News

Police pursuit in Plzeň ends with fatality

A police chase in the Plzeň area on Saturday ended with one person dead and four injured. Officers were pursuing a motorist who sped away from a gas station without paying. Trying to ellude the pursuit, the driver collided with an oncoming vehicle; a 24-year-old female in the car with him, was killed. The others injured, including a police officer, were treated in hospital.

Bavarian police boost checks in border areas over illegal pyrotechnic devices

Bavaria's police has heightened checks a border areas to prevent individuals from bringing in unsafe and illegal firecrackers, rockets and other pyrotechnic devices sold in Vietnamese markets on the Czech side of the border not far from crossings. German officials warned that many of the items were dangerous, packed with more explosive material than was the norm. Officials said they had stopped a vehicle smuggling one tonne of the goods, representing a potential health risk.

Alcohol appears to have played role in fatal crash near Rudná

The D5 highway near Rudná, outside the capital, saw a fatal traffic accident in the early hours of Saturday morning, in which alcohol appears to have played a role. A truck and personal vehicle collided less than a kilometre from Prague, with the truck flipping onto its side across two lanes; the trucker was killed in the crash; the other driver, who tested postive for alcohol, was unhurt. The police rerouted traffic along side roads for several hours. A ramp onto the highway, five kilometres from the city, was also temporarily closed. The police are investigating the cause of the accident.

TV director quits over controversial broadcast

The director of a controversial television broadcast featuring the electronic music band Vanessa on Czech TV has told Lidové noviny he quit over the group's behavior, which he said had intended to 'disgust'.The band was recently featured on the show Tečka páteční noci on ČT Art, broadcast live from Czech TV's Brno studio. The group's singer, Samir Hauser, stunned some viewers as well as allegedly some on the production team, when he tried to do a line of cocaine off of a bible or later forced himself to vomit by sticking a finger in his throat. The host of the show downplayed the incident, saying that the drug was fake. He has stood by the broadcast, suggesting the group's behavior was not surprising given its image and that things could have gone 'worse'.

Christmas holidays were quieter for the police writes Czech news site

This year's Christmas holidays were the quietest in 20 years regarding thefts and break-ins, the police revealed, saying - tongue-in-cheek - that even crooks had respected the 'spirit' of the holidays, writes Czech news website Novinky. According to officials, break-ins were registered in apartment buildings in bigger cities but less in the countryside, where owners are more likely to be home over the Christmas break. Overall, the police had to respond to fewer 158 calls. In one incident, officers arrested a 24-year-old car thief who had driven only a few metres in a stolen vehicle before falling asleep.

Meteorologists warn of continuing strong winds

Meteorologists are warning of strong winds over the weekend, primarily in Moravia and parts of eastern Bohemia. On Saturday, winds of around 110 kilometers an hour are expected in the Jeseníky and Beskydy mountains in northern Moravia. In the lowlands, people are being warned of squalls of up to 75 kilometers an hour. The Czech Republic has seen high winds in the past few days, which have caused considerable damage in parts of the country.

Weather

The weekend will start out with sunny to partly cloudy weather, which may turn to rain by Sunday. Daytime temperatures should be between 4 and 9 degrees Celsius.