• 150,000 tourists celebrate New Year's in Prague
    01/02/2007

    Around 150,000 thousand foreign tourists visited Prague for the New Year's holiday, according to the head of the Association of Czech Travel Agencies Tomio Okamura. He said another 120,000 visitors had celebrated New Year's elsewhere in the Czech Republic.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Klaus criticises failure to form government in New Year's address
    01/01/2007

    In his traditional New Year's Day address, President Vaclav Klaus hit out at the failure of political parties to form a new government since elections in June. He said seven months without a government capable of surviving a vote of confidence was a record, and one of which the Czech Republic could not be proud.

    The president compared the post-election stalemate, in which the lower house is evenly divided between left and right, to a "civil cold war". He said the Czech state had often paid the price in the past for lacking "internal unity".

    Mr Klaus also warned against efforts to revive the European Union constitution under Germany's presidency. He said the EU offered new opportunities and removed unnecessary barriers, but also organised, regulated and controlled the lives of citizens; Czechs should do their best to ensure the first mentioned aspects prevail.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • 10,000 attend free New Year's Eve concert on Wenceslas Square
    01/01/2007

    An estimated 10,000 people attended a free concert on Prague's Wenceslas Square on New Year's Eve. The show, which was broadcast live on TV Nova, featured almost 200 singers and musicians. Police said the event had passed off peacefully.

    Elsewhere the city's rescue workers had their busiest New Year's Eve in five years; they were called out to investigate almost 300 cases of injury, mostly due to alcohol.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Inebriated man dies of hypothermia after being left outside by friends
    01/01/2007

    Outside the capital, a middle-aged man died of hypothermia when friends at a party in Ostrava left him lying outside, after he had become extremely inebriated. Another man was found lying dead on the ground by passers-by in Brno. Meanwhile a student at Ostrava Technical University is fighting for his life after being brought to hospital with alcohol poisoning.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Man dies after being hit in face by firework
    01/01/2007

    A 26-year-old man died after being struck in the head by a firework in Cheb, west Bohemia on Saturday. After setting off one firework outside a bar, the man went to check on why a second had not taken off. It hit him directly in the face. The man, who was Vietnamese, died of his injuries at a hospital in Plzen.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czechs lose in first round of tennis's Hopman Cup
    01/01/2007

    The Czech Republic were beaten 2:1 by India in the first round of tennis's Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia on Sunday. The Czech team of Tomas Berdych and Lucie Safarova - who are a couple - were seeded third in the mixed team's event, while India were making their debut.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech Foreign Ministry welcomes Saddam execution
    12/30/2006

    The Czech Foreign Ministry has welcomed the execution of the former dictator of Iraq Saddam Hussein. In a statement the Ministry said his death was an important historic milestone and represented at least partial satisfaction for the families of Saddam's victims. In the short term his killing could cause instability in Iraq, but in the long term the end of the era of Saddam Hussein will move the country closer to stability and democracy, it said. Though the death penalty contradicts European values his execution should be looked at from the perspective of Iraq today, said the Foreign Ministry.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • No definitive ruling yet on sanity of hospital killer, says lawyer
    12/30/2006

    The lawyer for a hospital orderly who killed eight patients has said a definitive ruling has not yet been made regarding his client's sanity. Media reports on Friday suggested Petr Zelenka had been deemed sane and therefore responsible for his actions. However, lawyer Jan Herout told Saturday's Pravo that the speed of the assessment suggested it was dubious, adding that his client had the right to a second opinion. Mr Zelenka admitted in early December to using a blood-thinning drug to kill eight patients at a hospital in Havlickuv Brod, east Bohemia.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Russian remanded in custody after causing plane to make emergency landing
    12/30/2006

    A Russian man who caused a plane to make an emergency landing in Prague has been remanded in custody. Yevgenii Dogayev has been charged with threatening air space security and breaching aviation regulations. On Thursday Mr Dogayev, who witnesses said was drunk, attempted to enter the cockpit of a plane flying from Moscow to Geneva before being tackled and tied up by fellow passengers. He faces up to 15 years in prison if found guily.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Documentary maker likely to be culture minister in possible government
    12/30/2006

    Documentary film maker Helena Trestikova is likely to be named culture minister in a government currently being formed by Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolanek, the website Ceska media reported. Ms Trestikova would represent the Christian Democrats in the coalition, which would also include the Green Party. The three parties signed a coalition deal on Thursday, although the alliance is one vote short of a majority and would need the support of at least one rebel left-wing deputy. The grouping already lost one confidence vote.

    The Czech Republic has been without a stable government since elections in June ended in stalemate.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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