• Hochtief VSB wins Defence Ministry tender
    12/29/2005

    One of the largest construction companies in the country, Hochtief VSB, has won a tender to reconstruct buildings belonging to the Czech Defence Ministry. The contract for the one billion crown project is expected to be signed in the next few days. The other companies that entered the tender were Metrostav, Prumstav, Subterra, and Konstruktiva Branko.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Prague's Ruzyne airport back in operation
    12/29/2005

    Prague's international Ruzyne airport is back in full operation after limiting services for several hours on Thursday after heavy snow disrupted transport across the country.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Bad weather causes major problems on Czech roads
    12/28/2005

    Heavy snows and freezing temperatures have been causing problems on roads around the Czech Republic. Local authority workers have been working flat out trying to keep the country's roads open. The main Prague-Brno motorway was blocked for five hours on Wednesday after a collision involving three trucks. While in general the biggest difficulties have been recorded in mountain areas, motorists throughout the Czech Republic have been warned to drive carefully.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Polish, Slovak dentists could fill shortage in Czech Republic, says minister
    12/28/2005

    The health minister, David Rath, says he wants to fill a growing shortage of dentists in the Czech Republic by attracting dentists from the neighbouring states of Slovakia and Poland. But the head of the Czech Dentists' Chamber, Jiri Pekarek, said he could not imagine why Slovak or Polish dentists would come here when they can make more money in Germany, Britain or Sweden.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Paroubek denies "waging war" against Czech media
    12/28/2005

    Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek has denied "waging war" against the Czech media. In an article in Mlada fronta Dnes, Mr Paroubek said occasional disputes with journalists were normal, but only two papers - Mlada fronta and Lidove noviny - had created an impression of "war" between him and the media. The prime minister came in for some criticism recently when a Czech TV current affairs programme was axed after he complained it was biased.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Klaus ill but should make New Year's address
    12/28/2005

    President Vaclav Klaus has had to cancel part of his programme while he receives treatment for a viral infection. However, Mr Klaus, who is 64, is expected to be well enough to make the traditional New Year's Day address to the nation, a spokesperson said.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Number of universities, students much higher than decade ago
    12/28/2005

    The number of universities and students in the Czech Republic has been steadily rising over the last ten years, according to data released on Wednesday by the Institute for Information on Education. A decade ago there were 23 universities, but there are now 60, thanks to a law introduced in 1998 allowing the establishment of private universities. In the last academic year there were over 300,000 third level students in the Czech Republic; the most popular subjects are economics, technology and teaching.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Almost 19 million mobile phones imported over last decade
    12/28/2005

    Since the country's mobile phone networks started in 1996, almost 19 million mobiles have been imported into the Czech Republic, which has a population of 10 million. Hospodarske noviny reported on Wednesday there are 106 SIM cards for every 100 Czechs, and that Czechs keep mobiles for less than two years on average before acquiring a new one.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Police: Number of illegal migrants on Slovak-Czech border drops
    12/27/2005

    Police say that the number of illegal migrants detained on the eastern border with Slovakia has dropped this year. While in 2004, border police detained around 500 people, this year it has been fewer than a hundred. They were mostly Chechens, Mongolians and citizens of former Soviet countries. Police say that overall the number of migrants in Central Europe has decreased. Also after the Czech Republic joined the European Union, the routes of migration to Western Europe have changed.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • People in Need collect 132 million crowns for tsunami-hit Sri Lanka
    12/27/2005

    The Czech humanitarian organisation People in Need says it has collected 132 million crowns (5.5 million dollars) in aid for the survivors of last year's tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean. People in Need is now running a number of projects in Sri Lanka. Having started with immediate relief deliveries in the first days after the disaster, the organisation has been involved in the cleanup works and restoration of the country's power grid and is now building schools and houses.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

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