what is now the Slovak Republic.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Prima audience decreases with end of reality show
    12/21/2005

    Viewing figures for Prima TV have dropped by around a quarter, since its popular reality show Vyvoleni came to an end a week and a half ago, according to figures released on Tuesday. The station is now watched by around 22% percent of viewers, as was the case before Vyvoleni started. Nova is the country's most popular station, with around 40% of the TV audience.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Lower house passes bill phasing out rent control
    12/20/2005

    The lower house has passed a bill under which state-controlled rent should increase by 14.2 percent annually between 2007 and 2010. Some 750,000 flats in the Czech Republic have controlled rent, which is about one fifth of all apartments in the country. At present, a dual system exists with the market rent of an identical flat in the same apartment building being several times higher than that of one subject to control. The bill has yet to be approved by the Senate and signed by the President.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

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