• Czech Rep. beats Switzerland 1:0 in Euro 2008 opener
    06/08/2008

    The Czech national football team beat the host Switzerland 1:0 in the opening match of Euro 2008 in Basel on Saturday. The Swiss were better throughout most of the game but were unable to convert any of several opportunities, mainly due to Czech goalkeeper Petr Čech who showed some spectacular saves. The decisive moment came in the 70th minute of the game when Václav Svěrkoš, who had replaced another striker Jan Koler shortly before, scored the winning goal of the match. In their next appearance at Euro 2008, the Czech Republic will face Portugal on Wednesday.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Prague mayor wants to change controversial grant system
    06/08/2008

    Prague Mayor Pavel Bém said he would like to change the controversial theatre subsidy system in the Czech capital. Earlier this year, Prague City Hall came up with a new system of financing Prague’s theatres and other art scenes which tied subsidies to ticket sales. The system has been criticized for not distinguishing between genuine art and commercial projects catering to tourists. Last month, many of Prague's theatres staged a week of protests against the programme and were also backed by playwright and former Czech President Václav Havel.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Hundreds protest uranium mining
    06/08/2008

    Some 300 activists protested against uranium mining near Liberec, northern Bohemia, on Saturday, despite a recent denial by the Environment Ministry to conduct preliminary tests in the area. Local inhabitants, mayors of nearby communities as well as environmental activists oppose any possible plans to launch uranium mining in northern Bohemia, a region with an estimated 20,000 tons of uranium ore.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Czech TV launches antidiscrimination campaign
    06/08/2008

    Czech TV has started airing antidiscrimination advertisements in the form of fictional job interviews during which the applicants are humiliated by the interviewers. The campaign was designed by a Czech gender studies NGO and financed by the European Social Fund. The Czech Republic has been criticized by the European Union for not having passed the antidiscrimination act; the act was approved by the Czech Parliament but President Václav Klaus vetoed the draft last month.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • “The Substitute” wins Children’s Film Festival in Zlín
    06/08/2008

    The Danish film “The Substitute” by Ole Bornedal won the Golden Slipper Award for the best feature film for children at the 48th International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Zlín. The story of schoolchildren’s struggle against a substitute teacher from another planet also received the Ecumenical Jury Award and the Don Quixote Award, presented by the federation of film clubs.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Černá Hora is the beer of the year
    06/08/2008

    The Moravian brewery Černá Hora won the title Beer of the Year for two of their light lagers at a beer competition in České Budějovice on Saturday. Černá Hora, one of 44 Czech and foreign breweries taking part in the competition, is the largest of the Czech Republic’s small breweries with about one percent of the market share. Last year, the brewery produced 160,000 hectolitres of beer.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Missing boy found dead, foreigner charged with murder
    06/08/2008

    A nine-year-old boy from Havlíčkův Brod, eastern Bohemia, who had been missing since the beginning of May, was found dead on Saturday on the outskirts of the town. The police arrested a 43-year-old Slovak national in connection with the case and charged him with rape and murder.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • PM Topolánek: government on verge of collapse
    06/07/2008

    Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek told the daily Mlada fronta Dnes on Saturday that his coalition government was on the verge of collapse. Mr Topolánek said that if the current coalition, consisting of the Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats and the Greens, does not undergo “a catharsis” over the summer, the government might fall.

    Several MPs in each of the coalition parties have repeatedly voted against drafts prepared by the government. While rebels within the right-wing Civic Democrats object to way the restitution of church property was calculated, some Christian Democrats and Greens oppose the government’s health care reform as well as the planned Czech-American treaty on siting a U.S. tracking radar base on Czech territory.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Soldiers may not refuse going on foreign missions
    06/07/2008

    Czech soldiers may not refuse serving in the army’s foreign missions, a spokesperson for the General Staff of the Army said on Saturday. Any such refusal would be considered a breach of their basic duties and might result in dismissals of the reluctant army officers. Several media outlets in the Czech Republic recently reported that Czech helicopter pilots were leaving the armed forces to avoid serving on missions in Afghanistan. An anonymous pilot told TV Nova on Thursday that he never thought he would be sent to what he described as “a regular war.” The Czech Army is currently taking part in international peace-keeping and reconstruction missions in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Afghanistan and Iraq.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Czech Rep. beats Switzerland 1:0 in Euro 2008 opener
    06/07/2008

    The Czech national football team beat the host Switzerland 1:0 in the opening match of Euro 2008 in Basel on Saturday. The Swiss were better throughout much of the game but were unable to convert any of several opportunities, mainly due to the Czech goalkeeper Petr Čech who showed some spectacular saves. The decisive moment came in the 70th minute when Václav Svěrkoš, who had replaced another striker Jan Koler shortly before, scored the only goal of the game. In their next appearance at Euro 2008, the Czech Republic will face Portugal on Wednesday.
    Author: Jan Richter

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