Top Czech News - Prague Daily Monitor

The American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic is forming a special team to prepare a radical amendment to the law on public orders within the anti-corruption fight ahead of the May general election, Hospodářské noviny reports Wednesday.

The major Czech political parties do not much care for European affairs and they are not training their people to represent the country in Brussels, the political weekly Respekt writes in its latest issue out on Monday.

A regional court rejected a request Tuesday to interrupt a six-year prison sentence for former Communist prosecutor Ludmila Brožová-Polednová convicted of assisting in the judicial murder of Milada Horáková.

Social Democrat (ČSSD) chairman Jiří Paroubek's aides are photographing the faces of his opponents at meetings that he attends on his direct order, the daily Lidové noviny (LN) reports Tuesday.

The lower house will not join the international initiative "A Flag for Tibet" taking place today in support of Tibetans' non-violent struggle for their rights and national identity. Mainly the left-wing parties voted against the proposal to display the Tibetan flag on the building.

The Social Democrats, the Communists and the Greens in the lower house Tuesday overrode the Senate's veto and passed again a bill introducing regional referenda, which now needs President Václav Klaus's signature to take effect as of next year.

A Czech court recently imposed a one-year suspended sentence with three-year probation on Pavel Sedláček for racist utterances he made at a meeting of the extra-parliamentary National Party (NS) in Prague on October 28, 2008.

The Prague City Court has terminated the proceedings in which the far-right Workers' Party (DS) sued the Interior Ministry for the inclusion of the party's logo in a list of symbols used by Czech extremists in a police handbook.

Lower house chairman Miloslav Vlček Tuesday said he has filed a criminal complaint against Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) head František Dohnal over alleged abuse of power and marring officials' action by refusing to cooperate with MPs on a check of the NKÚ's financial management.

Prime Minister Jan Fischer is trusted by 89% of Czechs, which makes his position "quite unique," according to the STEM agency that released a poll mapping the caretaker cabinet members' popularity Tuesday.

Police patrols composed of police from EU countries are focusing on the uncovering of human trafficking and trading at Prague§s Ruzyně airport.

Cooperation with Czech EU ambassador Milena Vicenová is very good, European Affairs Minister Juraj Chmiel said in reaction to the speculations that Vicenová may be dismissed for incompetence that was published by the weekly Respekt on Monday.

Czech artist Jiří David unveiled his six-metre-high statue made of over 85,000 keys shaped in the word "Revoluce" (Revolution) in Prague centre Tuesday as a reminiscence of the 1989 Velvet Revolution that toppled the communist regime in the country.

The Czech Republic ranks 19th in the EU as regards the quality of infrastructure and lags also behind many developed countries worldwide, according to a survey of the country's competitiveness drawn up by the Industry and Trade Ministry.

The police uncovered 340 pervitine (methamphetamine) laboratories in ČR last year, which is the highest number in Europe, head of the national anti-drug squad Jakub Frydrych said Tuesday, adding the actual figure is likely much higher.

Foreign Minister Jan Kohout rejected the information that he wants to dismiss Ambassador to the EU Milena Vicenová over doubts about her capability. But it is not clear from Kohout's statement whether he plans to dismiss Vicenová for other reasons.

The German police must continue checking Czech drivers in Bavaria, former Bavarian PM Guenther Beckstein said after meeting ODS leader and former PM Mirek Topolánek, but he added he would ask the Bavarian interior minister to soften the checks.

The cabinet Monday approved new ways to lower pollution in northern Moravia and a special inter-ministerial working group will be formed to deal with the issue, PM Jan Fischer said.

Neither the state nor the Czech National Bank will be involved in the loan of gold for the Czech exhibition at Expo 2010 in China as the exhibition's authors have another alternative solution, Prime Minister Jan Fischer said Monday.

Defence Minister Martin Barták Monday informed President Václav Klaus about the NATO request for reinforcement of the Czech military mission in Afghanistan.