News

Great Czech decathlete wins world championships for first time

Roman Sebrle has won gold in the decathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka. The world title had been the only medal lacking in the Olympic champion's collection. Sebrle's victory came in the tightest decathlon in the history of the world championships, with the 32-year-old Czech finishing only 32 points clear of his nearest rival.

It has been a rather successful world championships for the Czech Republic: as well as Roman Sebrle's medal, Barbora Spotakova won gold in the javelin on Friday, while Katerina Badurova took silver in the pole vault earlier in the week.

Domazlice TV transmitter first in Czech Republic to go digital

A television transmitter at Domazlice in west Bohemia has become the first in the Czech Republic to begin digital broadcasting. From midnight on Friday around 200,000 people in the region need a digital set-top box to receive Nova and the two stations of Czech Television (the other national terrestrial channel Prima is not taking part in the pilot project). They also receive a number of other channels which they could not previously pick up using an antenna. All of the Czech Republic's transmitters will have gone digital by the end of 2010.

Complete Prague Metro system halted for 40 minutes

Prague's Metro was brought to a halt for around 40 minutes on Saturday afternoon due to a power blackout. Trains on all three lines stopped running at 5:15 when the whole Metro power system cut out, in what has been described as the longest halt of its kind in memory. Escalators were still running, allowing passengers to exit stations. Operators are investigating what caused the outage.

iDnes: Greens backing economist Svejnar as presidential candidate

The Green Party is planning to put forward the renowned economist Jan Svejnar as a candidate for presidential elections next February, the iDnes news website reported. It appears that Mr Svejnar has accepted the idea of standing, though the Greens would have to win the support of the opposition Social Democrats for his candidature, which could be difficult. The only candidate so far is the incumbent, Vaclav Klaus; the former prime minister has been Czech president since 2003.

Driver's confusion over day of week leads to train crash

Nineteen people were injured on Saturday when two local trains collided near Prachatice in south Bohemia. Twelve of the injured were taken to hospital. An error by the driver of one of the trains is being blamed for the accident - he thought it was Sunday, when trains do not travel in the opposite direction on the route, said a Czech Rail inspector.

Thousands attending hops festival in Zatec

Thousands of people have been attending a festival in Zatec, north Bohemia, which is known for the best hops in the Czech Republic. Among the events taking place during the two-day festival are beer tastings, a rabbit show and the crowning of Miss zlateho moku (Miss Golden Drink), with entrants selected from the staff of Bohemia and Moravia's breweries.

Mass held to remember settlement flooded in creation of dam

A memorial mass was celebrated on Saturday at the church of SS Fabian and Sebastian by the former settlement of Zivohost in central Bohemia, which was flooded during the construction of the Slapy dam. The mass, served by Archbishop Miloslav Vlk, was part of celebrations to mark the 950th anniversary of the first recorded mention of Zivohost. The church and its parish house were the only buildings preserved when Slapy was created.

Czech Jankulovski scores as AC Milan take Super Cup

Czech footballer Marek Jankulovski scored for his club AC Milan on Friday night in a 3:1 victory over Sevilla in the final of the Super Cup in Monaco. The game is played between the winners of the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. Jankulovski this year became only the third Czech to win a Champions League medal, when Milan beat Liverpool in the final.

Stepanek and Safarova out in third round of US Open

Czech tennis players Radek Stepanek and Lucie Safarova were both knocked out in the third round of the US Open on Friday. Stepanek lost to Novak Djokovic of Serbia, while Safarova was beaten by Marion Bartoli of France. Safarova's next challenge will be off the courts - she is preparing for her maturita school leaving exams.

Weather

It should be cloudy over the next couple of days, with temperatures reaching up to 22 degrees Celsius.