News of Radio Prague

Czechs mark national holiday

Church ceremonies and academic gatherings have been held across the Czech Republic in commemoration of Cyril and Methodius , missionaries who spread Christianity and the Slavic language and culture on the territory of the present day Czech Republic. The missionaries, who came to Greater Moravia from Salonica in 863, served as active teachers of the Christian faith and together with some 50 disciples helped to establish the Slavic language and culture in the region, introducing a special Slavonic alphabet. In 1981 they were proclaimed patron saints of Europe. Thursday's celebrations in Moravia were attended by some 30,000 pilgrims from Central Europe.

Anheuser Bush loses court case over Budvar label

A court of appeal in Munich has ruled that the American beer producer Anheuser Busch will not be able to sell its beer under the Budweiser label on German territory. The court verdict upholds an earlier ruling according to which the Budweiser label is rightly in Czech ownership. A spokesman for Budwar, the Czech beer producer who owns the label, said the court verdict was "good news". The US beer giant Anheuser Busch and the Czech company Budwar struck a "division of markets" deal in the first half of the 20th century but the companies have long since stopped respecting it as they jostle for a stronger position on the world beer market.

36th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival opens tonight

Cinema experts, movie buffs and movie makers have arrived in the west Bohemian spa town of Karlovy Vary for the opening of the 36th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on Thursday night. Some 6,000 accredited participants and tens of thousands of fans are expected to view 260 films from 42 countries, chosen from a total of 600, in the course of the nine day film marathon. The Karlovy Vary Film Festival is the largest event of its kind in the former Eastern block - a popular show case for independent movie makers and documentary producers. The star of this year's festival is Nastassja Kinski who is expected to attend the world premiere screening of "An American Rhapsody" on Thursday night.

And finally a quick look at the weather:

After the heat of the day, we can expect a clear and balmy night with temperatures at around 15 degs C. Friday should dawn bright and sunny across most of the Czech Republic with day temps climbing to between 26 and 30 degs. The coming weekend is expected to bring scattered showers and a drop in day temps to between 19 and 24 degs C.