• 01/10/2015

    The escalator at Prague's Můstek metro station, which went into reverse operation in November last year, causing a mass fall in which several people were injured, was put back in operation on Friday. The Head of the Prague Transport Authority Jaroslav Ďuriš ruled out the possibility of a similar accident happening in the future. Police is suspecting someone might have been tampering with the escalator intentionally and is currently investigating the incident as a possible case of reckless endangerment.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/10/2015

    The Czech biathlete Veronika Vítková won the gold medal in the 7.5 km World Cup sprint event in Germany's Oberhof on Friday. Despite having to run two penalty loops, Vítková finished nine seconds ahead of Italy's Dorothea Wierer. It is the first World Cup victory for the 26-year old athlete. Another Czech Gabriela Soukalová finished in sixth place.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/10/2015

    President Miloš Zeman will not dismiss his chancellor Vratislav Mynář over his purchase of a villa in Prague for a suspiciously low price. In an interview for the news site Deník.cz, president Zeman said Mr Mynář gave him a satisfactory answer as to where the money came from. He also added that the villa was in a poor state and needed a costly reconstruction. Mr Mynář purchased the functionalist villa in Pragues's Strašnice district for CZK 5.5 million, which many real-estate experts say is far below its real market value. Several anti-corruption groups this week called on the president to dismiss his chancellor over the suspucious deal.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 01/09/2015

    Czech and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech has been told that he can leave the London club in the summer, according to reports by British newspapers. Chelsea, which hitherto refused to countenance Čech’s transfer, has now come round to the idea, papers report. Arsenal is widely tipped to be the frontrunner to capture Čech’s services next season with manager Arséne Wenger said to be willing to make a bid of up to seven million pounds. Čech is also said to be keen to stay on in London. A question mark over the Czech goalkeeper’s future at Chelsea emerged at the start of the season when Belgian ‘keeper Thibaut Courtois replaced him as the first choice in Premier League games. Čech has since then made only sporadic first team appearances, mainly in FA Cup encounters for Chelsea.

    Author: Chris Johnstone
  • 01/09/2015

    Czech interior minister Milan Chovanec has said that the country’s security services are on stepped up alert in case some of the attackers who targeted a French satirical magazine try to flee the country. Chovanec said that increased attention is being paid to who comes into the Czech Republic from the area. There are no specific indications of a threat, he added. The latest comments contrast with Chovanec’s reaction immediately following Wednesday’s attack in Paris, when 12 people were killed. He said then that there was no need for stepped up security.

    Author: Chris Johnstone
  • 01/09/2015

    The Czech weather office has warned of high winds of up to 125 kilometres an hour and downpours across most of Bohemia on Saturday. The forecasters have warned that river levels across the country are likely to rise rapidly with the biggest threat of flooding focused on the Úhlava river near Klatovy in the west of the country.

    Author: Chris Johnstone
  • 01/09/2015

    Czech women tennis players Petra Kvítová and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová have failed to progress into the finals of the Shenzen and Auckland tournaments. Kvítová went down in straight sets 4:6, 4:6, to Switzerland’s Timea Basczinska in the semifinals. After winning the first set 6:4. Záhlavová-Strýcová lost the next 3:6, 4:6 to Danish former world number one Caroline Wozniacki. Kvítová is now heading for Australia and the first Grand Slam of the new year.

    Author: Chris Johnstone
  • 01/09/2015

    A father and son management duo will for the first time lead a top Czech ice hockey club into action on Friday night. Miloš Řiha was appointed manager of Pardubice mid-week and the 56-year-old appointed his son, also called Miloš, as assistant. Pardubice, in seventh place in the league, host on Sparta Prague, in third, at their home arena.

    Author: Chris Johnstone
  • 01/09/2015

    Embattled presidential chancellor Vratislav Mlynář only delivered the last documents required for the domestic security service to start checking whether he could be cleared to see top secret material at the end of 2014, the daily newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes reported on Friday. That means he completed his part of the process a year after the first application was lodged, the paper pointed out. It said that President Miloš Zeman was under the impression that the security vetting was well under way and not that it had just started. Mlynář is currently under fire for his purchase of a Prague villa at a fraction of its expected market price from a lawyer linked with shady personalities straddling the business and political worlds.

    Author: Chris Johnstone
  • 01/09/2015

    A police amnesty on illegal arms resulted in 5,744 weapons and almost 570,000 bullets and other munitions being turned in last year, police have announced. Most of the weapons were small arms, such as revolvers and pistols. The total is down on the almost 7,900 weapons handed in last time the amnesty was staged in 2009 but more than the hauls from the previous amnesties in 2003 and 1996.

    Author: Chris Johnstone

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