• 07/04/2008

    Russian hockey team Avangard Omsk has reported it signed a two-year deal with a one-year option with Czech star Jaromír Jágr, a day after the NHL’s New York Rangers announced they had given up on the player and signed Markus Naslund in his stead. The departure marks the end of an era for Jágr: he spent 17 seasons in the NHL, winning two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He finished atop the player’s standings five times, and also won the Hart Trophy. Jágr has played for Russia’s Omsk before: he led the team to victory in the European Super Six in 2004/2005 during the NHL lockout.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 07/04/2008

    The Premier League’s West Ham United have offered young Czech goalkeeper Marek Štech a five-year contract with the club. The 18-year-old, an Under-19 International, was voted the best Czech junior player in 2006, while at Sparta Prague. He is set miss the Under-19 European Championships having only just recovered from injury.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 07/03/2008

    The Czech Republic and the United States are set to sign a treaty on scientific and industrial cooperation, along with an agreement on positioning a U.S. radar base on Czech territory, the Czech news agency ČTK reported on Thursday. The treaty, which is similar to U.S. agreements signed with countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan, should open up new opportunities for Czech scientists and companies. Both agreements are expected to be signed in Prague next week by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.

    In related news, Social Democrat shadow foreign minister Lubomír Zaorálek said on Wednesday that the planned Czech –U.S. agreement on positioning a tracking radar base in the Czech Republic as part of the American anti-missile defence shield contradicted the Lisbon Treaty. Mr Zaorálek said the planned agreement went against the idea of joint European security policy as defined by the stalled EU reform document. If the Lisbon Treaty were in force today, member states would have to consult their bilateral security treaties with other EU countries.

    Author: Jan Richter
  • 07/03/2008

    The chairman of the Czech Constitutional Court Pavel Rychetský told Czech TV on Thursday that the review of the Lisbon Treaty could be ready in September. The Czech Republic is one of seven countries that have not yet ratified the reform treaty; the Czech Senate referred the document to the Constitutional Court to decide whether it is in line in the Czech law. Mr Rychetský said the court has been examining the treaty for some six weeks and has already received opinions on the matter from the government, the parliament’s lower house as well as the president.

    Author: Jan Richter
  • 07/03/2008

    The Czech crown hit a new record against the U.S. dollar on Thursday when it sold below 15 crowns per dollar for the fist time in history. On Thursday afternoon, the Czech currency was trading at 14.95 crowns for the dollar and at 23.76 crowns per euro. Analysts say the record high was caused by a combination of weakening stock markets, soaring oil prices and the weak U.S. dollar; experts also say Thursday’s increase of interest rates by the European Central Bank did not have any effect on the ever-more strengthening Czech crown.

    Author: Jan Richter
  • 07/03/2008

    The head of the Czech Republic’s Prison Service Luděk Kula is facing eight years in jail for a failed tender for mobile phone jammers, the news website Novinky.cz reported on Thursday. The police have accused Mr Kula of breach of trust. In 2005 and 2006, the Prison Office spent almost 20 million crowns, or more than 1.3 million U.S. dollars, on mobile phone jammers for Czech penitentiaries. Some of the equipment was purchased without any public tenders and was later discovered to be faulty. Mr Kula said he would file a complaint against the accusation.

    Author: Jan Richter
  • 07/03/2008

    A court in Prague rejected on Wednesday a petition by Qatari prince Hamid Bin Abdul Sani al-Thani to intervene in a high-profile “judical mafia” libel case. The prince wanted to become an enjoined party in a legal dispute between Supreme State Attorney Renáta Vesecká and her predecessor Marie Benešová. Ms Benšová said the supreme state attorney, along with a group of prosecutors and judges, were a “judicial mafia” because they intervened in the protracted alleged bribery case involving deputy Prime Minister Jiří Čunek. Last month, a court in Prague upheld her claims and ruled Ms Benešová did not have to apologize, pointing out that the “judicial mafia” also intervened in the case of the Qatari prince. In 2005, Mr Sani was accused in the Czech Republic of sexual abuse of minors but was later released and left the country for his homeland.

    Author: Jan Richter
  • 07/03/2008

    Reflecting on the possibility of new direct presidential elections, Prime Minister Topolánek rejected on Thursday the possibility of incumbent president Václav Klaus being re-elected for a third term. Mr Topolánek said the Czech constitution did not allow anybody to run for a third term, whatever the mode of the election.

    Czech politicians have begun debating whether the next Czech president should be elected directly, instead of the current vote by both chambers of parliament. Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil has been asked to draft a proposal to that effect.

    Author: Jan Richter
  • 07/03/2008

    The Czech beer producer Budvar succeeded on Wednesday in registering its Budweiser Budvar trademark in Hong Kong, following an 11-year-long dispute with its American competitor Anheuser-Busch. The České Budějovice-based brewing company has also started exporting its lager to mainland China. Budvar is currently involved in trademark disputes with its U.S. rival in more than 40 countries around the world.

    Author: Jan Richter
  • 07/03/2008

    A comprehensive anthology on the Prague Spring of 1968 was presented at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna in Thursday. The two-volume anthology, with 2900 pages, was edited by Stefan Karner of the Boltzmann Institute in Graz, Austria. It contains articles, studies and documents on the 1968 reform movement in Czechoslovakia. The international team of authors was the first to be granted access to the Soviet-era archives in Moscow.

    Author: Jan Richter

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