• Fast food stalls to be removed from Wenceslas Square
    12/11/2007

    Fast food stalls selling grilled sausages and other foods are set to disappear from Prague’s Wenceslas Square in the next few years, Lidove noviny reported. The city’s authorities have decided to remove the stalls because they attract homeless people who root in nearby bins for discarded food. Two stands at the very bottom of the square will be first to disappear, in the middle of next year; they should all be gone by 2010, by which time the whole of Wenceslas Square should have been remodelled.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Prague police facing 10-percent shortfall in officer numbers
    12/11/2007

    The Prague police will be 770 members short by the end of this year, the director of the city’s force Petr Zelasko said on Tuesday. That figure represents a short-fall of around ten percent. Mr Zelasko said police management would endeavour to ensure that citizens would not be affected by the fact so many places are unfilled, but he admitted it would be apparent. At the national level 5,000 police jobs will be empty. Many officers left the force following the introduction of a new law on police service.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Government annuls contract for armoured personnel carriers
    12/11/2007

    The Czech government has decided to annul a contract with the Austrian company Steyr for the supply of armoured personnel carriers to the Czech Army, the Czech defence minister, Vlasta Parkanova, announced on Tuesday. She said the company had failed to honour its commitments. Czech Defence Ministry officials have said they do not expect Steyr to take an arbitration case against the Czech state. It had been due to supply the Czech military with almost 200 personnel carriers under a contract worth over CZK 20 billion.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Cedok bought by US company
    12/11/2007

    The biggest Czech travel agent Cedok has been bought by the US company Odien. It has acquired a 98-percent stake in the firm from the Czech-owned Uminex Group, which has controlled Cedok since 1995. A spokesperson for Odien said the company expected tourism to see dynamic growth in central and eastern Europe, and that it would use Cedok as a base for its further expansion in the region.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Five women on ten-name short-list for Sportsperson of Year
    12/11/2007

    The ten-name short-list for the Czech Sportsperson of the Year award, announced on Tuesday, includes five women: pole vaulter Katerina Badurova, cross country skier Katerina Neumannova, speed skater Martina Sablikova, javelin thrower Barbora Spotakova and down-hill skier Sarka Zahrobska. They will be up against five men: football goalkeeper Petr Cech, decathlete Roman Sebrle, footballer Marek Jankulovski, biathlon star Michal Slesingr and ice hockey great Jaromir Jagr. The winner will be selected in a vote by the club of Czech sports journalists and announced at a ceremony in Prague in the middle of January.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Nedved to return to national team, claims Juve team-mate
    12/11/2007

    Football star Pavel Nedved will return to the Czech national team for next year’s European Championship, says one of his team-mates at the Italian club Juventus; defender Nicole Legrottaglie made the claim in an interview for the website goal.com. However, a spokesperson for the Czech football association said they had no knowledge of any planned comeback by Nedved. The midfielder, who is 35, retired from international football after last year’s World Cup.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Punk’s not dead
    12/11/2007

    The Czech punk band Visaci zamek are celebrating 25 years of existence with a concert in the main hall at Prague’s Lucerna on Tuesday night. The group played their first concert at the student dormitories in Strahov in December 1982; since then they have played over 1,000 shows and released eight albums.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Havel exhibition opens in Prague
    12/11/2007

    An exhibition entitled Vaclav Havel – Czech Myth has opened at Hegertova Cihelna on Prague’s Kampa. The temporary exhibition catalogues the life and work of the playwright, former dissident and president. Among the items on display are a model of the interior of Mr Havel’s cottage and replicas of his desk and library from the president’s office at Prague Castle. The exhibition has been organised by the Vaclav Havel Library, which is currently looking for a permanent home in the centre of the city.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Inflation above 5 % for the first time in six years
    12/10/2007

    Year-on-year inflation increased from 4% in October to 5% in November, the Czech Statistical Office said on Monday. It is the highest rate since August 2001, when the inflation reached 5.5%. Prices of food products and, to a lesser extent, also beer and fuel were behind the accelerated inflation. Experts say the peak of inflation is yet to come. It is expected to break the 6% level at the beginning of the next year.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Czech crown hits all-time high against euro
    12/10/2007

    Following the publication of the November inflation rate, the Czech currency reached an all-time high against the euro on Monday, going below 26 crowns to the euro for the first time ever. At one point the crown traded at 25, 97 against the euro. The Czech currency has also gained against the US currency, trading at 17.79 crowns to the dollar.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

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