News of Radio Prague

Police arrest large-scale smuggler of fuel

The special police unit for fighting corruption and economic crime have arrested a man suspected of illegal imports of fuels to the Czech Republic. The man allegedly smuggled over 200 truckloads of fuels to the country over the past six months using forged documents. The police said the damage amounts to over a 100 million crowns in unpaid customs duty.

Czech Airlines aircraft makes emergency landing

A Czech airlines flight from Prague to Bratislava made an emergency landing shortly after the take-off on Friday. According to TV Prima, the cause was reportedly a crack in the cockpit window. This was the fifth case this year that a Czech airlines aircraft had to return to the airport or could not take off at all. The previous one occurred just the day before. The average age of the national carrier's fleet is nine years.

Head of Finnish Parliament visits Czech Republic

The head of the Finnish parliament and the Social Democratic Party of Finland, Paavo Lipponen, visited the Czech Republic on Saturday. He came mainly to express support to the ruling Czech Social Democrats before elections to the European Parliament due to take place later this year. Mr. Lipponen, who is seen as a potential new chairman of the European Commission, spoke about the need to reform European economy and to implement a social and development model based on internal solidarity. He also called on small countries to defend their interests within the EU rather than wait for support from traditional stronger allies.

No free parking in central Prague

As of the second half of this year, drivers will have almost no chance to park their cars in the centre of Prague free of charge. The Prague City Hall is planning to introduce parking zones in districts 2, 3 and 7. Similar zones have already been in place in Prague 1. The main aim of the introduction of paid parking zones is to limit the volume of traffic in central Prague.

Czech Centre in NY to exhibit Dvorak's manuscripts

The Czech Centre in New York has opened an exhibition of manuscripts of Czech composer Antonin Dvorak on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death. Dvorak lived in the United States between 1892 and 1895, mostly in New York. During that period, he composed his world-famous symphony From the New World. The celebrations of the Dvorak anniversary will culminate in March with a concert by the Czech Philharmonic in the Carnegie Hall and a performance of Dvorak's opera "Rusalka" in May.

Weather forecast

We are expecting a mostly cloudy day with scattered snow showers. The highest daytime temperatures should hover around zero.