Current Affairs | All stories

Petr Torák is being touted as the ‘new face of British policing’. But he actually comes from Liberec, northern Bohemia. Having emigrated from the Czech Republic with his family in 1999 – following on from a racist attack - he is now working to accommodate the immigrant community in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. His story has captured both the local and the foreign press. I caught up with him on a brief visit back to Prague:

Three people died and nearly forty were injured on Friday in Ostrava, North Moravia, when two trams crashed in a gruesome head-on collision. The causes of the crash are under investigation, but there’s no question the accident has raised doubts whether current safety measures on Czechs rails are sufficient.

The Christian Democrats – one of the three parties in the centre-right governing coalition – unveiled controversial new abortion proposals on Thursday that are bound to outrage many women in the sexually liberal Czech Republic. The changes are suggested additions to the health reforms being prepared by the Civic Democrat Health Minister Tomas Julinek, who will need the support of the Christian Democrats to push his reforms through parliament.

Prague’s main station, Hlavní nádraží, is getting a facelift. In the first stage of a complete reconstruction, two glittering new shops have opened in the station’s entrance hall. The developers are calling the stores a first step in the hub’s transformation from a grotty and dangerous interchange into a ‘shopping mecca’. But there’s still a way to go:

Both the Czech authorities and also many businesses have long expressed concerns that too many employees are taking far too many days off on sick leave. The country has recently changed the way that sick pay is administered in order to prevent fraud. However, some employers are still taking drastic measures to catch those that abuse the system.

There’s no talk of any Czech athletes boycotting the Beijing Olympics, but some members of the team have expressed reservations about the games being held in China. One of the Czech athletes with the strongest views on the matter is world javelin champion Barbora Špotáková:

As the Olympic torch continues its way across the world, surrounded by a coterie of track-suited Chinese security guards, many are calling for a boycott of the opening ceremony of the Games in Beijing in the light of human rights abuses in Tibet. Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has become the latest Czech politician to add his voice to those calls.

Rehearsals for Václav Havel’s new play Leaving kicked off at Prague’s Archa Theatre last week, with the world premiere slated for May 22. The work is Mr Havel’s play in 18 years after an amazing career in politics, so it’s not surprising it is being greeted with excitement. Now it has also been announced that the Orange Tree Theatre in London will stage the English-language premiere of Leaving this autumn.

Czech customs officials have concluded an ongoing international operation designed to bust drugs networks smuggling cocaine to Europe. They have hailed the action as a success, with 31 people arrested for serious drug-related offenses. The police now view the Czech Republic as not only a transit country, but increasingly also as a final destination for many of the world’s illegal narcotics.

Last month the Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Džamila Stehlíková proposed legislation which would ban the spanking or smacking of children on the grounds that in some cases such treatment can border on child abuse. The introduction of such legislation would see the Czech Republic join other EU countries, including neighbouring Germany. But so far, a majority of ordinary Czechs have said they are against such a move.