• Mladá Fronta not interested in Economia publisher deal
    07/28/2008

    The Czech publisher Mladá Fronta denied on Sunday any interest in buying a majority share in Economia, a rival publisher which publishes the respected daily Hospodářské noviny. Mladá Fronta also denied that they were backed by Russian capital. The Economia publishing house, owned by Germany’s Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt, is on sale and Mladá Fronta was considered a top candidate for the deal. The German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said that Russian capital could be behind Mladá Fronta and the deal could lead to the “Ukrainization” of the Czech media environment.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Last week worst in deadly road accident this year
    07/28/2008

    Last week saw the highest number of casualties caused by traffic accidents this year with 29 people killed on Czech roads. The worst days of last week were Tuesday and Thursday, both with eight fatal accidents. One of the people killed on Thursday was the drummer for a Czech rock band Chinaski, whose motorcycle crashed into a car. Almost 3000 accidents happened in the Czech Republic between 21st and 28th July.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Czech TV turns off analogue ČT2 programme it Plzeň region
    07/28/2008

    Czech TV turned off the analogue station ČT2 in the Plzeň region on Monday and its signal will be only transmitted digitally from now on. A Czech TV spokesperson said the transition was smooth and no difficulties were encountered. Czech TV started the transition from analogue to digital signal in 2000; the analogue signal in the Czech Republic is expected to go off air completely by 2011.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • “Country Teacher” to premiere internationally at Venice Film Festival
    07/28/2008

    The film Venkovský učitel by Bohdan Sláma, known also as Country Teacher in English, will have its international premiere at the 65th Venice International Film Festival in the section Venice Days. The film, which was premiered in March in the Czech Republic, has already been sold to distributors in France, Poland and Germany. Actor Pavel Liška, who portrayed a disillusioned teacher who goes to live in the country, will also appear in another film competing in the Venice Days section of the festival – the Finnish movie The Visitor.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Leading Czech scientists say US radar could emit harmful rays
    07/27/2008

    A report written by leading Czech scientists suggests that the radar base the US would like to see built on Czech soil could emit harmful rays. In the report, Petr Pokorný from the Czech Academy of Sciences and military analyst Stanislav Kaucký refute the government’s claims that the radar base would be absolutely safe. The report suggests that the rays emitted by the base could pose a threat to those traveling in airplanes overhead, and that there should be a 50-kilometer no-fly zone surrounding the radar. The government has already outlined a no-fly zone around the base, which the scientists call ‘dangerously’ small. The Defence Ministry has reacted to the report by saying that it disagrees with the study’s findings.
    Author: Rosie Johnston

  • Czech troops change in Afghanistan
    07/27/2008

    The first in a new contingent of Czech troops set out for Afghanistan on Sunday. The troops are flying to Kabul to replace their colleagues at a Czech-run field hospital in the Afghan capital. One hundred and thirteen soldiers are set to be sent to the facility by the Czech military. They are expected to work there until the end of the year. Then, it is thought that the military will close down the hospital altogether. A Czech military presence is expected to remain after that time in the country’s Logar province, where the Czechs currently lead a provincial reconstruction team.
    Author: Rosie Johnston

  • Police: extremists’ march ends without incident
    07/27/2008

    A march held by far-right extremists in Svitavy on Saturday passed off without incident, police said. Some 200 neo-Nazis gathered in the Eastern Bohemian town to march in protest against what they believe to be the wrongful conviction of Vlastimil Pechanec, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for stabbing a Romany man outside a club. The march lasted two hours, in the course of which no violence erupted. Over 100 policemen were drafted in to oversee the protest.
    Author: Rosie Johnston

  • Lucerna evacuated after pipe bursts
    07/27/2008

    Prague’s Lucerna Palace was evacuated on Sunday morning, when the building was flooded by a burst mains pipe. Firemen were called in to extract the water from the basement of the building at around 11:00 CET. For several hours, a section of Štěpánská ulice - the street on which the Lucerna lies - was closed. Gas and electricity supplies to the building were stopped. It is not yet known how much the damage will run to.
    Author: Rosie Johnston

  • Parliament’s summer break starts on Monday
    07/27/2008

    Monday marks the start of the Czech Parliament’s summer break. The Upper and Lower Houses will reconvene in three weeks’ time, on August 20. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek is planning on spending the next three weeks abroad and so will be replaced in his absence by Deputy Prime Minister Jiří Čunek. Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek will also be at work during the summer recess.
    Author: Rosie Johnston

  • Švankmajer and Jakubisko honoured at Uherské Hradiště film school
    07/27/2008

    Czech animator Jan Švankmajer and Slovak director Juraj Jakubisko both received awards at the Uherské Hradiště Summer Film School on Saturday evening. The two veteran filmmakers picked up awards for their outstanding contribution to cinema at the film school’s opening ceremony. The summer school in Uherské Hradiště is now in its 34th year. This year, the event is expected to attract thousands of visitors to South Moravia.
    Author: Rosie Johnston

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