Top Czech News - Prague Daily Monitor

Supreme State Attorney Renata Vesecká and her Austrian counterpart Walter Geyer will sign an agreement on a Czech-Austrian team that will investigate alleged corruption in the purchase of Austrian-made Pandur APCs.

A flower carpet made of thousands of Belgian begonias was created on Friday in Prague's Old Town Square to commemorate Belgium's EU Council presidency between July and December.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg will today meet his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner during his trip to France that began Sunday, shortly after Schwarzenberg criticised France's deportation of Roma to Romania.

The Slovak Defence Ministry planned neither the purchase of mortars nor any other joint purchase of military equipment with the Czech Republic, Richard Suemeghy, the ministry's spokesman, told ČTK Friday.

Hundreds of former Czech and Slovak political prisoners commemorated their dead and executed friends at the place of pilgrimage at Svatý Hostýn on Saturday.

The police have started to look into the case of a multimillion-crown arms order at the Ministry of Defence, Supreme State Attorney Renata Vesecká yesterday said on Prima television.

Interior Minister Radek John yesterday said that he expects another outflow of police officers who had received high bonuses in the past years.

Human Rights Commissioner Michael Kocáb yesterday said he will leave his post it as soon as he finds someone to hand over his agenda to.

Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil (Civic Democrats, ODS) will announce within a fortnight the date of proposed dismissal of Supreme State Attorney Renata Vesecká, Novinky.cz reported yesterday. Pospíšil said so in reaction to a call by Interior Minister Radek John, Public Affairs chairman, that Vesecká be dismissed by October local and Senate elections.

An original historical coach once used by first Czechoslovak President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, pulled by three pairs of Old Kladruby white horses, a unique Czech breed, appeared within the Prague Castle guard's regular parade on Wednesday, applauded by hundreds of viewers.

Outgoing Russian Ambassador to the Czech Republic Alexei Fedotov will be replaced by Sergei Kiselev, Fedotov announced after meeting President Václav Klaus Thursday.

The Czech state should earmark up to CZK 4.5 billion for anti-flood measures annually in 2013-2027, Environment Minister Pavel Drobil said after a meeting with Agriculture Minister Ivan Fuksa Thursday.

The Defence Ministry will dismiss 700 civilian employees and delete 350 soldiers' vacancies by the year's end, which is to save hundreds of millions of crowns, ministry spokesman Jan Pejsek told CTK.

Czech Greenpeace activists started collecting signatures on a petition demanding that the hazardous bisphenol-A (BPS) content be banned in materials for baby bottles, outside the Health Ministry in Prague centre Thursday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev may visit the Czech Republic within the next 12 or 18 months, outgoing Russian ambassador Alexei Fedotov said after his farewell meeting with President Vaclav Klaus Thursday.

The Czech High Court in Olomouc Thursday upheld a previous verdict saying that Radovan Krejčíř, now fugitive controversial businessman, transferred CZK 272 million abroad in late 1990s legally.

The posts of members of towns and villages' assemblies will be sought by candidates from 111 parties and movements, 20 more than four years ago, in October, according to the information published by the Czech Statistical Office Thursday.

The leaders of the government party TOP 09, Karel Schwarzenberg and Miroslav Kalousek, should "properly explain" the latest scandal involving former deputy defence minister Jaroslav Kopřiva and shoulder responsibility for his activities, opposition Social Democrats said Thursday.

President Václav Klaus will go to the United States in late September and he is to give a speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, his spokesman Radim Ochvat confirmed to ČTK Thursday.

Karel Srba, former Foreign Ministry secretary who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for plotting a contract murder of a journalist, has been released on parole after eight years behind bars.