• Some 15,000 households without power due to extreme weather
    10/17/2009

    Some 15,000 Czech households still remain without electricity supplies due to extreme weather conditions. Heavy snowing and strong winds that hit the north and northeast of the Czech Republic over last several days caused power cuts, disrupted train lines and blocked roads. Repairs have often been hampered by further snowfall and damaged lines in hard-to-reach areas. Snowstorms, which began on Thursday, set new records for snowfall in the Czech Republic in the month of October. The conditions caught many local inhabitants as well as motorists off guard. Five people have died due to the severe weather conditions.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Former PM Zeman’s followers from party
    10/17/2009

    Followers of the former Social Democrat prime minister, Miloš Zeman, formed a new party in Prague on Saturday to run in the next general elections. The Citizens’ Rights Party was founded by some 400 friends and colleagues of the former cabinet leader. The party’s preparatory committee consists of five former ministers of Mr Zeman’s cabinet, including ex-industry and trade minister Miroslav Grégr, ex-agriculture minister Jan Fencl and former education minister Eduard Zeman, among others. Miloš Zeman said he himself would not run for Parliament but would help the party with campaigning. Analysts believe the new project could harm the Social Democrat party as their priorities are very similar.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Czech Railways to cut 450 jobs
    10/17/2009

    Czech Railways is planning to let go 450 employees by mid December, a senior manager told the daily Mladá fronta Dnes on Saturday. The state-owned company is also considering selling some of its property, and scrapping obsolete railway cars. These cost-cutting measures are expected to generate some 700 million crowns, or more than 40 million US dollars which should help the firm to re-structuralize and invest into new rail vehicles.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • N.Y. Times: Irglová and Hansard to release new album in late October
    10/17/2009

    The Czech-Irish duo, Markéta Irglová and Glenn Hansard, are going to release a new album, Strict Joy, on October 27, the New York Times reported. The album, described as “a more ambitious, eclectic effort” was recorded in the United States. Ms Irglová and Mr Hansard continue working together even after their two-year romance ended last year.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • International Chefs’ Day celebrated in Prague
    10/17/2009

    Chefs, cooks and confectioners celebrated the International Chefs’ Day in Prague on Saturday. Held under the auspices of Czech First Lady Ms Livia Klausová, the event offered specialties of modern Czech cuisine at some thirty stands around Prague’s Old Town Square. The proceedings are to go to the Mr and Mrs Klaus charity foundation.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Tennis: Kvitová beats Radwandska to reach Linz final
    10/17/2009

    Unseeded Czech Petra Kvitová beat second seed Agniezska Radwanska, of Poland, 6:3, 6:2 at a WTA event in Linz, Austria, on Saturday, and advanced into the final. Kvitová, who beat world number one Dinara Safina at US Open last month, will face either Italian top seed Flavia Penneta or Yanina Wickmayer, of Belgium, seeded third.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Hockey: Jágr scores 11th goal for Omsk in KHL
    10/17/2009

    Czech forward Jaromír Jágr scored his 11th goal of the season for Avangard Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League on Saturday, clinching a 5-1 win against Novokuzneck. Jágr, who tops the league’s scoring chart, scored at the beginning of the third period in a power-play.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Snowfall continues to wreak havoc in the northern parts of country
    10/16/2009

    The first major snowfall of the winter has continued to wreak havoc in northern and north-eastern parts of the country, with conditions worsening in places. 50,000 homes on Friday remain without power and hot water. Repairs have been hampered by further snowfall and damaged lines in hard-to-reach areas. The electricity giant ČEZ has now declared power calamities in 11 of the country’s 14 regions. Snowstorms, which began on Thursday, set new records for snowfall in the Czech Republic in the month of October. The conditions caught many local inhabitants as well as motorists off guard.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • 18 year-old given suspended sentence for planned high school bomb attack
    10/16/2009

    The regional court in Hradec Králové has handed a 14-month suspended sentence with two years’ probation to an 18 year-old who planned a bomb attack at his school. The boy had faced a potential sentence of up to five years in prison. The 18 year-old had sought information on chemical substances and bomb-making on the internet, in imitation of similar attacks abroad. Throughout the case, his lawyer had maintained his actions were not meant seriously. The state attorney, by contrast, said the attack was thwarted only because the authorities were alerted in time. Friday’s ruling can still be appealed.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Poll: 65 percent back Klaus in stance on Lisbon treaty
    10/16/2009

    A new poll conducted by the Median agency for the Czech daily Lidové noviny has suggested that 65 percent of Czechs support the country’s president, Václav Klaus, in his refusal to sign the Lisbon treaty. The survey questioned 500 respondents, 63 percent of whom expressed worry over ratification, unless the country received an opt-out on the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. The president has said that without an exemption, the treaty could allow for ethnic Germans expelled from Bohemia and Moravia after World War II to reopen property claims cases. The Czech Republic is the only country in the EU’s 27-member bloc to not yet have completed ratification.
    Author: Jan Velinger

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