• Vaidisova wins Tashkent Open
    10/17/2004

    15-year-old Czech tennis player Nicole Vaidisova won her second WTA title on Sunday, downing French opponent Virginia Razzano in three sets at the Tashkent Open. Vaidisova came back from one set down, winning the next two sets 6:3, 6:2. Vaidisova's win earns her 140, 000 US dollars. Earlier in the year she won her first WTA title in Vancouver.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Sparta - Manchester match to be refereed by De Santis
    10/17/2004

    Tuesday's Champions League football match-up between Sparta Prague and England's Manchester United will be refereed by Italian ref Massimo De Santis, a police inspector from Rome who is well-known for his love of good food, theatre, and water skiing. Mr De Santis, 42, has called international games since 2000. It will not be the first time he has refereed a Czech team either: three years ago he oversaw a match-up between Sigma Olomouc and Celta Vigo in the UEFA Cup, in which the Czech side won 4:3.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Austrian activists block border crossing to protest nuclear power plant
    10/16/2004

    Austrian activists blocked a border crossing between Austria and the Czech Republic on Saturday afternoon in protest of the Czech Republic's Temelin nuclear power plant, which was given the go-ahead for full operation by the Czech State Authority for Nuclear Energy on Monday. Temelin has long been a bone of contention for demonstrators who believe authorities have not reduced safety problems at the plant. Saturday's demonstration, which began around noon, did not see any involvement by Czechs.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Senate by-elections decided in Prague 4, Znojmo
    10/16/2004

    Run-offs in Senate by-elections for the Prague 4 and Znojmo constituencies have resulted in victories for Frantisek Prihoda, of the right-of-centre Civic Democratic Party, who earned 60 percent of the ballot, and Milan Spacek, candidate for the Christian Democrats, who got 53 percent. Defeated were Social Democrat Erazim Kohak, in Prague 4, and Civic Democrat Jaroslav Parik, in Znojmo.

    The final ballot count indicates a very low overall voter turn-out: just 14.5 percent of those eligible showed up to cast their vote.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Belarussian police attempt to block Czech TV journalists pursuing elections story
    10/16/2004

    Two Czech TV crew members - a journalist and a cameraman - faced complications on Saturday while trying to complete a report on upcoming Parliamentary elections in Belarus. The two were stopped by police at the headquarters of the central electoral commission while taping the story of a candidate who had been struck from the ballot list. The two Czechs were asked by local police to hand over taped footage, which they refused, seeking help from members of an independent journalists' association instead.

    Czech TV has since commented the incident as a routine hitch in Belarus, a country ruled by strong-arm president Alexander Lukashenko.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Sparta wins traditional derby 2:0 against Slavia
    10/16/2004

    Football side Sparta Prague beat traditional rivals Slavia in their derby on Saturday. Sparta saw both goals come from Jiri Homola in a four-minute stretch in the second half that gave his team the game.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Vaidisova clinches appearance in second WTA final
    10/16/2004

    15-year-old Czech tennis player Nicole Vaidisova has made it to a WTA final for the second time in her career. On Saturday the Czech player downed American opponent Meghann Shaughnessy in three sets in her semi-final at the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan, winning the last set on a tie-break. On Sunday she will face Virginia Razzano of France.

    Ms Vaidisova currently ranks 103 in the women's rankings: a win on Sunday would see her earn 140, 000 U.S. dollars.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • German president would welcome gesture towards Sudeten Germans
    10/15/2004

    The German president, Horst Kohler - in Prague for a one-day visit on Friday - said he would welcome a gesture from the Czech Republic towards Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after World War II. Mr Kohler added, however, that it was not his place to interfere or put forward demands. Meanwhile, his Czech counterpart Vaclav Klaus said it was a purely Czech matter. Last month the Czech foreign minister, Cyril Svoboda, said he was in favour of a "humanitarian gesture" towards the Sudeten Germans.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Draft budget for next year passed in first reading
    10/15/2004

    The government's draft budget for 2005 has been passed in the first reading by the Chamber of Deputies. The budget envisages a deficit of 83.6 billion crowns. Ninety-nine of the 194 deputies present for Friday's vote supported the draft budget. Further debate on the proposed budget will take place later this year, after it has been discussed in detail by various Chamber committees.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech Airlines to acquire European-made Airbus planes
    10/15/2004

    Czech Airlines is to acquire 12 European-made Airbus planes between 2006 and 2008. The head of CSA, Jaroslav Tvrdik, said on Friday that the airline had managed to get a better deal than expected from Airbus, who defeated United States company Boeing in the tender. Czech Airlines will pay 10 to 12.5 billion crowns for the planes in a leasing deal which will be completed in 2020.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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