News

The leader of the right-of-centre Civic Democrats says he does not intend to provide proof to back up his assertion that the Social Democrats had him followed on a recent trip to Italy. Mirek Topolánek accused his main rivals of dirty tricks after paparazzi-style photos of him meeting influential lobbyists and business people appeared in the Czech media. He told reporters on Sunday it was sufficient to be aware of a link between the centre-left Social Democrats and Karel Randák, a former intelligence chief who admits to having provided the press with the pictures. The Social Democrats, whose own Milan Urban also appeared in the photos, have denied being behind them.

Police say they are not planning to heed a call from local officials in Husinec on the outskirts of Prague to evict a group of Romanian Romanies who have set up a makeshift camp there. The Romanies, who are keeping a vigil for a relative who is seriously ill in a Prague hospital, were previously camped elsewhere in the city and are now on private land with the permission of its owner. However, they have no running water or other basic facilities and the mayor of Husinec, Marie Těthalová, called on the police to expel the group by lunchtime on Sunday. She said there was no way the municipality would pay for mobile toilets or drinking water. The Romanian Romanies arrived in Prague over a week ago after a teenage relative they regard as a prince almost drowned in a lake in central Bohemia.

Hotel operators say they are having their worst season in a decade because of the financial crisis. Most Czech hotels have seen takings per room fall by 20 to 35 percent, according to a report produced by the Association of Hotels and Restaurants for the Czech News Agency. Occupation rates have fallen by 18 percent while prices have been reduced by 11 percent. The fall in numbers is particularly marked in the case of German, British, Irish, Dutch, Japanese, American, Spanish and Brazilian visitors, say the authors of the study.

The American film director and former member of the Monty Python comedy group Terry Gilliam has been presented with the Miroslav Ondříček Award at the first annual River Film Festival in the south Bohemian town of Písek. Miroslav Ondříček, a Czech cinematographer closely associated with Oscar-winning director Miloš Forman, personally presented the award for lifetime’s contribution to world cinema to Terry Gilliam, who is a frequent visitor to the Czech Republic. Mr Gilliam, who has made such films as Brazil and Twelve Monkeys, also appears in a trailer for River Film Festival, which runs until next Sunday.