• US website lists Havel among world’s best intellectuals
    06/24/2008

    The US website Foreign Policy has included former Czech president Václav Havel on a list of the one hundred intellectuals whose ideas have most influenced present world developments. The Foreign Policy list features philosophers, writers, politicians and other leading figures, including Umberto Eco, Garry Kasparov and Salman Rushdie. The personalities are listed in alphabetical order, without being compared in terms of intellectual qualities or other criteria.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Number of dollar millionaires in Czech Rep. up to 17,000
    06/24/2008

    The number of dollar millionaires has been rising in the Czech Republic owing to economic growth and strong crown. Last year the number of Czech millionaires reached 17,000, a year-on-year increase by 15 percent, according to a study published by the companies Capgemini and Merryll Lynch today. The millionaires are mostly business people who have sold or left their companies. Another large group consists of managers and experts of large international companies active in the Czech Republic.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Jan Koller joins Samara
    06/24/2008

    The Czech football player Jan Koller has signed a 1.5 year contract with the Russian club Samara. The 35-year old forward transferred to the top Russian league after half a season with Germany’s Nuremberg. Koller retired from international football after the Czech Republic was eliminated from the European Championship at the group stage. With 55 international goals he is the greatest Czech goal-scorer of all time.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Berdych and Záhlavová-Strýcová advance to second round at Wimbledon
    06/24/2008

    Czech tennis player Tomáš Berdych beat Russia’s Jevgenij Koroljov 4:6, 6:1, 6:4, 3:6, 7:5 in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships in tennis on Monday and advanced to the tournament’s second round. Czech number one Nicole Vaidišová and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová have also made it through to the second round.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Czech Post to join anti-reform strike
    06/23/2008

    Czech Post will join Tuesday’s one-hour strike in protest against the government’s reforms in one of the largest protests since the fall of communism. The state-owned Czech Post, one of the country’s largest employers with 37,000 workers, will join the strike symbolically so as not to hamper the company’s operation. Employees will display protest texts on their counters, wear ribbons and sign petitions.

    The strike has been called by the Czech and Moravian Confederation of Labour Unions in protest against government’s reforms. The labour union of another large Czech employer, Czech Railways, has announced they will not join in.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Paroubek accuses ruling Civic Democrats of luring Wolf away
    06/23/2008

    The head of the opposition Social Democrats Jiří Paroubek has accused the ruling Civic Democrats of pressuring a Social Democrat MP Petr Wolf into quitting his party because they needed votes for the coalition. Mr Paroubek also called on the renegade MP to renounce his mandate. Petr Wolf left the Social Democratic MP club at the weekend and later gave up his party membership, citing political pressure and threats to himself and his family. Mr Paroubek’s allegation has been rejected by the head of the Civic Democrat MPs club, Petr Tluchoř.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Extremist National Guard to patrol a school in Karlovy Vary
    06/23/2008

    The National Guard, a paramilitary unit set up by the extremist National Party, will start patrolling outside an elementary school in Karlovy Vary on Tuesday, according to the National Party website. The far-right group say they will protect children who have allegedly been repeatedly attacked by a gang of Roma children. The school’s director said no talks were held with the National Guards, but refused to comment further due to a “tense situation” in the neighbourhood. Interior Minister Ivan Lager said the National Guard only sought publicity while a spokesperson for the local police said the police will not interfere as long as the patrols do not breach the law.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Temelín’s second block reactor begins operation
    06/23/2008

    The reactor at the Temelín nuclear power plant’s second block began operation on Sunday, after a two-month shutdown. The reactor had been shut down in the beginning of May for refuelling. The power plant staff will now carry out a series of experiments at the reactor’s lowest output before it will be put to full operation again. The reactor was refuelled with 43 fuel assemblies from the U.S. Westinghouse company; one reactor at the Temelín nuclear power plant has 163 of these rods with 92 tons of fuel.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Škoda ‘cake ad’ wins award at Cannes
    06/23/2008

    A TV commercial for Škoda Fabia, in which bakers, confectioners and chocolatiers build a full-size cake replica of the car, has won the Golden Lion award for the best advertisement at the Cannes Advertising Festival, the daily Hospodářské noviny reported on Monday. The spot, made by a London-based advertising company, also won a British TV commercials award last year.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Web tycoon buys Croatian site
    06/23/2008

    The Czech internet group Centrum Holdings has acquired a 75-percent share of the Croatian website net.hr, the most visited site in the country. No financial details of the purchase were given. The news and entertainment net.hr website receives around 725,000 visitors a month; its acquisition will place the Czech web tycoon Centrum Holdings among the largest web companies in central and eastern Europe with nearly 6.5 million visitors a month.
    Author: Jan Richter

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