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04/01/2007
The Sudoku World Championships in Prague have been won by an American, Thomas Snyder. The final was attended by Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who said he completes a Sudoku puzzle every night before going to bed. No Czechs made it to the final, though the Czech Republic did come third in the team category. Some 140 contestants from 31 countries took part in the Sudoku championships, which were held for the second time this year.
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04/01/2007
Agriculture Minister Petr Gandalovic wants new tax and social welfare reforms to include the abolition of gift tax in the case that a farmer gives his property to his child, Aktualne.cz reported. The move would save young farmers hundreds of thousands or even millions of crowns. Minister Gandalovic said it could also help improve the age structure in Czech agriculture. The government is due to announce a raft of tax and welfare reforms this week.
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04/01/2007
The Czech Republic is the most successful of the ten states which joined the European Union in 2004 in terms of acquiring protected status for its traditional foodstuffs, the Czech Press Agency reported. Czechs now have six protected foods on the EU list, including Stramberk Ears and Pohorelice carp. Winning a place on the list means that such foods cannot be made anywhere else. Six products is some way behind France and Italy with around 150 trademarked foods each, but it is still more than the other nine countries which joined the EU three years ago.
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04/01/2007
The Regional Development Ministry has completed a digital database of graves in the Czech Republic, the website iDnes reported. It contains information on those buried in almost 6,000 cemeteries around the country. The ministry's website (www.mmr.cz) gives information on the land registry, graveyard operators, size, ownership rights and even GPS satellite coordinates. Fifty-six percent of graveyards are owned by municipalities, while 34 percent belong to religious groups.
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04/01/2007
The post office in the west Bohemian town of Kraslice has begun stamping Easter postcards with a symbol of the Christian holiday, a week before it begins. Kraslice is the Czech word for Easter egg. To get the Easter stamp people must send a stamped addressed postcard in an envelope by April 13, a spokesperson for Czech Post told the Novinky news website. The Kraslice post office puts Easter symbols on tens of thousands of cards at this time every year. However, numbers have fallen somewhat, due to the popularity of email and mobile phone text-messaging.
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04/01/2007
The Czech racing driver Tomas Enge is in hospital after crashing during an American Le Mans Series race in the city of St Petersburg. Enge sustained broken ribs, a lung injury and a broken arm when his car hit a wall. His manager said he was in a stable condition and could communicate. In 2001 Enge became the first Czech driver to take part in Formula 1, when he completed three races as a substitute.
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04/01/2007
Prague Zoo has just begun its 76th season. Director Petr Fejk presented new hyena and crocodile expositions on Sunday and said there were plans to build a new enclosure for elephants and rhinos. Mr Fejk said 1,000 animals had been born in the zoo last year and he hoped there would be a similar "boom" in 2007.
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03/31/2007
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has described comments made about Romanies by Deputy Prime Minister Jiri Cunek as xenophobic. Speaking at a meeting of the leadership of his Civic Democrats, Mr Topolanek said the party distanced themselves from Mr Cunek's words. Asked by a newpaper whether other people should receive state subsidies like Romanies, Mr Cunek said non-Roma would need to get a suntan - an allusion to the colour of Romanies' skin - cause chaos with their families and light fires on town squares before politicians would regard them as badly off.
Jiri Cunek rose to national prominence last year after expelling Romany rent-defaulters from the centre of the town of Vsetin, where he was then mayor.
Mr Cunek, who is leader of the Christian Democrats and regional development minister, is currently under police investigation for alleged bribe-taking when he was mayor of Vsetin. He has resisted calls to resign from the government.
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03/31/2007
Police in Romania have arrested a group of alleged people traffickers who they say sold Romanian labourers as virtual slaves in the Czech Republic, the AFP news agency reported. The Romanian authorities say the group promised workers high earnings in the Czech Republic but then sold them for 150 euros per person to Czech or Ukrainian middlemen. The workers then had their documents taken and were made to work for little money and small amounts of food. Some of them managed to escape and returned home with help from the Romanian Embassy in Prague. An estimated 500 people were abused in this way, AFP reported.
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03/31/2007
The estranged wife of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek says his behaviour and vulgar language are harming the Czech Republic. Pavla Topolankova told the daily Blesk that her husband should represent the country but in fact does the opposite. Mr Topolanek has come in for some criticism this week for using a phrase associated with Sudeten German Nazi sympathisers.
In the past he has raised his middle finger to opposition deputies in the lower house and described the European Union constitution as "shit" (using the English word). Mr Topolanek left his wife for his Civic Democrat party colleague MP Lucie Talmanova, with whom he is expecting a baby.
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