• Boy critical after being hit on head by backboard of basketball hoop
    05/12/2007

    A 14-year-old boy is in a critical condition in hospital after the metal backboard of a basketball hoop fell on him at a school in Kravare, north Bohemia. The newspaper Denik reported that the boy sustained serious injuries after the construction fell on his head. He was flown to hospital in Liberec after the accident occurred on Friday.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Trabant lovers gather for festival
    05/12/2007

    Around 50 Trabant cars took part in a rally from Prihrazy to Mnichov Hradiste in central Bohemia on Friday, at the beginning of a weekend-long festival. Organisers said they expected another 70 Trabant lovers to arrive in the course of the weekend. This year's festival is the second time Czech owners of the iconic East German vehicles have held such a gathering.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Prague to get mini Walk of Fame
    05/12/2007

    Prague is set to get its own version of Hollywood's Walk of Fame, Lidove noviny reported. There are plans to place the hand prints and signatures of film greats such as director Milos Forman and cameraman Miroslav Ondricek under thick glass on Na prikpe Street in front of Slovansky Dum, home to a multiplex cinema. In the mid 1990s a Walk of Fame was planned in front of the now closed cinema 64 U Hradeb, but the project never came to fruition.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Hasek into Stanley Cup semis after star performance
    05/12/2007

    The veteran Czech goaltender Dominik Hasek has reached the semi-finals of ice hockey's Stanley Cup with Detroit Red Wings. Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said Hasek, who is 42, had turned in a star performance in the team's 2:1 win over Anaheim on Friday.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Elias sues former agents for million dollars
    05/12/2007

    Meanwhile, hockey star Patrik Elias is suing his former agents for a million dollars. Elias has accused agents Mark Gandler and Todd Diamond of encouraging him to invest in restaurants in New York and Chicago and then putting the money into their own business.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • PM: Czech Republic supports Georgia's effort to join EU, NATO
    05/11/2007

    Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, who is on a three-day official visit to Georgia, has said the Czech Republic supports the country's effort to join the European Union and NATO. Speaking after a meeting with his Georgian counterpart Zurab Noghaideli on Friday, Mr Topolanek said that other topics discussed included trade relations and energy issues. Mirek Topolanek is the first Czech prime minister to visit independent Georgia.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Poll: Czechs fear missiles but reject anti-missile radar
    05/11/2007

    A new poll conducted by the Factum Invenio agency suggests that three-fifths of Czechs are against the construction of a US defence radar on Czech territory, but almost the same number believe that the country should protect itself against possible missile attacks. The poll, commissioned by the Czech Foreign Ministry, has shown that 61 percent of Czechs are opposed to the radar project, while 30 percent support it. According to 56 percent of respondents, the Czech Republic should protect itself against a missile threat. Almost a half of Czechs want guarantees that the radar base would not threaten the environment. Official negotiations between the United States and the Czech Republic on the radar project were launched on Thursday and are to last for several months.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Austrian anti-nuclear activists block border crossings on Friday
    05/11/2007

    Anti-nuclear activists from neighbouring Austria again blocked 12 out of the 16 border crossings between the Czech Republic and Austria for two hours on Friday afternoon. The protesters want the Austrian government to file an international lawsuit against the Czech Republic over an alleged breach of agreements on the safety of the Czech nuclear power station Temelin. The last such protests took place two weeks ago when the activists blocked 10 border crossings.

    Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said on Thursday he would discuss the matter with his Austrian counterpart Ursula Plassnik, most likely at a meeting of EU foreign ministers. Czech officials have repeatedly said the blockades amount to breach free movement of persons - one of the fundamental freedoms granted by the EU.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Number of HIV-positive people rising in Czech Republic
    05/11/2007

    The number of HIV-positive people has risen in the Czech Republic in the past months, Miroslav Hlavaty the director of "Dum svetla", a Prague centre for people with HIV/AIDS, said on Friday, adding that nine new HIV-positive patients were registered in March and data for April will probably show a further increase. He said that Czechs are well aware of the risk of HIV, but they underestimate it and do not protect themselves. The total number of HIV-positive people in the Czech Republic reached 949 in March. The most frequent way of transmission is unprotected sex, which is behind 83 percent of all cases.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Czech, German ministers believe in progress regarding EU treaty
    05/11/2007

    Czech and German foreign ministers, Karel Schwarzenberg and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, have said they believe that the European Union will reach an agreement on its institutional reform. Speaking at a news conference after their meeting in Berlin of Friday, Mr Schwarzenberg and Mr Steinmeier also appreciated the fact that the possible stationing of elements of the US missile defence shield in the Czech Republic and Poland is being discussed multilaterally. Mr Steinmeier's Social Democrats have challenged the missile defence system, while the Christian Democrats of Prime Minister Angela Merkel are more open on the issue. Germany, which is now presiding over the EU, wants to submit the draft of a new European treaty at an EU summit in June. The Czech Republic is one of the opponents of the EU constitution.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

Pages