Related articles
Current AffairsCzech adolescents faced with greater insecurity and a crisis of values
The tragic classroom killing of a teacher in Svitavy this week has received
widespread coverage in the media here. It has also engendered much
speculation about rising levels of violence in Czech society, particularly
among the young.
More
Press ReviewPress review
The massacre in Iraq fills the front pages of all dailies, with Lidove Noviny describing it as the worst day since the end of the war. There are
horrifying reports by foreign correspondents and speculation regarding who
is directly responsible for the efforts to bring about a civil war.
More
Current AffairsTeacher stabbed to death by 16-year-old student in Svitavy
A vocational school in the East Bohemian town of Svitavy is in mourning
today after a 60-year-old teacher was stabbed to death by one of his
students. The attack took place in the middle of a lesson, and was
apparently unprovoked. The 16-year-old student has been taken into
custody, and faces a prison sentence for murder. Rob Cameron has more on
this shocking story.
More
Press ReviewPress Review
All the Czech papers lead with Monday's shocking murder of a teacher who
was stabbed by his student in the east Bohemian town of Svitavy. The
Academy Awards that were held in Los Angeles early on Monday morning CET
also make the front pages, with the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
emerging as the clear winner of the night with a record eleven Oscars. But
it was not a lucky night for the Czech film industry as Zelary, the Czech
nominee in the Foreign Film category, came close but not close enough, the
papers report.
More
Talking PointCzech society divided over double standard on housing market
Would you like to live in a turn-of-the-century building in the centre of
Prague, with a marble entrance, high ceilings and double-winged doors? No
problem, if you can afford it. The typical monthly rent for a
three-bedroom flat in the historic centre is roughly 30,000 crowns (1,000
euros), almost double the average monthly income in the Czech Republic.
But, believe it or not, there are many lucky tenants who pay ten times
less for the same apartment in the same location, whatever their economic
status.
More
Current AffairsCoalition divided over rise in rents
Fourteen years after the end of communist rule the Czechs are still not
living in a free market economy. One of the relics of the communist state
controlled economy that previous governments did not have the courage to
do away with, has come back to haunt the current ruling coalition. It is
called "regulated rents". A measure which guarantees about a
third of Czech households stable, low rents, often in areas where
unfortunate tenants pay several times more for similar flats. While the
parties in the governing coalition are haggling over a ten versus
seven-percent yearly increase, a group of disgruntled citizens has called
on the Czech parliament to remove the double standards on the housing
market once and for all.
More
Press ReviewPress Review
Making headlines in the papers today - claims that British Prime Minister
Tony Blair is worried about an influx of Czech Romanies following EU
enlargement, a dispute in the cabinet over registered partnerships for gay
couples, and denials from Labour and Social Affairs Minister Zdenek
Skromach that the government has reached an agreement over regulated rent.
More
Current AffairsUNICEF report says Czech-German border region is rife with child prostitution
The Czech Republic has in recent years gained some notoriety as a centre of
cheap prostitution. If that reputation was not bad enough, a new report
from the United Nations children's organisation, UNICEF, says the
Czech-German border region is rife with child prostitution. The area, says
the report, is a haven for German paedophiles, with Czech children often
being pimped by members of their own family. For their part, the Czech
police say they have no evidence that child prostitution exists, and Prime
Minister Vladimir Spidla has described the UNICEF report as
"unrealistic". I spoke to Pavla Gomba, the director of UNICEF in
Prague, and asked her is she was surprised by the contents of the report,
which was written by a German sociologist.
More
