• Burning Bush sweeps boards at Czech Lions
    02/23/2014

    Burning Bush, Agnieszka Holland’s depiction of the aftermath of the self-immolation of Jan Palach, swept the boards at the Czech Lion film awards in Prague on Saturday night. The movie, originally a TV mini-series, picked up a record 11 prizes, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Zdeněk Tyc’s Like Never Before picked up the two main acting prizes, Clownwise by Viktor Tauš took Best Supporting Actor and Crooks by Sylvie Dymáková was named Best Documentary.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Netherlands toughest opponents in Czech group for Euro 2016
    02/23/2014

    The Czech Republic have drawn the Netherlands, who will be favourites to come first, Turkey, Latvia, Iceland and Kazakhstan in their qualifying group for soccer’s European Championship in France in 2016. The first two teams in each group will reach the competition automatically, as will the best of the third placed teams. The Czechs failed to reach this year’s World Cup but have since acquired a new manager in Pavel Vrba.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • ANO approve Telička as European Parliament campaign leader
    02/22/2014

    ANO have officially approved Pavel Telička as the leader of their candidates for elections to the European Parliament in May. Mr. Telička, a former diplomat and lobbyist, led the Czech negotiating team ahead of the country’s accession to the EU and was a European Commissioner for six months in 2004. In the elections on May 23 and 24, TOP 09’s campaign will be headed by former central bank vice-governor Luděk Niedermayer, sociologist Jan Keller will lead the Social Democrats, Kateřina Konečná will be the face of the Communist Party and Pavel Svoboda will head the Christian Democrats’ ticket.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Official: Relatively low incidence of flu this winter
    02/22/2014

    There has been a relatively low incidence of influenza in the Czech Republic this winter, the country’s chief hygiene officer, Vladimír Valenta, told the Czech News Agency. While 100 people had died of the flu by this time last year, there has been only one such death to date this winter. The country was hit by a major flu epidemic last year and if it experiences one this year it is unlikely to be so serious, Mr. Valenta said. The official pointed out that epidemics came in cycles and did not necessarily occur annually.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Shooting down of US plane by Nazis remembered
    02/22/2014

    Around 200 people gathered on Saturday to mark the 70th anniversary of the shooting down of an American B-24 Liberator plane at Nepomuk near Plzeň. Nine crew members died in the wreckage of the heavy bomber on 22 February 1944. One member, gunner Raymond Noury, miraculously survived and was held as a POW by the Germans until the end of the war; he later twice visited the village and had planned to attend Saturday’s ceremony but died in December.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • More kiosks planned for Prague’s Wenceslas Square
    02/22/2014

    There will be 11 kiosks selling fast food, flowers and newspapers on Prague’s Wenceslas Square from next year, a city councilor told the Czech News Agency. There are currently seven on the city’s main thoroughfare, down from 23 in 2012, when Prague abrogated contracts with several stall holders; many are now standing empty. The issue of kiosks on Wenceslas Square has been the subject of some controversy, with objections from preservations leading to the rejection of new designs that were due to go up last year.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech Lion film awards to be presented Saturday
    02/22/2014

    The Czech Republic’s main film prizes, the Czech Lions, are due to be presented at a ceremony at Prague’s Rudolfinum on Saturday night. It is the first time the awards, now solely organised by the Czech Film and Television Academy, are being handed out at that venue. The films with the most nominations are Burning Bush, Agnieszka Holland’s depiction of the aftermath of the self-immolation of Jan Palach, with 14, and Zdeněk Tyc’s drama Like Never Before, with 12.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Cross-country skier Vrabcová-Nývltová comes fifth in Sochi for best result of career
    02/22/2014

    The Czech cross-country skier Eva Vrabcová-Nývltová finished fifth in the 30km free at the Winter Olympics in Sochi on Saturday. It was the best result of her career. Earlier, snowboarder Ester Ledecká finished sixth in the slalom The Czech Republic has a total of eight medals from Sochi, two more than the country’s previous Winter Olympics tally.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech government welcomes Ukraine deal
    02/21/2014

    The Czech government welcomes the deal reached on Friday between Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and the country’s opposition leaders, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said. After days of violent clashes which left more than 70 people dead, the deal paves the ways for forming a new government and an early general election. Mr Sobotka told reporters on Friday that in case of need, the Czech Republic was ready to accept hundreds of refugees from Ukraine and help provide medical care for those injured during the conflict. However, Czech authorities have not registered any increase in the number of people seeking asylum in the country.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Charles University offers Ukrainian students to finish studies in Prague
    02/21/2014

    Charles University has offered roughly 20 students from Ukraine the chance to complete their studies in Prague, the institution said on Friday. The offer only applies to students who face direct persecution in their country and who could receive the university’s Václav Havel Fellowship, which is for students affected by persecution in totalitarian and authoritative countries. Ukrainian students could start attending courses in Prague immediately, the university said. A similar offer came on Thursday from Palacký University in Olomouc.
    Author: Jan Richter

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