News

Russian duo Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev battled from a set down to beat Czech pair Radek Štěpánek and Pavel Vízner to lift their side 2 -1 ahead in the Davis Cup quarter-final in Moscow on Saturday. The hosts won 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours 58 minutes to make it 2-1 in favour of Russia. On Friday, Marat Safin of Russia battled from two sets down to put his squad into the lead with a win over Tomáš Berdych of the Czech Republic. In the second singles’ clash Štěpánek experienced few troubles beating Andreev in straight sets to level the scores at 1-1. Reverse singles will complete the tie’s schedule on Sunday.

Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has begun a tour of European capitals to outline priorities when the Czech Republic assumes the European Union’s rotating presidency in less than a year’s time. On Friday Mr Topolánek met with the Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis in Athens. He stressed the focus would be to remove barriers to labour mobility as well as to lift bureaucratic obstacles. He also said under the Czechs’ presidency the EU would hold energy talks with Russia, address budget reform and oversee EP elections. During its term, Prague will also oversee the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, set to replace the EU constitution rejected in 2005 referenda in France and the Netherlands.

The treaty streamlines EU operations by cutting the size of the European Parliament, limiting the use of national vetoes and creating the post of president as well as European foreign policy head.

A Prague court has sentenced two men for the sexual abuse of children – one to four-and-a-half years in prison. The other received a three-year suspended sentence with an order to receive psychiatric treatment. Almost 20 boys, the youngest who was just seven, were abused by Ondřej Martínek while David Lein was found guilty of abusing one child and shooting child porn. Both were former organisers for a civic association focusing on helping children from poor homes. The organisation, called Malý princ (Little Prince), has distanced itself from the criminal events, saying it had had no knowledge of the duo’s activities. Mr Martínek and Mr Lein were first arrested in 2006 on suspicion of what police described as “dangerous, deviant behaviour”. Both men can appeal Friday’s verdicts.

The Czech daily Mladá fronta Dnes has reported that former prime minister Stanislav Gross and his wife Šárka Grossová have bought a luxury flat in the US state of Florida. The paper reported on Friday that the couple paid 13 million crowns (the equivalent of roughly 800,000 US dollars) for an apartment in a residential complex known as Hidden Bay. The paper speculates that the former prime minister bought the flat from proceeds from a controversial sale of shares in the power company Moravia Energo. Mr Gross made an estimated 80 million crowns in the deal. In April three years ago Mr Gross was forced to step down as prime minister following a scandal related to his personal finances.