News

Kosovar foreign minister set to visit Czech Republic

Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg is set to meet with his Kosovar counterpart Skender Hyseni next Friday. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the announcement to journalists, but would not disclose any details of the visit. Mr Skender Hyseni is also scheduled to meet other members of the cabinet as well as representatives of the lower house and the senate. It is the first official visit by a politician of the independent Republic of Kosovo to the Czech Republic. The Kosovar foreign minister was invited to Prague by Mr Schwarzenberg. The Czech Republic recognized Kosovo’s independence in May and one month ago opened an embassy in the capital Pristina.

Vietnamese to fill labour shortage in construction

Hundreds of Vietnamese workers are expected to come to the Czech Republic to fill a labour shortage in the building industry. The workers will be recruited by job agencies, which have signed a contract with the Czech Republic’s Association of Building Entrepreneurs. The workers heading to the Czech Republic will receive a special training, including Czech language lessons.

Vietnam is becoming an important labour source for the Czech Republic. While at the end of last year about 5,400 Vietnamese were employed in the Czech Republic legally, in the first six months of this year nearly 11,000 arrived to work in the country.

Czech railways restore service on tracks in Studénka

Czech Railways has completely restored the service along the tracks near the town of Studénka, North Moravia, on which a train accident took place last Friday, leaving seven people killed and dozens more injured. The police on Friday filed charges against two civil engineers who were in charge of the reconstruction of a bridge that collapsed onto the rail tracks. The police say the two engineers knew the static of the bridge was impaired and did not take sufficient measures to prevent it from collapsing on the tracks.

Czech anti-cancer treatment to be tested on people

New Czech anti-cancer treatment will be tested on 60 people around the US and the Czech Republic, the daily Právo reported. The new anti-cancer medicine, developed by Czech scientist Antonín Holý, could be used in the treatment of patients suffering from lymphatic tissue cancer. It has proved very successful in the treatment of tumours when administered to dogs. If the clinical trials on humans prove to be successful, the new medicine might appear on the market within six to eight years. It will be produced by the US Gilead Sciences company.

Czech journalists attacked in South Ossetia return to Prague

Two Czech journalists from the Reflex weekly who were attacked and robbed in the town of Gori, South Ossetia, last week have returned to Prague. The Czechs were attacked by a unit of pro-Moscow soldiers; they lost their car and equipment but they suffered no injuries.

R.E.M. to play in Prague

American rock band R.E.M. is set to play a concert in the Czech capital on Sunday. The event will take place at the Slavia Prague's new stadium at Eden. The band has been returning to Prague regularly since 1990s. Their last concert in Sazka Arena on 2005 attracted 15,000 fans.

Eight annual Scottish Highland Games at Sychrov

The Chateau of Sychrov, north of Prague, hosted the 8th annual Scottish Highland Games on Saturday. The event was organized in cooperation with the British national tourism agency VisitBritain. Visitors could see numerous attractions, such as the fourth Silver Reed International Scottish piping Competition - the only competition of its kind in central Europe, heavyweight athletes or Scottish country dancing and have a taste of Scottish whisky and haggis.

Lukáš Pešek comes fourteenth in 250ccm Brno Grand Prix

The Czech rider Lukas Pesek came fourteenth in the 250ccm category at the Czech motorcycling Grand Prix in Brno on Sunday. Alex Debon of Spain, riding for Aprilia, came first, followed by his team-mate Alvaro Bautista. Italy’s Marco Simoncelli, who started on pole position, came third. The race was attended by about 200,000 spectators.

Olympics: Czech high-jumpers advance to finals

Czech high-jumpers Jaroslav Bába and Tomáš Janků have qualified for Tuesday’s finals at the Beijing Summer Olympics with a jump of 229 centimetres.

Olympics: Women's basketball team defeated by China

Czech women's basketball team was defeated by China 63:79 at the Beijing Olympics in the final match of group B. The Czech team will face Australians, the winning team of group A, in the quarter finals.

Weather

We can expect clear skies at the start of the week with temperatures reaching up to 30 degrees Celsius.