• Train driver killed in station crash
    07/14/2007

    A train driver was killed when an express train crashed into his stationary local train at a station in Cercany, central Bohemia on Saturday morning. The driver of the express train is in a serious condition in hospital, while several of the train's passengers were injured, said a spokesperson for Czech Rail. The cause of the crash is as yet unclear.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Interpol searching for woman who tried to become adopted as "child"
    07/14/2007

    The Czech authorities have asked Interpol to search for Barbora Skrlova, a woman in her 30s who attempted to become adopted in the guise of a 13-year-old girl. She was last heard of in Denmark. A representative of the Brno state attorney's office told Mlada fronta Dnes that the only way it could question Ms Skrlova was through the national authorities wherever she is, hence the request to Interpol. The bizarre story of her "adoption" emerged following an investigation into the abuse of a 7-year-old boy. The family involved are believed to have been members of a cult.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Survey: Number of Czechs spending weekend at cottage significantly down
    07/14/2007

    The number of Czechs spending weekends at their country cottages has fallen significantly, suggests a survey quoted in Lidove noviny. The poll found that while in 2001 19 percent spent weekends at their "chalupa", in 2007 the figure has fallen to less than 8 percent. A sociologist told the daily the reason for the drop was that young people today have less free time and either work or stay at home at weekends.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Law barring heavy vehicles from motorways on Friday evenings comes into effect
    07/14/2007

    Filling stations and car parks near Czech motorways were jammed with parked trucks on Friday evening, as a new law came into effect barring vehicles weighing 7.5 tonnes or more from motorways between 5 and 9pm on Fridays in July and August. However, the hauliers' group Cesmad Bohemia complained there were far too few parking spaces for heavy lorries; some drivers had to either park in inappropriate spots or continue driving and face possible fines, a Cesmad representative told TV Nova.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Wooden Orthodox church to pay tribute to Romanians who died for Czechoslovakia
    07/14/2007

    A wooden Orthodox church is to be built in the north Bohemian town of Most as a memorial to the 40,000 Romanian soldiers who died during the liberation of Czechoslovakia during World War II. The announcement was made in Prague by the metropolitan of the Orthodox church in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and the head of the Romanian Orthodox church. The church, dedicated to St Valentine, should open its doors for the first time in 2009.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Communist bill protecting Czech language likely to get nowhere
    07/14/2007

    Three Communist Party deputies have prepared a bill aimed at protecting the Czech language. The lower house has refused to discuss similar bills in the past on the grounds that legislation defining Czech as the state's official language and a "cultural heritage" was unnecessary. Communist MP Ivana Leva, a former teacher of Czech, conceded that this latest attempt was also unlikely to get anywhere.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Vltava in Prague far cleaner, says Town Hall
    07/14/2007

    The section of the Vltava River running through the Czech capital is far cleaner than it used to be, the Prague Town Hall said. Evidence of improvement in the water quality is the return of eels and other fish. Prague councillor Petr Stepanek said the variety of fish in the Vltava was really high considering that the city has a million inhabitants.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czechs drawing 1:1 with Spain after first day of Fed Cup tie
    07/14/2007

    The Czech Republic's women's tennis team is drawing Spain with 1:1 after the first day of a Fed Cup tie between the two countries in Spain. Iveta Benesova was beaten in the opening rubber, but Lucie Safarova won her singles match to draw the two sides level in a best-of-five play-off for a place in the Fed Cup's elite World Group. The Czech women's number one Nicole Vaidisova was forced to pull out due to illness.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Smidova cuts Olympic qualification close after poor finish in Portugal
    07/14/2007

    The Czech Republic's only ever winner of an Olympic medal in sailing now has only one chance to reach the 2008 games in Beijing. Lenka Smidova and her partner Veronika Fenclova finished a poor 36th in a regatta in Portugal which could have guaranteed them qualification. That means the pair, who began sailing together this year, must do well at next year's World Championships in Melbourne in order to take one of five remaining Olympic berths.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech prison castrations concern Council of Europe
    07/13/2007

    The anti-torture committee of the Council of Europe expressed concern over the use of chemical and surgical castrations in the Czech Republic for sex offenders convicted of murder. Following several visits to Czech prisons and psychiatric facilities earlier this year, members of the committee questioned the concept of free and informed consent to castration when prisoners are given a choice between castration and confinement in a psychiatric hospital. Czech authorities claim these procedures are carried out in accordance with the law, but more detailed legislation on the matter is expected to come into focus later this year.
    Author: Jan Richter

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