• Čunek set for cabinet return on Wednesday
    04/01/2008

    Jiří Čunek is set to return to the Czech cabinet, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has told reporters. President Václav Klaus is expected to reinstate Mr Čunek as deputy prime minister and minister for regional development on Wednesday, nearly five months after he stepped down over an investigation into allegations – since dropped – that he had taken bribes. The Christian Democrats leader has to allow his family finances to be examined by an independent auditor, a condition Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg set for remaining in cabinet with the controversial politician.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Arrests after trouble flares at Prague football derby
    04/01/2008

    Twenty-six arrests were made at a football match between Slavia Prague and Sparta Prague at the city’s Evžen Rosický Stadium on Monday evening. There was fighting both inside and outside the ground, while the game was briefly halted when supporters ripped out and hurled plastic seats. No more derbies will be held at the venue – Slavia are set to open a new stadium at their traditional home in Prague 10 by the end of this season. As for the game itself, it ended 1:1, leaving Slavia two points ahead of Sparta in the race for the Czech league title.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czechs spend record amount on flights
    04/01/2008

    Czechs spent a record CZK 7.98 billion on air tickets last year, Mladá fronta Dnes reported, quoting figures from the International Air Travel Association. That was 11 percent higher than in 2006. Czech travellers spent another CZK 2 billion on airport charges. Around three quarters of a million flight tickets were bought by Czechs, for whom tickets cost an average of 6 percent less than in 2006.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Baby mix-up couple suing hospital
    04/01/2008

    Two couples who had their babies accidentally swapped at birth are going to file a lawsuit this week against the hospital where the mix-up occurred, Mladá fronta Dnes reported. The two families want CZK 12 million between them from the hospital in the Moravian town of Třebíč. The two couples had raised the other’s baby girl for the best part of a year before the mix-up was discovered, making world headlines. One of the couples, Jan and Jaroslava Čermák, had another baby girl last week.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Two Morava planes head for North Pole to mark 50th anniversary of launch
    04/01/2008

    Two Czechoslovak L-200 Morava planes left for the North Pole on Tuesday, marking the 50th anniversary of the plane’s launch. The L-200 Morava was one of the few light aircrafts to be exported from behind the Iron Curtain in the communist era. The North Pole Expedition 2008 is also intended to mark 90 years of Czech aviation.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Skinned dog found hanging in cottage of butcher
    04/01/2008

    Police in Lukov, south Moravia are investigating a case in a dog was found dead, skinned and hanging from a beam in the cottage of a butcher. The newspaper Právo reported that the butcher was preparing the dog to be eaten. The dog’s elderly owner said he thought his dog it simply become lost. The butcher, who was drunk, admitted to the killing.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Controversial Czech footballer David Jarolím considers leaving German league
    04/01/2008

    The Czech football player David Jarolím says he is considering leaving the Bundesliga because he believes there is a campaign against him. The Hamburg midfielder has a reputation in Germany for diving and received a red card in a game against Bielefeld for grabbing an opponent by the genitals. But Jarolím denied the sending off was behind his thoughts of leaving the Bundesliga, saying he no longer enjoyed football in Germany.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Štěpánek knocked out of Miami open by Blake
    04/01/2008

    The Czech tennis player Radek Štěpánek has been knocked out in the fourth round of the Miami Open. Štěpánek was beaten 6-3 6-4 by James Blake of the USA in the Masters Series tournament.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Deal on US radar base just needs signature, says Czech PM
    03/31/2008

    Negotiations between the Czech Republic and the United States on US plans to build a radar base in central Bohemia have been concluded, Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, said in an interview for the newspaper Hospodařské noviny. Mr Topolánek said it seemed the last remaining points of contention in the bilateral deal had been ironed out and all that remained was to arrange a signing ceremony. On Sunday the Czech foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, said there was one outstanding issue – a Czech demand for a guarantee the US would clean up any potential environmental damage. Both Washington and Prague will be hoping to drum up support for the project – part of a US global anti missile defence system – at a NATO summit in Bucharest later this week. However, the Czech Parliament has yet to vote on whether to allow the US to build the base in Brdy, central Bohemia.
    Author: Rosie Johnston

  • Government unveils plans to make roads safer
    03/31/2008

    The government has unveiled plans to make Czech motorways safer. On Monday, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek unveiled a booklet of steps his government plans to take in order to lower fatalities on Czech roads. In first place is a preventative campaign, which will rely upon shocking ‘emotive’ adverts. The government also plans to make driving rules more understandable and increase the effectiveness of the country’s traffic police. Addressing journalists, Mr Topolánek also said that the situation on the country’s roads would be helped by the introduction of an electronic tagging device into driver’s vehicles. This device will replace the current system of buying year-long motorway passes which must be displayed on the driver’s windscreen. The device would get rid of the need for motorway tolls, and eradicate queues at such tolling points.
    Author: Rosie Johnston

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