• Hundreds attend funeral of writer Ludvík Kundera
    08/26/2010

    Hundreds of people attended the funeral of writer Ludvík Kundera in Brno on Thursday. The poet, playwright and translator died on August 17 at the age of 90. He could not publish after the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia and moved to the village of Kunštát, north of Brno. The community’s mayor said a local school has been named in his honour. Ludvík Kundera was a cousin of the French-based author, Milan.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Court confirms sentence for man who set off hand grenade in restaurant
    08/26/2010

    A court in Prague confirmed on Thursday a 15-year sentence for a man who set off a hand grenade in a Prague restaurant injuring four people. The incident took place in a restaurant in the Prague neighbourhood of Karlín in July 2009; 20 people were present in the establishment at the time. The man later said he wanted to commit suicide. The judge said it was sheer luck that no one was killed.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Sparta Prague fail Champions League qualification battle
    08/26/2010

    Czech league champions Sparta Prague have failed to qualify for the lucrative Champions League. On Wednesday night, Sparta failed to overcome a two goal deficit from the first leg and went down 0:1 against Slovak club Žilina. The Slovak club thus qualifies for the first time for Europe’s premiere club competition. On a miserable night Sparta missed a penalty and never really looked making a fight of the fixture. Pressure will mount on under siege Sparta manager Jozef Chovanec to resign.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Czech national football team to play Denmark in November’s friendly
    08/26/2010

    The national football team will face Denmark in a friendly game in Aarhus on November 17, just five days after a Euro qualifying game against Liechtenstein, a spokesman for the team said on Thursday. The two sides will have played each other for the eighth time in 12 years.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Government approves closure of five embassies
    08/25/2010

    The Czech government on Wednesday approved the closure of five embassies within extensive cost-cutting measures in 2010. The Czech Republic will be closing down its diplomatic missions in Congo, Venezuela, Kenya, Yemen and Costa Rica. The CTK news agency says that the Czech consulate in Bombay, India may also have to be closed. The planned closure of selected embassies has come under fire from the opposition Social Democrats who claim it will hurt Czech exports. Originally the foreign ministry had proposed closing down as many as ten diplomatic missions. Negotiations are also underway on an embassy sharing scheme within the Višegrad group of states.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Police and firemen to protest against minister’s austerity plan
    08/25/2010

    Police officers and firemen are planning a joint protest action on September 21 against Interior Minister Radek John’s austerity plan. The minister outlined earlier this week how he expected the ministry to operate on a smaller budget in 2010. He said the priorities were to save on operational expenditures and investments, and decreased pay for police and firemen. Other measures will include cancelling plans for modernizing police and fire departments and purchasing new equipment. The announcement has met with anger from the ranks of police and firefighters who claim that the minister lacks experience in the field and has no idea how his proposals will impact the work of the security forces.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Senate nominates candidates for Ombudsman
    08/25/2010

    The Senate on Wednesday nominated two candidates for the post of Ombudsman, left vacant following the death of Otakar Motejl in May of this year. They are former constitutional court judge Pavel Varvařovský and the head of the Prague Jewish community Frantisek Banyai. President Klaus, who is also entitled to make nominations to the post, on Tuesday proposed the former governor of south Bohemia Jan Zahradník and civic activist John Bok. The lower house is to elect a new Ombudsman on September 7th.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Czech Republic ready to take in released Cuban dissidents
    08/25/2010

    The Czech Republic has expressed readiness to take in some of the Cuban dissidents who were released from prison following negotiations between the Cuban leadership, Spain and the Catholic Church. The Czech Foreign Ministry says the country can take in as many as ten dissidents with their families. If they decide to accept the offer the Cuban nationals would be given political asylum in the Czech Republic, residence permits and assistance in finding jobs and placing their children in local schools.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Taxi-drivers still ripping-off foreign tourists
    08/25/2010

    Undercover inspectors at Prague Airport have found that one in two taxi-drivers rip off passengers. The inspection was conducted by city hall officials in cooperation with city police who issued over 200 fines. Czech taxi-drivers are notorious for overpricing with Prague city hall getting hundreds of complaints about the problem. The trip from Prague Airport to the city centre should cost around 600 crowns, inspectors say some taxi drivers charged double and in one case the requested fee was 5,000 crowns.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Clean-up operation in wake of small tornado
    08/25/2010

    A clean-up operation is underway in the Moravian town of Olešnice which was hit by a small tornado on Tuesday night. The tornado damaged twenty roofs –in one case lifting it and throwing it onto a neighbouring dwelling – and uprooted a number of trees. No one was injured. Tornados are fairly rare in this part of the world but they have been known to occur.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

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