Current Affairs | All stories

Prague Civic Democrat leader Bohuslav Svoboda was elected mayor of Prague on Tuesday in one of the stormiest sessions City Hall has ever witnessed. Hundreds of protesters turned out for the election to demonstrate their anger against the power-sharing deal between the Civic and Social Democrats, which froze out election winner TOP09. The session had to be postponed four times as police and security guards fought to maintain order and when it finally got underway Mr. Svoboda’s speech to the assembly was punctuated by booing and derisive laughter.

Following a number of highly publicized incidents of violence commited by juveniles the country’s Justice Minister, Jiří Pospíšil, is pushing for tougher consequences for minors under the age of 15 who commit brutal crimes. Under the minister’s plan, children who normally would not be held accountable, but represent a serious threat to others, would not end up in correctional homes but in stricter facilities.

On Sunday, which was the first Sunday of Advent, the lights were switched on on Christmas trees on main squares around the Czech Republic. But there is more to the brightly decorated evergreens than creating a seasonal spirit: in many cities and towns charity collections are held at the trees, with visitors donating cash and gifts to Czech children’s homes. It is a tradition that dates back more than eight decades.

The WikiLeaks deluge of leaked US diplomatic cables has underlined the dangers of information escaping from discontented employees. In the Czech Republic, dismissed or unhappy workers are increasingly blowing the whistle on their bosses, or going straight out of the door armed with sensitive or compromising data.

If anybody thought the election of Prague’s new mayor would be easy on Tuesday, their doubts were dashed by noon, when the Civic Democrat candidate, Bohuslav Svodoba, was forced to delay proceedings for the fourth time. Demonstrators at City Hall, carrying signs and blowing whistles, had created such a din that electing the new mayor and city council proved next to impossible.

An elite battle command training program is drawing to a close at the military training site in Vyškov. After more than three weeks of severe physical and environmental stress only seven of the 25 officers who started the course remain. They will form the backbone of the country’s elite combat units and be handpicked to lead military operations in foreign missions.

Czech-US relations have been caught up in the massive release of secret US diplomatic cables by the WikiLeaks server. One of more than a thousand cables from the US embassy in Prague already put up on the whistle blower’s server provides a snapshot of how Czech and US diplomats began to recast their relations after the US dumped its plans for an anti-missile base in the Czech Republic.

Jan Wiener, a hero of World War II, has died in Prague at the age of 90. Mr Wiener fought with Britain’s RAF before, like many of his peers, being imprisoned by the Communists after the war. Charismatic and a wonderful storyteller, he had in recent times been sharing his remarkable experiences with today’s young generation.

Efforts to diffuse growing tension in the health sector over a deepening financial crisis appear to have failed. The health minister’s announcement on Thursday that projected cuts in payments from insurance companies would be less severe than expected did little to stem the growing tide of discontent. The Czech Medical Chamber responded by saying doctors would start handing in their resignations on Monday.

Prague’s Opencard, a multi-functional chip card system introduced by Prague City Hall, has long been the subject of controversy. Overshadowed by allegations of corruption, the system was widely seen as overpriced. Now, it has taken another hit: this week the Office for Personal Data Protection warned the city needed to introduce changes or face a five million crown fine for the poor handling of personal data.