• Tennis -Nadal beats Berdych in straight sets to reach semi-finals
    07/06/2007

    French Open champion Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych 7-6 6-4 6-2 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the second successive year on Friday. The players had trouble adjusting to the wind on Centre Court in the opening games with number two seed Nadal breaking Berdych's serve in the second and the Czech, seeded seventh, breaking back immediately. Nadal turned on the power in the first set tiebreak, going 5-0 up before winning it 7-1 to take the set in 58 minutes. He took control of the match then and never relinquished it.

    Both Berdych and 14th seed Nicole Vaidisova won a place in the quarterfinals for the first time ever but neither realized their hope of advancing to the semi-finals. Nicole Vaidisova dropped out on Thursday after taking a beating from the Serbian sixth seed Ana Ivanovic.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Ice hockey: Dominator inks new deal with NHL Wings at age 42
    07/06/2007

    Czech star goaltender Dominik Hasek, still showing top form at age 42, agreed to terms Friday with the Detroit Red Wings on a new one-year National Hockey League contract. The deal, reportedly worth more than two million dollars, makes the six-time Vezina Trophy winner as top NHL netminder a Red Wing for his 15th NHL season.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Cyril and Methodius - national holiday
    07/05/2007

    July 5th is a national holiday in the Czech Republic commemorating Saints Cyril and Methodius, Greek missionaries who brought Christianity to the Czech lands in 863. They also created the Cyrillic alphabet and translated the Gospel and liturgical books into Slavonic, which at that time had no written form. The two brothers are considered the founders of Slavic literature.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Mass at Velehrad
    07/05/2007

    As every year on this day thousands of believers made a pilgrimage to Velehrad in south Moravia, where Cardinal Miloslav Vlk served a special mass out in the open. The mass was attended by high church dignitaries including the Vatican's secretary of state Tarcisio Bertone.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Czech Muslems condemn violence against innocent people
    07/05/2007

    Czech Muslems have condemned the foiled terrorist attacks in Great Britain saying that violence against innocent people was deplorable under any circumstances and expressed their support for the war against terrorism. Vladimir Sanka, a leading representative of the Czech Muslim community, expressed concern about a possible backlash against all people of the Muslem faith. "Those who seek to harm innocent people are enemies of us all - Muslims and non-Muslims," Sanka said.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Troubky commemorate tenth anniversary of devastating floods
    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.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Czech foreign minister suggests consulting foreign nuclear experts on Temelin
    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.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in full swing
    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.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Skoda Auto's first half car sales rise 13.2 percent
    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.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Berdych to compete in his first grand slam quarter-final
    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.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

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