• The Times: IRA investigators follow money to Eastern Europe
    10/08/2005

    According to Saturday's edition of The Times, British financial investigators believe that the property empire built up by the IRA's chief of staff Thomas Murphy extends from Britain and Ireland into the economies of Eastern Europe, including the Czech Republic. Mr Murphy who has amassed a personal fortune estimated at 40 million pounds mainly from cross-border smuggling, is alleged to have begun laundering his money by investing in property and legitimate businesses in Bulgaria, Spain, Slovenia and also the Czech capital Prague.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • PM wants to revive "Made in Czechoslovakia" trade mark
    10/08/2005

    Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek has said he would like to make use of the good name and image of the former Czechoslovakia in the Czech Republic's foreign policy. Mr Paroubek said many people in abroad still refer to the Czech Republic as Czechoslovakia, even 12 years after the country ceased to exist. He also said that both the Czech Republic and Slovakia could benefit from the use of the trade mark. According to the prime minister, the name Czechoslovakia could be used in the same way as the "Made in the USSR" mark sometimes appears on the products of certain Baltic states.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Government jury shortlists five proposals for new Czech Republic logo
    10/08/2005

    A special jury has selected five designs out of over 400 entries in a competition intended to find a new logo for the Czech Republic. The jury will make the final selection from the shortlist in late November or early December. The new logo is not meant to replace the Czech Republic's state symbols but to represent the country at trade fairs, exhibitions and media presentations as a modern EU member state, with world-competitive services, a rich past and interesting present.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Kozeny may fight extradition to US, says lawyer
    10/07/2005

    A lawyer for Viktor Kozeny says his client may fight extradition to the US, following his arrest by the FBI in the Bahamas. The controversial Czech businessman is accused of taking part in a scheme to fly millions of dollars into Azerbaijan to bribe officials there for control of the state oil company.

    Mr Kozeny - nicknamed the Pirate of Prague - is also wanted in the Czech Republic, after he fled the country with millions obtained from small investors during the privatisation process of the 1990s.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Last Czech victim of tsunami disaster identified
    10/07/2005

    The last Czech victim of last year's tsunami disaster was identified in Phuket, Thailand earlier this week, Mlada fronta Dnes reported. Vladimir Mandak, who was 17, was identified by means of DNA analysis. Both of his parents were also killed in the disaster. A total of nine Czechs died in the tsunami and its aftermath in Thailand and Sri Lanka.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Prague airport closed after bomb threat
    10/07/2005

    Prague's Ruzyne Airport was closed for just over an hour on Friday afternoon, after an anonymous telephone bomb threat was received. The airport's main hall was evacuated, while passengers had to remain on planes which had just landed until a search was completed.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Austrians project anti-Temelin slogans onto nuclear plant's cooling tower
    10/07/2005

    Austrian anti-nuclear activists projected slogans alleging the Temelin nuclear power station was unsafe onto one of its cooling towers on Thursday night. The protest marked five years since the launch of the plant, which is around 60 km from the border with nuclear-free Austria.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Supermarket manager charged with endangering public health
    10/07/2005

    Police in Ceske Budejovice have charged a manager of a branch of the Julius Meinl supermarket chain with endangering public health; she is alleged to have ordered employees to place mouldy food on the shelves. The boss is also accused of herself changing the date on out-of-date meat and putting it back on sale. Poor hygiene and dubious practices at the supermarket were uncovered by inspectors at the end of last month.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech Radio considers licence fee for people who listen over internet
    10/07/2005

    Czech Radio is considering the possibility of introducing radio licence fees for computers with a sound card and internet connection, Hospodarske noviny reported on Friday. The public service station has commissioned a study into whether such computers qualify as "radio receivers", the daily said.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Gay group using comic to persuade MPs to vote for registered partnerships
    10/07/2005

    A homosexual rights group is hoping to persuade MPs to vote for registered partnerships by means of a comic book, Tereza Kodickova of the Gay and Lesbian League said on Friday. The comic features a cactus and a bonsai tree living together, and is intended to promote gay rights in a light-hearted way.

    The lower house is due to vote on the issue later this month. Last year a bill on registered partnerships was defeated by just one vote.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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