• Prague municipal policeman charged with murder of US citizen
    01/31/2008

    A member of the Prague municipal police who stabbed a US citizen to death in Prague on Wednesday has been charged with murder. The 27-year-old officer, who was drunk and off-duty when the incident happened, reportedly attacked the 44-year-old American after a fight broke out over they way the victim had parked his car.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Martin Jahn to head VW in Russia
    01/31/2008

    Martin Jahn, former deputy PM and director of the CzechInvest agency, will become the general director of the Volkswagen Group in Russia in April. Mr. Jahn, who is 38, has been on the board of directors of Škoda Auto, a member of the Volkswagen Group, since 2006. Volkswagen, the largest car maker in Europe, opened a car factory in the Moscow area last year; it is expected to produce up to 150,000 Volkswagen and Škoda models by 2009.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Number of railway passengers up in 2007
    01/31/2008

    Czech Railways transported 181.9 million passengers in 2007, which was one million more than in the previous year. The company’s management attributes the rise in the number of passengers to the modernization of the railways cars as well as the financial convenience of this type of public transport. Despite the modernization programme, the obsolete car park remains the Czech Railways’ most serious challenge.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Police dog dies after vet refuses to treat it
    01/31/2008

    A vet in Česká Lípa, North Bohemia, refused on Thursday to treat an injured police dog which died as a result. The town’s municipal police approached the vet after the dog was hit by a car. The veterinary declined to treat it because his car had been towed by the police in December last year. The police filed a complaint about the incident vet with the regional veterinary authority; the animal doctor is facing a fine and a disciplinary action.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Jarošík set for Samara
    01/31/2008

    Czech footballer Jiří Jarošík is set to leave Celtic Glasgow, where he has been playing since 2006, and move on to the Russian club Soviet Wings Samara. The former member of the Czech national team spent two seasons in the Russian first division, winning the title with CSKA Moscow in 2003. No financial details were given but it is estimated that the Russian club had to pay about one million euro for the Czech midfielder.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Latest round of talks on radar base concludes
    01/30/2008

    The latest round of talks between Czech and US negotiators on American plans to build a radar base in central Bohemia ended on Wednesday. Among the issues on the agenda during the three-day meeting at the Czech Defence Ministry were legal jurisdiction over US soldiers based in the Czech Republic, and whether US vehicles would have Czech or American number plates. The Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, is due to discuss the planned base with President George Bush on a visit to Washington in four weeks’ time. Mr Topolánek has previously indicated that the Czech Parliament would vote on the matter after a NATO summit in Romania in April. The radar base would be part of a US global anti-missile defence system and would be linked to a planned rocket base in Poland.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Drunken police officer stabs US man to death in Prague
    01/30/2008

    A Prague police officer has been charged with the stabbing to death of an American man in the city on Tuesday night. Police arrested the officer, who was drunk, shortly after the incident, which occurred near the Sazka Arena in Prague 9. The internet news site Deník.cz reported that the American had stopped his car after the policeman made vulgar gestures. Following an argument the two began to fight, during which the officer stabbed the man three times. The American, who was based in Germany, died at the scene.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Havel documentary premieres in Prague
    01/30/2008

    The premiere of the documentary Občan Havel (Citizen Havel) is taking place at Prague’s Slovanský Dům on Wednesday evening. The film was 15 years in the making and offers a behind-the-scenes look at Václav Havel’s tenure as Czech president. When original director Pavel Koutecký died during the making of another film in 2006, Občan Havel was completed by Miroslav Janek. The former playwright and dissident, who is 71, will not be attending the premiere; Mr Havel has been in hospital for nearly two weeks after suffering from minor heart problems.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Prague apartment owners win noise reduction case
    01/30/2008

    Nearly 1,000 owners of apartments beside the magistrála road which runs through Prague have won a court case they brought against the city authorities over excessive noise levels. The Prague Municipal Court has given the city one year to reduce the noise level in the vicinity of the Prague 4 flats to 45 decibels during the day and 35 decibels after 10 pm. The decision overturns a previous ruling by a district court. Court experts recorded noise levels of nearly 70 decibels during the day and 60 decibels at night on the magistrála.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • War hero General Jan Paroulek dies at 85
    01/30/2008

    The Czech World War II hero General Jan Paroulek has died at the age of 85. General Paroulek fought in the Battle of Britain and the Battle of Normandy and received a number of honours including the Czechoslovak War Cross and the French Legion of Honour. However, after the communist takeover of 1948 he was expelled from the army; two years later he received a 12-year prison term in a political trial. General Paroulek later played an active role in the 1989 Velvet Revolution in his home town of Přerov. He will be buried on Monday with military honours.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

Pages