• Czech heavyweight beats former WBO champion
    07/06/2008

    The best Czech professional boxer Ondřej Pála beat former WBO heavyweight world champion Henry Akinwande in Ankara on Friday. The Czech champion outpointed the Brit in six rounds, scoring his 20th victory. Henry Akinwande, the WBO world champion between 1996 and 1997, returned to boxing after a year’s break.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Czechs mark Sts Cyril and Methodius Day
    07/05/2008

    Some 30,000 Czechs commemorated on Saturday the 1145th anniversary of the arrival of the Christian missionaries Cyril and Methodius. A public holiday in the Czech Republic, the anniversary was marked by the annual national pilgrimage to Velehrad, one of Moravia’s most important Catholic centres where Roman Cardinal Giovanni Coppa, together with Bohemian and Moravian bishops, celebrated a festive holly mass to mark the event.

    The brothers Cyril and Methodius, originally from Thessaloniki, arrived in Moravia in 863 to spread the gospel in a Slavic language; for that they also designed a script known as the Cyrillic alphabet.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Václav Havel calls for Lisbon Treaty ratification
    07/05/2008

    Former Czech President Václav Havel said that the Czech Republic should press on with the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. Mr Havel told Financial Times on Friday that the treaty should be kept alive in spite of its rejection in the Irish vote. Once the treaty is ratified, the EU should consider creating “a beautiful, simple constitution that children could learn about at school”.

    The Czech Republic has not yet started the ratification process of the document; the country’s Constitutional Court is currently reviewing the treaty to see whether it is in line with the Czech law.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Bathory premieres at Karlovy Vary film festival
    07/05/2008

    Bathory by Juraj Jakubisko, the most expensive central European film ever made, premiered at the 43rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on Saturday. The movie stars English actress Anna Friel in the role of the 17th century Hungarian countess Elizabeth Bathory, famous for alleged serial murders. The film, co-produced by Czech companies, cost around 320 million crowns, or more than 21 million U.S. dollars. At the premiere, the Prague-based Slovak director Juraj Jakubisko was also awarded a Crystal Glove for his contribution to filmmaking.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Reserve troops return from Kosovo
    07/05/2008

    Czech reserve troops returned from a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo on Friday. 116 Czech reserve troops were deployed in Kosovo at the beginning of March after the former Serbian province declared independence. During their mission, the soldiers helped the multi-national KFOR forces maintain order in the northern regions of Kosovo. The troops will be on alert until the end of July but do not expect to be called back. The regular Czech KFOR contingent remains in Kosovo.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Litomyšl opera festival concludes with ladies’ night
    07/05/2008

    The 50th International Opera Festival Smetana’s Litomyšl concluded on Saturday with a Solo for Ladies. The concert featured singers Eleonore Marguerre, Arpiné Rahdjian and Zoryana Kushpler performing famous opera arias and duets. The three-week opera festival, held in the birthplace of the famous 19th century Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, has seen one of the most successful years in its history, having sold more than 20,000 tickets.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Politicians to appear in Hrabal musical
    07/05/2008

    The governor of the Central Bohemia Region Pavel Bendl, along with several mayors of the region, are set to appear in a musical based on the novel “Postřižiny” by the late Bohumil Hrabal. The musical will only be staged in three venues in Central Bohemia during the summer. The novel, known in English as “Cutting it Short”, was first published illegally in 1974.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Thousands observe 1866 battle re-enactment
    07/05/2008

    Around 4,000 people watched the re-enactment of an 1866 battle between Austrians and Prussians in Chlum, eastern Bohemia, on Saturday. More than 400 enthusiasts, with 30 horses and 20 cannons, took part in the re-enactment. The original Battle of Chlum occurred on July 3, 1866 between the armies of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, as part of the Austro-Prussian War.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Lazio Roma signs junior Silesian footballer
    07/05/2008

    Libor Kozák, a 19-year-old footballer from Opava, in Silesia, signed a five-year contract on Saturday with Lazio Roma, one of the best clubs of the first Italian division. The Rome-based club will pay 1.2 million euros for the Czech forward. Libor Kozák scored 11 goals for the second-division team of Opava; he is also on the under-19 Czech national football team.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Czech-US radar agreement to be signed next week
    07/04/2008

    The US State Department has confirmed that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to Prague next week to sign an agreement with Czech representatives on the stationing of a US radar base on Czech territory. The base is meant to operate within a broader US defense shield in Europe. The State Department has confirmed that Mrs Rice will arrive on Tuesday morning. Following her arrival she will meet with Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and the signing ceremony itself has been slated for Tuesday afternoon. Once confirmed, the treaty will still have to be approved by Parliament and signed by the president. The United States wants to install its tracking radar in the Czech Republic in tandem with interceptor rockets in Poland to prevent potential attacks from so-called “rogue” states
    Author: Jan Velinger

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