News

PM: Judge Vyvadil to become deputy justice minister

Jiri Vyvadil, a judge of the Supreme Administrative Court, is to become the deputy justice minister as of the beginning of September, Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek said through his spokeswoman on Saturday. The Prime Minister was reacting to speculation in Saturday's edition of the daily Pravo which said Mr Vyvadil was going to replace the Supreme State Attorney Marie Benesova.

Earlier this week, Justice Minister Pavel Nemec called on Ms Benesova to resign over their dispute over the extradition of the Qatari Prince Hamid bin Abdul Sani, who was sentenced for sex with underage girls in the Czech Republic, but Ms Benesova refused to do so. On Monday the Supreme Court complied with an earlier request by Justice Minister Pavel Nemec allowing Mr Sani to be tried at home, which the Supreme State Attorney Marie Benesova had sharply criticised.

Klaus mostly assessed positively - poll

A recent poll by the SC&C polling agency suggests that around 77 percent Czechs believe President Vaclav Klaus is doing well in his office, while some 19 percent have a fairly negative view of his performance and 4 percent view him negatively. When the respondents were asked to assess the president's concrete steps, Mr Klaus received an average rating, the poll found. He was given a positive rating for his performance in domestic politics, representation abroad, relationship to the public, defence of the Czech Republic in Europe and granting of pardons and awarding honours.

Pravo daily: cheat recruits Czechs for security work in Iraq

Saturday's edition of the daily Pravo writes that an agency recruiting Czech men to work as security guards in Iraq is run by a man sentenced for fraud. The agency based in the town of Otrokovice in South Moravia promises the men to be paid 80 dollars per hour in Iraq but charges fees for mediation and training. According to the daily the Czech Embassy in Baghdad has no information about a Czech security agency operating in Iraq and the daily adds that the man behind the recruiting agency, Vladimir Hunek, was sentenced for fraud earlier this year. At present, there are some 30 mercenaries of Czech origin in Iraq working for foreign agencies. They are mostly former soldiers from special units or the French Foreign Legion.

Czech and Slovak music returns to Chicago-Yorkville

The 6th Annual Czech-Slovak Rockfest USA music festival has started in Yorkville, Illinois. During the weekend, visitors from all around the United States will be able to see the Czech and Slovak singers and musicians Michal David, Michal Prokop, Lubos Andrst, Jan Hruby and the bands Horkyze Slize, Vidiek, Stari psi, Voiceband and also three US-based bands: Doggybag, the C.I.A. from Chicago and the Slovak-American band from Minnesota Five Ounces. The popular Czech band Kabat refused to appear at Rockfest after the wife of one of the musicians was not granted a US visa.

Weather

The weekend should be partly cloudy with daytime temperatures between 22 and 26 degrees Celsius.