Czech Republic

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (BosNewsLife)-- The European Union and dozens of countries have pledged to speed up social support for Holocaust survivors and the search for art and other items that were stolen during World War II by the Nazis.

By BosNewsLife News Center with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos PRAGUE/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- The Czech Republic is in shock after nine people, including the gunman, died in a shooting at a restaurant in the town of Uhersky Brod, 300 kilometers south west of Prague, though the government denied it was a terrorist attack.

Listen to a BosNewsLife shorter version via Vatican Radio:  By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BUDAPEST/PRAGUE (BosNewsLife)-- Left-leaning former Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman has won his country's first direct presidential elections with about 55 percent of the vote. The international community was closely watching the voting as it will impact the Czech Republic's future relations with the European Union.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BUDAPEST/PRAGUE (BosNewsLife)-- Voters in the Czech Republic are choosing a new government amid concerns about the country's economic crisis and widespread corruption. Some surveys indicate none of the main parties will have a majority in the lower house of parliament. For the first time in two decades the Communist Party is expected to play a role in the general elections.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest BUDAPEST/PRAGUE (BosNewsLife)-- The lower house of the Czech Republic's parliament narrowly approved a government plan late Friday, July 13, to return property seized from churches during the 1948-1989 Communist era, and to pay billions of dollars in compensation.

By BosNewsLife News Center  

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife PRAGUE/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Czechs were bracing for possible riots Saturday, April 4, as activists opposed to U.S. plans to install part of a missile defense system in their country said they would go ahead with a protest march during President Barack Obama's visit to Prague this weekend, despite a ban on the demonstration.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife PRAGUE/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- The Czech Republic has welcomed home the human remains of Cardinal Josef Beran, seen as a symbol of defiance of the former Communist government which forced him into exile in the Vatican. The cardinal, who died 49 years ago, always wanted to be buried in his homeland.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from Budapest BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Europe is commemorating the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States amid heightened security after police in Sweden detained four people suspected of plotting a terrorist attack there. Four former Communist nations that joined the EU in the last decade are among the Union's member states commemorating the 9/11 attacks.

Listen to BosNewsLife News via the Voice of America BosNewsLifeElection By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (BosNewsLife)-- Citizens in the Czech Republic are voting in the first direct presidential elections in their nation's 20-year history. Among the three favorite candidates is the man who wants to become Europe's first popularly elected Jewish head of state and one unusually colorful candidate