Section Archive Current Affairs
Czechs end EURO 2012 campaign after quarter-final loss to Portugal
The Czech national football team lost 1:0 to Portugal in the quarterfinals
of EURO 2012 in Warsaw on Thursday and was knocked out of the tournament.
In the game, the Czechs delivered their best performance at the
championships but failed to stop Portugal’s star Ronaldo from sending
them home. Thursday’s match was also the Czech striker Milan Baroš’s
last appearance for the national side. More
Prague’s Week of Freedom dominated by support for Pussy Riot
The Week of Freedom, a project established in Prague last year on the
twentieth anniversary of the withdrawal of Russian troops from
Czechoslovakia is both a celebration of the return of democracy to the
Czech lands and a means of highlighting common values. This year’s event
centres around freedom of speech and has been dominated by support for the
jailed members of the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot. More
Czech police bust massive marihuana grow op with sealed-in gardener
Czech police have busted the largest marihuana grow operation ever
discovered in the country. Last month, officers from the national anti-drug
unit found nearly 6,000 cannabis plants at four different sites in western
Bohemia, and arrested 13 members of a Czech-Vietnamese gang, the police
said on Thursday. The police also detained a Vietnamese man who was sealed
in at one of the facilities and forced to care for the plants. More
“Czechs abroad” project to award prize to greatest Czech living abroad
Who is the greatest Czech living abroad? As part of the “Czechs abroad”
project, the Foreign Ministry, together with Czech Radio and Czech TV, is
finding the answer to that question. The ambitious initiative also seeks to
paint a more vivid picture of those Czechs who do not live in their native
country – through reports, conferences and discussions. Sarah Borufka has
more. More
Middleman denies enormous profits on controversial CASA deal
The Omnipol company, which is at the centre of a scandal involving
allegedly overpriced military transport planes, has defended itself, saying
its profits from the deal were normal and amounted to far less than police
and the media have asserted. Meanwhile, a parliament committee has begun
examining the evidence to determine whether to give up MP and former
defence minister Vlasta Parkanová, who the police want to prosecute over
the deal. More
Scrapped electronic health records projects could result in international arbitration case
Just a month after the government gave the thumbs down to a costly and
inefficient electronic health project, there are indications that it could
be facing another international arbitration case over the decision. The
minority shareholder in the joint stock company which masterminded the
ill-fated project has stated in no uncertain terms that it considers the
decision illegal and is ready to take the case to court to defend its
interests. More
President vetoes controversial banishment bill
Czech President Václav Klaus on Tuesday vetoed a controversial bill which
would give towns the power to banish repeat offenders without permanent
residence from their territory for up to three months. Authors of the
legislation say it will provide a much needed tool to fight petty crime and
misdemeanours. But the president sided with the bill’s critics and said
it might be in breach of the constitution. More
Czechs welcome outcome of Greek elections, but remain cautious on fiscal compact
The Czech crown firmed upon news of the election victory of pro-EU parties
in Greece and all the day’s papers commented on Europe’s palpable sigh
of relief. Although not a euro-zone member, the Czech Republic has
nevertheless watched the Greek drama unfold with considerable concern. More
Czech anti-corruption drive finally gaining momentum
The past few months have brought increasing evidence of the fact that after
years of futile efforts the anti-corruption drive in the Czech Republic is
finally producing results. Within a relatively short space of time the
police has sought and gained permission to prosecute four parliament
deputies and is said to be working on several other high profile cases. More
Police seeks to prosecute former defence minister for overpriced army deal
Czech MPs are to decide next week whether or not to allow the prosecution
of another of their colleagues – coalition MP, and deputy speaker of the
house Vlasta Parkanová. The anti-corruption police accuse the former
defence minister of wasting nearly 660 million crowns in a deal to buy
transport planes for the Czech military. Mrs. Parkanova’s party claims
the charges are unsubstantiated as the decision was taken by the whole
government. More
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