• 10/11/2014

    The annual multi discipline contemporary art festival 4+4 Days in Motion got underway in Prague of Friday evening. Now in its nineteenth year, the festival offers dance and theatre performances, public lectures and discussions and an exhibition, taking place in various venues across the city. The event runs until October 18.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 10/11/2014

    The Czech national football team defeated Turkey 2:1 in Istanbul on Friday night, securing their second win in the Euro 2016 qualification. Turkey grabbed the lead eight minutes after the start, but Czechs equalized a few minutes later with a shot by Václav Sivok. Václav Pilař scored in the second half, securing the win for the Czech national team. The Czechs will next face Kazakhstan on Monday.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 10/11/2014

    Police are investigating alleged election fraud and vote buying in the north Bohemian municipalities of Lovosice, Litvínov, Chomutov and Bílina, and in te north Moravian towns of Ostrava and Český Těšín, a police spokeswoman said on Friday. The alleged fraudsters were reportedly targeting members of the local Roma community, offering them money to vote for a particular party. If the suspicion is confirmed, the election results in the towns in question will have to be cancelled.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 10/11/2014

    Pavel Landovský, famous actor, playwright and Charter 77 signatory, has died at the age of 78. Mr Landovský was a prominent dissident under the communist regime and a close friend of the late Václav Havel. In the 1970s he was banned from film and television and after signing the charter, he was also prevented from working at the theatre. After being severely beaten by the Secret police in 1979, he left for Vienna, where he was offered a place in the famous Burgtheater. He returned to Prague in 1990 after the fall of the Communist regime.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 10/10/2014

    The zoo in Plzeň on Friday announced the birth of 21 dwarf or broad-snouted crocodiles. The zoo has been successfully breeding the crocs since 2001. More than 100 have been born to the zoo over that period.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 10/10/2014

    Czech President Miloš Zeman and members of the government including Education Minister Marcel Chládek applauded the news on Friday that Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai had been chosen as a joint-winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, along with Indian child rights campaigner Kailash Satyarthi. The president, through his spokesman, said it was a message for young people to escape the shackles of intolerant organisations like the Taliban. The 17-year-old activist, the youngest-ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban last year. The Czech NGO People in Need also applauded the decision by the Nobel Prize Committee, suggesting it was an excellent choice.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 10/10/2014

    Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek welcomed his Polish counterpart Grzegorz Schetyna in Prague on Friday at Černín Palace to discuss Czech-Polish relations and key issues. The foreign trip is the Polish minister’s third since taking over from Radoslaw Sikorski last month. The ministers discussed the impact of EU sanctions against Russia for its role in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea, calling them crucial; they suggested the sanctions had helped blunt steps by Russia and helped a ceasefire hold. A unified stance on Russia, they agreed, was necessary not only for the Czech Republic and Poland, but within the Visegrad Four, which also includes Slovakia and Hungary. Mr Schetyna said that a unified stance on Russia by the V4 would be “better heard” in Europe and Brussels.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 10/10/2014

    The Czech Republic is ready if cases of the deadly Ebola virus appear, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said on Friday, citing steps taken over the last two days by health officials to isolate and provide care for a Czech businessman suspected of having the disease. The man was admitted to Prague’s Bulovka Hospital on Thursday suffering from a fever; he had recently returned home from Liberia, which has been affected by the Ebola outbreak. He ultimately tested negative for the disease. The prime minister said the Ebola threat would be discussed at a meeting of the National Security Council next week. The country’s Chief Hygiene Officer Jiří Valenta, meanwhile, said that future cases could not be ruled out, although he suggested the risk might diminish somewhat with fewer carriers flying to stricken regions. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the worst since the disease was first identified in the 1970s, killing more than 3,800 people this year.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 10/10/2014

    The Czech national football squad will play Turkey on Friday night in Istanbul in their second qualifier for the European championship, Euro 2016. Players such as star keeper Petr Čech, team captain Tomáš Rosický, and striker David Lafata are in the line-up. The Czechs won their opening qualifying match against the Netherlands and currently are first in Group A, tied on three points with Iceland.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 10/10/2014

    Rudolf Čechura, the creator of the much-loved children’s animated film character Maxipes Fík, died on Monday at the age of 83, his grandson has revealed. A funeral ceremony for the author is to be held next week. Mr Čechura came up with the character for the animated children’s TV series Večerníček some 40 years ago. Maxipes (or Maxidog) who knows how to talk and shares incredible dreams with the little girl Aja, has proven to be one of the most popular characters in Czech animation. He was drawn by Jiří Šalamoun and voiced by Josef Dvořák.

    Author: Jan Velinger

Pages