News
BIS 2005 report
Organised crime groups, influential businessmen, and suspected terrorists are all threatening the country's security, according to a counter-intelligence service (BIS) report. The annual report for 2005 says there is evidence that organised crime groups are trying to influence courts, several entrepreneurs have bribed state employees to gain confidential information, and there is reason to believe that terrorists had planned an attack on the Czech Republic.
Last year, for example, three Egyptian nationals failed to enter the cockpit on a Czech Airlines flight from Oslo to Prague. The BIS did not view it as a failed hijacking but a move to test flight security for a future terrorist attack. The three men have been deported back to Egypt.
President Klaus: Parliamentary parties will have to tone down demands
The five parliamentary parties continue to hold differing views on the country's political future and will have to tone down demands if government negotiations are to be successful. This according to President Vaclav Klaus, after meeting with Communist Party representatives on Tuesday. Following the failure of the Civic Democrats to win a confidence vote for their minority government, Mr Klaus faces the task of entrusting someone to try to form a new government. The Czech President intends to hold talks with each parliamentary party and wait for the results of the second round of the Senate elections this weekend before he makes the decision.
Topolanek: MP being pressured into supporting Social Democrats
Outgoing Civic Democrat Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek says he knows of a member of parliament who is being pressurised into voting for a Social Democrat government. Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, he said he could not reveal the MPs name or party. Mr Topolanek already suggested in a radio interview on Monday that three Christian Democrat MPs are either being put under pressure or bribed to support a Social Democrat government in a vote of confidence in the lower house of Parliament. The acting head of the Christian Democrats, Jan Kasal, has ruled out the possibility.
Lower house agrees to postpone obligatory use of monitored cash registers
The lower house of Parliament has approved a proposal to postpone the obligatory use of monitored cash registers by one year. All cash register activities of small businesses were to be recorded and monitored as of January 2007 in order to help the government fight against the grey economy. Under the new law, those small retailers and restaurants that fail to comply could be fined up to half a million Czech crowns.
Women's organisations oppose US missile base
Several Czech women's organisations are opposed to building a US anti-missile base in the Czech Republic, fearing it would increase the risk of terrorist attack. The women are reacting to the Czech Republic being one of several countries in Central Europe named as a potential site of such a base. The protesting organisations' representatives say a referendum should be held before a definite decision is made. Opinion polls suggest that three fifths of the population would vote against the US base.
Maj building declared cultural monument
The Culture Ministry has declared the famous Maj building in Prague a cultural monument. The building, the ministry says, is an important example of 1970s architecture - drawing on earlier styles like Functionalism but its interior foreshadowing the style known as High-Tech. Maj was designed by architects Miroslav Masak, John Eisler and Martin Rajnis of the Liberec SIAL studio and was completed in 1975. Most foreign visitors will be familiar with the Maj building located on the city's Narodni trida street: it's the site of the Tesco department store.
Weather
Mostly overcast skies and scattered rain are expected in the next few days with daytime temperatures reaching highs of around 18 degrees Celsius.
