• Iran reported to have imposed trade embargo on the Czech Republic
    10/20/2005

    The Czech Foreign Affairs Ministry says Iran has not confirmed reports of an imposed trade embargo on the Czech Republic. According to the Iranian and South Korean press, the Czech Republic, South Korea, Argentina, and Britain are to be punished with embargos as they have been critical of the Iranian nuclear programme. Iranian charge d'affaires Said Hoseyn Rezvani has assured the Czech Trade and Industry Ministry that Czech firms exporting to Iran have nothing to worry about. In the first eight months of this year, exports to Iran have totalled some 86.4 million US dollars.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Czech KFOR soldiers to be vaccinated against flu
    10/20/2005

    The Czech Army has dispatched a plane carrying a vaccine against the common flu to Kosovo. As Macedonia awaits the results of tests on what could be its first case of bird flu, the Czech Army has decided to vaccinate its soldiers stationed in neighbouring Kosovo. Some 500 Czech soldiers currently serving in the KFOR mission in the south-Serbian province should be getting their shots in the next few days.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Police say random shooter has been caught
    10/20/2005

    Police say they have arrested a man suspected to have murdered three people last week. The 28-year old man has been charged with murder, while his motive has yet to be determined. An elderly couple collecting wood in a forest near Brno was shot last Thursday. His other victim is believed to be an electrician from the town of Kladno, near Prague, who was shot three days later, as he was walking his dog.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Ceska Sporitelna bank predicts adoption of Euro as late as 2013
    10/20/2005

    The Ceska Sporitelna bank has issued a report which foresees the country will not be able to adopt the Euro before 2013. It furthermore expects a rate of 25,50 crowns to the euro; the current rate stands at a little under 30 crowns. The Czech government has been working with a plan that sees the adoption of the single European currency three years earlier, by 2010 at the latest. The bank report also says Slovakia is the only member of the Visegrad Group, which also includes Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, whose planned date - 2009 - is realistic.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Poll: Civic Democrats still in front but Social Democrats catching up
    10/19/2005

    The opposition Civic Democrats are still the most popular party, but the governing Social Democrats are gaining ground, suggests a poll taken this month by the STEM agency. The Civic Democrats enjoy 32 percent voter support, while support for the Social Democrats has risen to 24.5, an increase of three percent on September. The Communists remain in third: 15 percent of those polled said they would vote for the party.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Lower house votes to halve foreigners' wait for permanent residency
    10/19/2005

    The lower house has voted to halve the current period of ten years that foreigners need to be living in the Czech Republic before they can apply for permanent residence. The bill also proposes that for European Union citizens any document which proves they are from the EU would suffice as identification, doing away with the need to carry a passport or Czech ID card.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Canada reacts to Czech pressure with promise to review visas in two years
    10/19/2005

    Canada is to decide in two years' time whether to lift visa requirements for Czechs, a spokesperson for Prague's Canadian Embassy told the Czech News Agency. The announcement followed a Czech threat to use the EU solidarity pact to ask all EU countries to introduce visas for Canadian citizens. Prague is also seeking an end to visa requirements for Czechs travelling to the United States.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Communist MP Hojda to head commission into controversial sale of Unipetrol
    10/19/2005

    The lower house has voted to make Communist Party MP Pavel Hojda the chairman of a commission to investigate the sale of Czech oil group Unipetrol. The new management of the Polish company which bought Unipetrol says it has uncovered evidence of bribes being given to Czech politicians in connection with the purchase.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Iran halts imports of Czech goods over Prague stance on nuclear programme
    10/19/2005

    Iran has halted the import of Czech goods over the Czech Republic's critical stance towards the country's nuclear programme. Imports from Britain, South Korea and Argentina have been halted by the Iranians for the same reason, according to agency reports.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Police: fugitive businessman Krejcir is head of crime gang
    10/19/2005

    The police have said fugitive businessman Radovan Krejcir is the leader of a six-member crime gang, after arresting five of its members on Tuesday on charges of large-scale money counterfeiting. Speaking from the Seychelles, where he has citizenship, Mr Krejcir said the arrests were part of a campaign against him. In June the businessman escaped police custody in the Czech Republic, where he is also wanted for alleged fraud and planning the murder of a customs officer.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

Pages