News
Nečas and Schwarzenberg to discuss EU pact on Tuesday
Prime Minster Petr Nečas and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg will meet on Tuesday to discuss the planned European fiscal agreement. The two party heads have been sharply at odds in recent weeks over the PM’s resistance toward the agreement, which is aimed at establishing tighter fiscal discipline across the EU and was signed by all member states except the Czech Republic and the UK. Mr Schwarzenberg strongly rejected the Prime Minister’s statement that the pact is not in the Czech Republic’s interests and has previously said he would not be part of any government that moved the country away from the EU mainstream.
Havel’s Leaving nominated for 12 Czech Lions
Václav Havel’s film Leaving has been nominated for 12 Czech Lion awards. The semi-autobiographical adaptation of a play of the same name by the late president was his first and only foray into filmmaking, something he had long wanted to do. Despite nominations in every possible category, Leaving received lacklustre reviews upon release. Another directorial debut by Zdeňek Jirásek, Poupata, was nominated for ten awards. Nevinnost by Jan Hřebejk and Alois Nebel by Tomáš Luňák were each nominated in eight categories.
Prague faces property seizure again
A writ of execution has again been filed on Prague City property due to a late payment of less than 15,000 crowns. Use of the property has not been limited, as the city paid the sum, which arose from a legal dispute, on the day the writ was issued. Prague faced a similar freezing of assets three weeks ago, in which case the use of property was restricted due to an unpaid sum of 163 thousand crowns.
Hundreds received faulty hip-joint implants
Some 300 Czech patients have received low-quality hip-joint implants, the manufacturer Depuy has announced. The Johnson & Johnson subsidiary says the full implants have decreased durability and may release heavy metals such as cobalt. Some recipients have suffered medical problems requiring further treatment, the company told Czech Television. Patients with the implants will undergo blood tests and more frequent check-ups; doctors say replacement operations are not necessarily needed.
Demonstration outside Syrian embassy in Prague
Several dozen people demonstrated outside the Syrian embassy in Prague on Sunday. The event was called by the Free Syria Initiative, which wants to draw attention to the long-running violence in the country and support the popular democratic movement. Similar gatherings have been taking place in recent days at Syrian embassies around the world. The Prague embassy’s website was also attacked by hackers on Sunday.
Record number of personal bankruptcies
Nearly 1,300 people filed for personal bankruptcy in January. According to an analysis conducted by the Czech Credit Bureau for the Czech Press Agency, the figure marks a 43% increase compared to January of 2011 and is the largest number of cases since it became possible to declare personal bankruptcy in January of 2008. The highest number of bankruptcies was filed in the region of Ústí nad Labem, which accounted for 13% of cases.
Petra Kvitová advances the Czech team to Fed Cup semi-final
Petra Kvitová advanced the Czech women’s team into the semi-final of the Fed Cup with a win over Sabine Lisicki in Stuttgart on Sunday, 6:7, 6:4, 6:1. The victory was the latest in a 27 match winning streak indoors for Kvitová, who is currently ranked world no. 2. It was also the sixth win for the Czechs out of seven matches against Germany. The Czech title-holders now have an unsurpassable 3:0 lead over Germany and will next play Ukraine or Italy in the semi-finals at home on April 21-22.
Weather
Conditions over the weekend are expected to be clear and sunny with daytime highs dropping to -12° Celsius and night-time lows to around -20°. Temperatures in higher altitudes could drop to -40°.
