Latest Headline News From the Czech Republic
KSČM kind dying out, statistics show
The number of members of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) is steadily falling while their average age increases.
29Thousands of Czechs to protest cuts in pensions rise
The Senior Council is expecting several thousand people to attend the first demonstration of the elderly against planned cuts in pensions rise to be held in Prague on 30 May.
29FinMin approves CZK 140m for social care
Providers of social services will receive another CZK 140 million this year, Labour Ministry Spokeswoman Viktorie Plívová told ČTK yesterday.
29Rath and 7 other suspects remanded in custody
A district court judge for Ústí nad Labem has ruled that regional governor David Rath and seven others will remain in custody.
29Half of pensions below average
A half of retirees collect pensions lower than the average of CZK 10,740, Czech Social Security Administration's (ČSSZ) data show.
29Rath says his arrest is a police trap
MP and Former Regional Governor David Rath, who faces corruption charges, believes that he has fallen into a police trap and that his case has a political core, he said in a statement his defence counsel Adam Černý presented to ČTK yesterday. Rath, who has been arrested and taken into custody, said he felt like a political prisoner, and compared his case to the imprisonment of Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
29Gov't nods to Ireland's protocol to Lisbon Treaty
The government yesterday agreed with Ireland's protocol to the Lisbon Treaty on certain guarantees.
29Lower house head calls on ČSSD to make Rath resign as MP
Chamber of Deputies Chairwoman Miroslava Němcová (ODS) yesterday called on the senior opposition Social Democrats (ČSSD) to make David Rath resign as a member of parliament.
29Gov't approves Afghan mission through 2014
The government has approved continuing the Czech Republic's mission in Afghanistan through 2014, while gradually reducing the number of personnel.
29Poll: ODS main proponent of reforms
A poll conducted by the STEM agency shows that the majority of Czechs rate the right-of-centre Civic Democratic Party as the main proponent of government reforms despite the fact that TOP 09 holds key ministries.
29President Klaus praises police for Rath's arrest
The resolute action of the police in the case of suspected bribe-taking of David Rath is praiseworthy, but the scandal once again harms Czech politics and the country's image abroad, President Václav Klaus said yesterday.
29Czechs embassy opens in Armenia
The Czech Republic has opened its diplomatic mission in Armenia in the building of the Polish embassy in Yerevan, the Foreign Ministry told ČTK yesterday.
29Rath resigns as governor after being charged with bribery
Deputy governor Robin Povšík has said Mr Rath has resigned from the regional assembly and therefore as regional governor. Rath also left the senior opposition ČSSD yesterday. He's however kept his mandate of a deputy, though the central Bohemia ČSSD branch urged him to give it up, deputy regional governors Miloš Petera said. According to Povšík, Rath had been escorted by the police to his Prague office yesterday, where he followed through with his decision.
29Audit office to probe management of pensions
The government will have the management of the state's pension account checked by the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) to disprove the opposition's claim that the funds are being mismanaged, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Jaromír Drábek (TOP 09) said after a cabinet meeting yesterday.
29Unions, gov't fail to agree on doctors' pay raise
No agreement on a pay increase for doctors and nurses has been reached, Prime Minister Petr Nečas, Health Minister Leoš Heger and union leaders said after their meeting yesterday.
29Former StB members convicted
A Prague 7 court yesterday handed out two prison sentences and one suspended sentence to former members of the Communist secret service StB for having abducted and beaten up dissident Petr Placák in June 1989.
29Ombudsman mulls appointing official to oversee placement of children in practical schools
A so-called "collision official" may be appointed to decide on the placement of children in practical schools instead of their parents, Lucie Obrovská of the ombudsman's office said at a conference on the education of the disadvantaged yesterday.
29Poll: 1 in 10 Czechs believes gov't to be combating corruption
One-tenth of Czechs believe that the government is fighting corruption, a drop from almost one-fifth a year ago, according to the STEM agency's poll released to ČTK.
29ODS wants church to prove claimed property ownership
The senior ruling Civic Democrats (ODS) want the government's church restitution bill, now discussed by parliament, to oblige churches to prove their former ownership of the property that is to be returned to them, Marek Benda said after yesterday's meeting of ODS deputies.
29Czechs to train with troops in Texas, Nebraska
The Czech military will be training with troops of states of Nebraska and Texas, Miroslav Žižka, first deputy chief of staff, said yesterday.
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