Czech Republic

Listen to BosNewsLife's News via Voice of America BosNewsLifeCzechUpdate By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (BosNewsLife)-- Polling stations have reopened in the Czech Republic for the country's first direct presidential elections since the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993, with a fully tattooed artist and two former prime ministers among the hopefuls.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio: By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (BosNewsLife)-- The Palestinian Foreign Ministry says it will send a delegation to Prague to help investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the Palestinian ambassador to the Czech Republic, who died Wednesday, January 1, in an explosion.

BosNewsLifeRadioCzechPresident listen to BosNewsLife's report via Vatican Radio By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife PRAGUE/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Politicians and experts raised questions Saturday, September 29, about national security in the Czech Republic after a man was able to fire a replica pistol at President Václav Klaus and calmly walk away.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent, BosNewsLife BUDAPEST/BRNO (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Benedict XVI urged Czechs on Sunday, September 27, to "return to God" during a mass in the Czech Republic that was attended by an estimated 120,000 people. The mass was the highlight of the pontiff's three day visit to the strongly secular nation.

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

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio: By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife PRAGUE/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- A tense calm has returned to the Czech Republic where officials say some 100 far-rights activists have been detained in violent demonstrations against gypsies, also known as Roma.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife PRAGUE/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Benedict XVI began a three day visit to the Czech Republic Saturday, September 26, with a call for the nation to rediscover its Christian roots. Forty years of communist rule in the country stifled religious activities and left the number of Catholics in decline and religious practice in general at historic lows.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife at BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest BUDAPEST/PRAGUE (BosNewsLife)-- The current European Union president, the Czech Republic, is under pressure to overcome failed talks with key former Soviet states on an energy deal. Negotiations on reducing Europe's dependency on Russian natural gas are one of several key challenges facing the Czech Republic's new government.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (BosNewsLife)--  Czechs have voted in early parliamentary elections, punishing the center-right government following massive corruption and spying scandals. The Communists are expected to play a key role in national politics, for the first time since the collapse of Communism in 1989.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife