• 12/03/2007

    Number of Czech households with Internet access has increased by six percent since last year to 35%, but the Czech Republic is still lagging behind the EU average. According to a new survey conducted by Eurostat in 27 European countries, the number of EU household with access to Internet increased from 49 % last year to 54 % at the beginning of 2007. The Czech Republic is followed by Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 12/03/2007

    Trebonsky kapr, or carp from Trebon, has been added to the EU’s list of protected food products. The label Trebon Carp has been used for more than 100 years. According to Rudolf Provazek, head of carp producers Fish Market, the label will help sales in other countries where people are prepared to pay for quality. Nine other Czech products are already on the EU protected list, including Horice rolled wafers, Budvar Beer and Czech hops.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 12/03/2007

    A security agency employee is suspected of having stolen half a billion crowns (some 27 million US dollars) in cash from the agency’s office of Saturday. According to a spokesperson for the Prague police, it is probably the biggest robbery in the country’s history. The police have launched a nationwide search for the suspect. Previously the highest sum stolen in cash was 153 million crowns, which was taken when an armoured car carrying money from a bank in Prague was held up in September 2002. The robbers were never found and the investigation was shelved this year.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 12/03/2007

    Vaclav Havel's new play Odchazeni or Leaving, which will be premiered in spring at the Divadlo na Vinohradech Theatre, will also be made into a movie, Mr Havel said on Friday. Czech director Jaroslav Brabec will start filming next summer in cooperation with costume designer Theodor Pistek and stage designer Borek Sipek. The film should feature Vaclav Havel and his wife Dagmar.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 12/03/2007

    Seven football fans from Czech Republic and Poland have been accused of hooliganism over clashes that evolved after Sunday’s match between Czech clubs Banik Ostrava and Sparta Praha. The fans demolished the stadium, tearing away more than 300 seats and throwing them at the police officers. None of the policemen suffered serious injuries.

    Author: Ruth Fraňková
  • 12/02/2007

    A train which derailed on the outskirts of Prague on Saturday has been moved to a depot for repairs, even as officials continue their investigation. Damages to the vehicle have been estimated at around 25 million crowns. The spokesman for Czech Railways confirmed on Saturday that track at the site of the accident had been pre-cut, indicating an act of sabotage. But the Railways Inspection has so far confirmed only that the track was damaged. Nobody was hurt when the train, a Pendolino, derailed shortly before 12 pm on Saturday; the train driver noticed something wrong and pulled the emergency brake, slowing the vehicle before it went off the rails. Police have so far filed charges against an unknown assailant for endangering the public.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 12/02/2007

    The extra-parliamentary party the Civic Democratic Alliance, influential in government in the years 1992-1998, will be dissolved as of December 31st - a move decided at the party’s national conference. The news was announced by party leader Jirina Novakova on Sunday. The Civic Democratic Alliance, a right-of-centre party established after the fall of communism, was part of coalition governments led by former-prime minister Vaclav Klaus, as well as part of a caretaker government led by Josef Tosovsky. Since elections in 1998, the party’s fortunes have been in decline.

    A number of significant political figures left the party in the past years, among them current Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova and Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 12/02/2007

    Union leader Frantisek Dobsik has indicated that the teachers’ unions will wait and see how the candidate for the post of education minister, Ondrej Liska of the Green Party, will react to a planned teachers’ strike on Tuesday before weighing additional options. The union leader said as much during a televised debate programme on Sunday. Mr Dobsik admitted that he saw matters differently after meeting with Mr Liska and the head of the Green Party - and acting Education Minister - Martin Bursik on Saturday. In their meeting Mr Bursik said that reserve funds in the education sector would be sought and expressed the view that the new minister would be able to secure additional EU finances. Tuesday’s protest by the teachers’ unions is aiming to draw attention to continuing problems in the education sector.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 12/02/2007

    A study by the British Centre for Retail Research has suggested that the Czech Republic ranks poorly among European countries when it comes to shoplifting. According to the organisation’s report, 8.7 billion crowns (or 490 million US dollars) worth of goods were lost or stolen from Czech stores in 2007. That represents a 0.7 percent drop from the previous year. Out of 22 or so countries examined in the survey, the Czech Republic ranks 18th, just below Great Britain, ahead only of Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, and the Baltic states. Similarly a study by KPMG has suggested that 43 percent of lost inventory in the Czech Republic is stolen by shoplifters, while employee theft accounts for losses of 15 percent. Another 15 percent loss is sustained in the poor handling of goods.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 12/02/2007

    A painting by Czech surrealist painter Jindrich Styrsky, Krajina v Oblacich (Landscape in the Clouds) dating from 1925, has been sold in auction for 10.25 million crowns. The price is the highest fetched by a Styrsky work in the Czech Republic. The auction took place at Prague’s Zofin on Sunday, with bidding starting at 7 million crowns. Specialists consider the painting to be among Styrsky’s finest work. Krajina v Oblacich has been exhibited many times in the past, including a show in 1926 in Paris with the artist Toyen.

    Author: Jan Velinger

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