• Press: Hundred children a day injured in Czech schools
    09/09/2005

    An average of around a hundred children a day are injured in Czech schools, Mlada fronta Dnes reported on Friday. Three quarters of school injuries are sustained during physical education classes or at break time, the daily said.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Two new Hollywood films begin shooting in Prague next month
    09/09/2005

    Two new Hollywood films are to be shot at Prague's Barrandov studios. Young Hannibal (Behind the Mask) - based on the character Hannibal Lector from Silence of the Lambs - starts shooting next month, as does a remake of the 1970s horror movie The Omen.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Romany band Kale split with singer Vera Bila
    09/09/2005

    The Romany band Kale have announced they will no longer back the singer Vera Bila. They said she was unreliable and had organised solo concerts which clashed with her bookings with the group. Vera Bila and Kale released their first album in 1996 and found considerable success on the international scene.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech ice hockey league resumes after summer break
    09/09/2005

    After a five-month break the new Czech ice hockey league season began on Friday evening. Slavia Prague are the bookies' favourites to win the Extraliga, which comes to an end next April.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • State attorney: Krejcir property was being sent to Seychelles
    09/08/2005

    A state attorney has revealed that property belonging to fugitive Radovan Krejcir - a Czech billionaire wanted for fraud - was being sent to the Seychelles. Police seized the property, which had been 'frozen' because of charges of tax evasion, in August, stopping a lorry near Beroun, outside of Prague and finding items from Krejcir's household worth millions of Czech crowns. Items in the truck included: furniture, electronic equipment, motorcycles, and sports items. The name on the shipping address was not Czech and police are now trying to gather more information.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Supreme Court confirms verdict in Huskova case
    09/08/2005

    The Supreme Court has confirmed a lower court's decision to dismiss Judge Petra Huskova from Hradec Kralove's municipal court in east Bohemia, over extensive delays in dozens of cases under her charge. The chairman of the disciplinary senate said on Thursday the Supreme Court had found no reason to cancel the earlier High Court's verdict from last November. Mrs Huskova has reacted by saying she would consider filing a complaint to the Constitutional Court. Before now, investigations revealed that between June 2002 and March 2004 Judge Huskova took no steps in 24 commercial and 22 bankruptcy cases, without citing any reasons.

    In another two commercial cases, she failed to reach verdicts within set deadlines.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Unemployment up, inflation stable
    09/08/2005

    Unemployment went up by one decimal point in August, according to Labour Ministry figures published on Thursday. The number of people looking for work rose to just over half a million, or 8.9% of the workforce. The chief economist of Raiffeisenbank in Prague, Pavel Mertlik, said that despite the increase, the figure was encouraging. With those leaving school entering the job market, August is traditionally the worst month of the year.

    Inflation figures have also been published, showing that the year-on-year rate for August remained unchanged at 1.7%. According to the Czech Statistics Bureau rises in fuel prices were matched by a fall in the price of some foodstuffs. Consumer prices remained at July levels.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Archaeologists unearth unique statue of Persian goddess
    09/08/2005

    Czech archaeologists have made what is being called a unique discovery near Prague: a statuette of a Persian fertility goddess known as Anahita. The item is believed to date back to the 4th century or earlier, and is likely to have originally reached Bohemia either through an ancient trade route or through military contacts along the northern border of the Roman Empire. The find was made by archaeologist David Danicek who unearthed an ancient burial ground dating back to the so-called Migration of Nations period (in the 5th and 6th centuries). One expert has compared the find in importance to the discovery of the famous Venus of Dolni Vestonice, in south Moravia.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Theatre biweekly praises 'American' version of Ledecky's Hamlet
    09/08/2005

    The American version of Czech pop singer Janek Ledecky's musical 'Hamlet' has been praised by the Czech theatre biweekly Divadelni noviny, which called it the success of the summer. The paper wrote in its first September issue that the musical was fully-justified in its "Broadway ambitions". The English-language version is directed by American Robert Johanson and features a number of Broadway performers. It was presented in Prague several times in mid-August.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • 25 million crowns in aid for hurricane-stricken U.S.
    09/07/2005

    The Czech government has approved sending 25 million crowns in humanitarian aid to parts of the U.S. stricken by Hurricane Katrina. Along with the funds - the equivalent of more than one million U.S. dollars - the Czech Republic has offered the U.S. the use of a field hospital, an anti-chemical crew, and water treatment facilities. The Chief of Staff Pavel Stefka has said that the mobile hospital could be of most use now.

    On Monday the Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek met with the American ambassador to Prague to promise help: a decision on the final form of additional aid will be made this week.
    Author: Jan Velinger

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