• Wednesday marks 39th anniversary of Jan Palach’s death
    01/16/2008

    Wednesday marks the 39th anniversary of the death of Jan Palach, a Prague student, who set himself alight on Prague’s Wenceslas Square in protest of the general apathy that followed the Soviet led invasion in Czechoslovakia in 1968. His funeral was attended by thousands of people and he became a symbol of Czechoslovak resistance. Students and politicians, including Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, gathered outside the Philosophical Faculty on Wednesday to commemorate Jan Palach’s sacrifice. The faculty has also presented its projects for next year’s 40th anniversary of Palach’s death.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Agency against social exclusion to start work at the end of January
    01/16/2008

    An agency against social exclusion designed to improve the situation of people living in ghettoes is due to start work at the end of January, the Minister in charge of human rights and minorities Džamila Stehlíková said on Wednesday. The agency is to improve communication between local authorities and inhabitants of the ghettoes. Some 80,000 people, mainly Romanies, currently live in ghettoes. The agency was originally meant to start working at the start of this year but was delayed by organizational and technical problems.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Rules on waste import to be stricter
    01/16/2008

    The Czech rules of waste import will be tightened this year. An amendment to the law on waste disposal, drafted in reaction to new EU requirements, was passed by the Senate on Wednesday. The new legislation is designed to protect the country against illegal waste dumping by providing for a stricter registration of imported wastes. The Czech Republic has been fighting in the long run against the import of waste from abroad, mainly from Germany, where its disposal is much more expensive.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Prague Mayor most popular Czech politician
    01/16/2008

    Prague Mayor and deputy chairman of the Civic Democratic Party Pavel Bém remains the most popular Czech politician, according to a recent poll conducted by the STEM agency. Mr Bém enjoys the support of 52 percent of respondents. He is followed by two Social Democrats - deputy chairman Bohuslav Sobotka and chairman Jiří Paroubek. The popularity of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and other Civic Democrats has decreased.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • České Švýcarsko National Park applies for UNESCO listing
    01/16/2008

    The České Švýcarsko National Park in North Bohemia known for its unique sandstone formations is seeking to be included on the UNESCO world heritage list. The national park is located across the Czech-Saxony border and the two countries have jointly applied for the listing. If approved, the park could appear on the UNESCO world heritage list in 2010. The Czech Republic is the last of the Visegrad Four countries not to have any UNESCO-listed nature area.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • New book by Petr Sís awarded by the American Library Association
    01/16/2008

    The Czech born, US-based author and illustrator of children’s book Petr Sís has received the American Library Association Award for his latest book The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain about his life in former Czechoslovakia. The book has already won the New York Times Best Illustrated Book award and several other prizes after it was issued in the U.S. last September. An exhibition reviewing 30 years of Petr Sís’s work will be launched in New York next week. Prague Mayor most popular Czech Politician
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Ski-cross champion Tomáš Kraus takes gold in World Cup race
    01/16/2008

    Czech ski-cross champion Tomáš Kraus, the reigning world champion, has finished first in a World Cup race in France’s Flaine. The silver medal went to Enak Gavaggia from France and the bronze to Swiss Richard Spalinger. Tomáš Kraus has dominated European and world ski-cross events in the last few years. He won the European championship in 2003 and the world championship in 2005 and 2007.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Vaidišová advances to third round at Australian Open
    01/16/2008

    Czech tennis player Nicole Vaidišová advanced to the third round at the Australian open after a 6:2, 6:3 win over Australia’s Alicia Molik on Wednesday.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Švejnar still in dark over conditions under which he could give up US citizenship
    01/15/2008

    Presidential candidate Jan Švejnar says he is still waiting to hear from the American State Department regarding the conditions under which he could give up his US citizenship. The professor of economics, who has spent much of his life in United States, has joint Czech-American citizenship. The Communist Party have said they will not back him unless he relinquishes the latter. Speaking at a media briefing in Prague, Mr Švejnar said that he would live in the Czech Republic long-term if elected, as would his American wife Kathy.

    A meeting on Tuesday between Mr Švejnar and senators from the Civic Democrats lasted less than 10 minutes. The Civic Democrat senators will back their own party’s candidate – the incumbent Václav Klaus – in the February 8 presidential election.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Kasal: two-thirds of Christian Democrats likely to back Klaus for president
    01/15/2008

    Senior Christian Democrat Jan Kasal says he expects that two-thirds of his party’s deputies and senators will vote for Mr Klaus. On Monday the national committee of the Christian Democrats recommended that the party’s legislators give their backing to Mr Klaus rather than Mr Švejnar. The votes of the Christian Democrats and the Communists look like determining who will become the next president of the Czech Republic.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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