• Freedom Union plan to remain in coalition, whatever outcome of elections
    06/07/2004

    If the Freedom Union does not do well in the upcoming European Parliament elections, that will not lead the party to quit the governing coalition, party head Petr Mares said on Monday. Opinion polls suggest the Freedom Union will fall some way short of the five-percent threshold in the elections, which take place on Friday and Saturday and are the first in the history of the Czech Republic.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Two-year old girl critical after being knocked down by drunken doctor
    06/07/2004

    A two-year-old girl is in a critical condition in hospital after she and her mother were knocked down by a head doctor in the grounds of Prague's Vinohrady Teaching Hospital on Monday. A spokesperson for the hospital said alcohol had been found in the doctor's blood, adding that he will be dismissed following consultations with the doctor's trade union.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Slany town hall employee arrested on bribery charges
    06/07/2004

    A female employee at the town hall in the central Bohemian town of Slany has been arrested on charges of corruption. Police said on Monday that the woman had taken bribes and issued driving licences illegally. She could face up to ten years in prison if found guilty of abuse of power.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Paul McCartney plays to 50,000 fans in first Czech appearance by former Beatle
    06/07/2004

    Paul McCartney became the first member of the Beatles to appear in the Czech Republic when he played a concert in front of around 50,000 fans in Prague on Sunday night. Mr McCartney's two and a half hour set was almost completely made up of Beatles songs, with many fans singing along to classics such as Hey Jude and Yesterday.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Klaus, Havel, pay tribute to memory of Ronald Reagan
    06/06/2004

    Shortly before leaving for Normandy Czech President Vaclav Klaus became one of many heads of state to pay tribute to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who died at the age of 93 on Saturday. Mr Klaus honoured Mr Reagan's legacy by calling him one of the greatest statesmen of the last era. He added that without Mr Reagan's involvement the fall of Communism in Europe would not have come so swiftly and would not have been as peaceful.

    Mr Klaus' predecessor Vaclav Havel also rued the death of the former U.S. president at the weekend.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney to play Prague on Sunday
    06/06/2004

    Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, who arrived in Prague on Saturday, will play Prague's T-Mobile Park on Sunday to tens of thousands of dedicated fans. Before he takes to the stage on Sunday evening, Mr McCartney is expected to meet briefly with the Czech Republic's former president, Vaclav Havel. Mr Havel is already known for camaraderie with the Rolling Stones. Among songs Mr McCartney is expected to perform in his three hour set will be such Beatles' classics as Yesterday, The Long and Winding Road, and Hey Jude.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Former IPB bank managers face further charges over huge losses
    06/05/2004

    Six former managers of the collapsed bank IPB have been charged with being responsible for losses of nine billion crowns, the newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes reported on Saturday. The six, who were already facing similar charges, face up to eight years in prison if found guilty. IPB was put under forced administration in the summer of 2000 and was bought by CSOB bank three days later. The state took on IPB's losses at a cost of around 100 billion crowns.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • First group of Greeks complete anti-chemical training in Czech Republic ahead of Olympics
    06/05/2004

    The first group of Greek anti-chemical soldiers taking part in exercises in the Czech Republic ahead of the Athens Olympics in August have completed their training and returned home. Some 48 Greek soldiers underwent training with a variety of deadly gases at a specialist camp in Vyskov, south Moravia. There have been reports that NATO may ask the Czech authorities to send Czech anti-chemical troops to Athens for the Olympics, though no such request has been made as yet.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Jarab calls Chinese statement on Tiananmen Square evasive, trivialising
    06/05/2004

    The head of the Senate's foreign affairs committee, Josef Jarab, has expressed disappointment with a statement Chinese deputies made about the Tiananmen Square massacre. In a response to a request from the Czech Senate to outline their position on the event, which took place 15 years ago on Friday, the deputy chairman of the Chinese foreign affairs committee said it had been necessary to clear the square in order to allow normal traffic to resume. Mr Jarab described the statement as evasive and trivialising.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Deliberate contamination of water supply being investigated
    06/05/2004

    Police in the south Moravian district of Znojmo are investigating an incident in which somebody allowed 15,000 litres of a liquid believed to be either oil or diesel to escape into the local water supply. According to a report on Czech Television, the incident is also being investigated by environmental inspectors.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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