• 07/05/2007

    The south Bohemian village Troubky nad Becvou is marking the tenth anniversary of devastating floods that almost wiped it off the map. In 1997 the country was hit by the worst floods in 500 years, taking lives, destroying houses and ravaging the countryside. The village of Troubky was the worst affected - nine people drowned and three hundred houses were either completely destroyed or so badly damaged they had to be torn down. Troubky became a synonym for disaster but aid poured in and within a few years the village was rebuilt from scratch. On Thursday the villagers attended a remembrance mass for those who lost their lives in the tragedy and viewed a photo exhibition documenting the 1997 disaster.

  • 07/05/2007

    Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said on Wednesday that he did not think it wise to seek a "third party" who would act as judge in the Czech Austrian dispute over the Temelin nuclear power plant. Mr. Schwarzenberg was reacting to a suggestion made by Austrian deputy Albrech Konecny who said on Monday it might be a good idea to let a third party, possibly the EU, decide who was right in the Czech-Austrian dispute over Temelin, because the two sides were clearly unable to reach agreement. The Czech foreign minister said that while he was not in favour of turning the matter over to a "third party" he thought consultations with foreign nuclear experts could be helpful.

  • 07/05/2007

    The 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is well into its second half with the main awards to be handed out on Saturday night at a special gala event in Hotel Thermal. In the course of the week film fans will be able to see some 250 feature films and documentaries. The main Czech film in competition this year is called Vratne Lahve, or Empties by the well known father and son team Zdenek and Jan Sverak who won an Oscar for their film Kolya. Nine countries have already bought the film rights and Empties will be shown in Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Denmark and Australia among others.

  • 07/05/2007

    Central Europe's biggest car manufacturer, Czech-based Skoda Auto, boosted sales in the first half of the year by 13.2 percent to 311,062 cars compared with the same period in 2006, the member of the Volkswagen Group announced on Wednesday. Skoda's biggest seller was the mid-range Octavia with sales of 146,772 cars, the company said. In its biggest market, Western Europe, sales rose 11.8 percent to 173,392, on a 12-month comparison. In Central Europe, including the Czech home market, sales rose 16.4 percent to 115,960 cars, Skoda Auto added.

  • 07/05/2007

    Seventh seed Tomas Berdych will be competing in his first grand slam quarter-final. On Thursday Berdych beat 19th seed Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden 6-4 6-0 6-7(6) 6-0.

  • 07/05/2007

    Nicole Vaidisova's hopes of advancing to the semi-finals at Wimbledon were dashed by Serbian sixth seed Ana Ivanovic. The 19 year old Ivanovic, runner up in the French Open last month, won 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 and will face Venus Williams for a place in the final.

  • 07/04/2007

    DNA tests on the remains of 19 bodies thought to belong to the noble family of Premyslids will be used to determine who is who. The Premyslids founded the Bohemian Kingdom and ruled the country for 400 years. The first historical record of the Premyslids dates back to 872. The DNA project involves a 15-strong multi-disciplinary team of scientists and archeologists and is expected to take three to four years to complete. Nothing similar has ever been attempted in the world to date.

  • 07/04/2007

    One in four Czech girls and one in seven boys have experienced either sexual abuse or attempted sexual abuse in their childhood, according to the head of the Child Crisis Centre Zora Duskova. Mrs. Duskova appealed for better child protection and a more sensitive approach to child victims, saying that the police often disbelieve children who claim to have been sexually abused. In actual fact, she said, only five percent of children who allege to have been abused have made it up. According to statistics in 61 percent of cases the abuser is a family member or relative, in 25 percent of cases the abuser is a friend of the family or someone whom the child knows. Only in 14 percent of cases are children abused by a stranger.

  • 07/04/2007

    Mehdi Ben Barka, Morocco's best known opposition leader who disappeared in 1965 in Paris, was probably a paid agent of Czechoslovakia's communist secret police in the early 1960s, the French news agency AFP reported on Wednesday, citing the weekly L'Express. According to a secret file gained by a Czech journalist whose extracts are to be published by L'Express, a Czechoslovak secret police officer established contact with Ben Barka in April 1960. Ben Barka allegedly repeatedly visited Prague where he also underwent special training in spying five months before he was abducted in Paris during a joint operation of the Moroccan and French secret services. His body has never been found.

  • 07/04/2007

    The Czech Justice Ministry wants to reduce the number of judges by about two hundred, according to the CTK news agency. The ministry said it had considerably softened recommendations made by a company that recently conducted an audit at Czech courts and suggested lowering the number of judges by five to six hundred. Since judges are irrevocable under Czech law, the ministry plans to limit or halt the appointment of new judges and wait for elderly judges to retire. The Czech Republic, a country of over 10 million inhabitants, currently has some 3,000 judges.

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