Civic Democrat MP resigns over murky blackmail affair
The Civic Democrat MP at the centre of a murky blackmail affair has resigned.
Jan Morava, who is 29, announced his resignation on Monday, a day after a report on TV Nova showed that he had been collecting compromising material on fellow MPs in order to blackmail them. His meetings with Nova journalists, who were disguised as private detectives, were recorded by hidden camera. The report also confirmed that Vlastimil TlustĂ˝, a Civic Democrat MP at odds with the party leadership, co-operated with reporters in German Foreign Minister Steinmeier to Fight Merkel in Poll ...
Green party leader seeks stronger mandate ahead of crucial votes in Parliament ...
Czech PM signs agreement on Czech accession to ESA ...
Czechs donate three more helicopters to Afghanistan ... their investigation. Mr TlustĂ˝ posed in compromising photos with a young woman as a trap to see which fellow party members would buy the photos.
Civic Democrats to call no-confidence vote
The Social Democrats want to call a vote of no-confidence following Senate and regional elections in mid-October in reaction to the blackmail scandal in the Civic Democrats, the biggest party in the governing coalition. Speaking at a news conference on Monday, the head of the Social Democrats, Jiřà Paroubek, also said the upcoming elections should be regarded as a referendum on the government.
Unclear verdict for Czech scientists accusing of illegal insect collecting in India
An unclear verdict has been handed down to two Czech scientists accused of illegally collecting insects in India. The entomologists, who were detained in north-east India last month, will either be released from prison or spend three months in jail, the Czech News Agency reported, quoting an unofficial statement from the Czech embassy. Emil Kučera and Petr Švácha were arrested near the Singalila National Park on June 23 for collecting rare insects in the park without a permit. The two men denied all the charges against them.
One third of Green’s national council dismissed
The head of the Green Party, Martin BursĂk, has dismissed one-third of the party’s national council, which consisted mainly of his opponents. Twenty members of the national council were dismissed during the last day of the party’s national congress on Sunday, including Mr BursĂk’s main critics Dana Kuchtová and MatÄ›j StropnickĂ˝. Mr BursĂk originally wanted to change the party rules, which would make the national council subordinate to the party leadership, but his proposal was not debated at all, as the meeting was running behind the schedule.
Mr BursĂk, who is environment minister and deputy prime minister, was re-elected the party’s leader on Saturday, defeating the former education minister Dana Kuchtová. Education Minister OndĹ™ej Liška and MP KateĹ™ina Jacques became the first and the second deputies.
PM visits Croatia
Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has left for a two-day visit of Croatia, where is he is scheduled to meet with his Croatian counterpart Ivo Sanader and the country’s president Stepjan Mesic. The main item on their agenda will be EU enlargement and Czech-Croatian business relations. Mr Topolánek said last month that Croatia’s accession to the EU will be one of the Czech Republic’s priorities during its EU presidency in the first six months of next year.
Number of EU tourists down in Czech Republic
The number of tourist from EU countries visiting the Czech Republic has been falling, this year reaching the lowest level since 2000, data from government agency Czech Tourism and the Czech Statistical Office have shown. Tourists from Western Europe are being replaced by visitors from Central and Eastern Europe, mainly from Poland, Russia and the Baltic States. In the first six month of this year, tourists from western countries made up 56 percent of all tourists, compared to over 66 percent in the year 2000. Experts attribute the decrease to an economic slowdown in Western Europe and say a further drop is not expected.
Weather
The start of the week is expected to be mostly cloudy, with occasional sunny spells. Daytime temperatures will reach highs of around 22 degrees Celsius.
(radio-Prague)
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