• 01/09/2005

    The Czech public has donated 160 million crowns in aid to south-east Asia, the biggest collection to help overseas disaster victims in the history of the Czech Republic. The Czech government has contributed 15 million crowns in aid and pledged another 200 million for reconstruction of the stricken region.

  • 01/09/2005

    The second reactor of the Temelin nuclear power plant was closed down on Sunday due to a cooling failure in a secondary generator. The plant's spokesman said the technical problem did not involve any nuclear aspects of the 1,000 megawatt reactor and did not pose a health hazard. Repair work is expected to take several days.

  • 01/09/2005

    The Czech retail watchdog intends to slap the French supermarket giant Carrefour with a heavy fine for misleading shoppers in a major post-Christmas sale campaign. The director of the Czech Trade Inspectorate Jiri Pekny said Carrefour was guilty of breaking the consumers law by announcing price cuts from inflated initial prices and charging customers more than the advertised sale prices at check-outs. Trade inspectors visited the company's ten stores in the Czech Republic after receiving hundreds of complaints from customers in a single day. Carrefour denies the allegations.

  • 01/08/2005

    The number of Czechs unaccounted for in the wake of the Indian Ocean disaster has dropped to thirteen, eight of the missing are feared dead. The Czech Republic has only one confirmed casualty so far - a 24 year old woman. News of an alleged second Czech casualty have not been confirmed. The Czech ambassador to Bangkok Jiri Sitler said on Saturday that attempts to identify the body had failed and that a DNA test would be necessary.

    Meanwhile, experts have been taking DNA samples from relatives of the eight Czechs believed to have died. They will be sent to the affected region in order to aid the identification process. The Czech Foreign Ministry has now openly acknowledged the possibility that the bodies of some Czech victims may already have been buried in mass graves.

  • 01/08/2005

    The Czech public has donated 160 million crowns in aid to south-east Asia, the biggest collection to help overseas disaster victims in the history of the Czech Republic. The Czech government has contributed 15 million crowns in aid and pledged another 200 million for reconstruction of the stricken region.

  • 01/08/2005

    The Czech retail watchdog intends to slap the French supermarket giant Carrefour with a heavy fine for misleading shoppers in a major post-Christmas sale campaign. The director of the Czech Trade Inspectorate Jiri Pekny said Carrefour was guilty of breaking the consumers law by announcing price cuts from inflated initial prices and charging customers more than the advertised sale prices at check-outs. Trade inspectors visited the company's ten stores in the Czech Republic after receiving hundreds of complaints from customers in a single day. Carrefour denies the allegations.

  • 01/08/2005

    The child sexual abuse charges against choirmaster Bohumil Kulinsky have been extended to include the testimonies of several more girls. According to the Mlada Fronta Dnes daily the new witnesses include a girl who earlier told the media that she had had sex with Kulinsky when she was only twelve. The police have questioned hundred of girls who passed through the prestigious Bambini di Praga choir and say they have serious evidence against Kulinsky. The choirmaster, who has been in custody since late November, denies the charges. The choir which Kulinsky has headed since 1976 is made up of girls and boys aged 12 to 19. It performs with leading Czech and international orchestras and performs abroad several times a year.

  • 01/07/2005

    The Czech public has donated almost 150 million crowns (around 5 million euros) to relief in Southeast Asia. A spokesperson for aid agency People in Need said it was the biggest collection to help overseas disaster victims in the history of the Czech Republic. The Czech government has sent 15 million crowns in aid, and pledged another 200 million for redevelopment in the region.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/07/2005

    The number of Czech citizens still unaccounted for in the wake of the Indian Ocean disaster fell to 13 on Friday. Seven of those who are missing are believed dead, though only one Czech fatality - a 24-year-old woman - has been confirmed so far.

    Meanwhile, experts from the Prague police have been taking DNA samples from relatives of the seven Czechs believed to have died, the daily Pravo reported on Friday. The results of the DNA tests will be sent to the affected region, where they will be compared with tests carried out on victims of the disaster.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 01/07/2005

    Telephone surveillance is not more common in the Czech Republic than in other European countries, according to a new report presented by police chief Jiri Kolar and Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan on Friday. It was commissioned on the instigation of President Vaclav Klaus, after a number of high profile cases of alleged phone tapping. Civic Democrat MP Jiri Bily says the study is not objective or independent because it was carried out by the police themselves; he has called on the Justice Ministry to begin a fresh inquiry.

    Author: Ian Willoughby

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