Section Archive Current Affairs
Renowned author, publisher Josef Škvorecký dies at 87
Czech emigré author and co-founder of '68 Publishers Josef Škvorecký
died at the age of 87 on Tuesday, succumbing to cancer in Toronto, Canada.
Mr Škvorecký was one the last great Czech 20th century authors and
literati. His first novels published in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s –
were quickly banned by the Communist regime. Later, following the
Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, Škvorecký and his wife Zdena
Salivarová moved to Canada, where they founded ’68 Publishers. The
imprint was a crucial avenue for Czech and Slovak dissidents like Milan
Kundera and Václav Havel to publish in Czech and English in the West. More
Parents of “wolf children” on trial at Prague city court for child neglect
The mother and father of two boys, dubbed “wolf children” by the Czech
media, are currently on trial at a Prague city court. In a shocking and
unusual case of child abuse, the parents never let their sons out of the
apartment, did not dress them and fed them only liquid food. They deny
charges of abuse and say they simply wanted to raise their children in an
alternative way. More
Hundreds gather to drop Václav Havel’s funeral flowers into Elbe River in silent tribute to late ex-president
The many flowers and wreaths that people placed around the coffin of former
Czech president Václav Havel took center stage at a silent farewell to the
national hero. After travelling downriver for three days, the flowers were
greeted by hundreds of people gathered at the Elbe River’s bank in
Děčín and dropped into the river. The unusual tribute was organized by
former human rights minister Michael Kocáb, a friend of the late
president. More
Czechs held in Zambia return home
Three Czechs who were detained and charged with espionage in Zambia have
returned home. They showed up unexpectedly at their doorsteps at the end of
the year and have refused to disclose any information regarding the nature
of their escape. The Czech Foreign Ministry which made an all out effort to
secure their release through regular diplomatic channels has put an
information embargo on the case. More
President calls on Czechs to keep calm and support austerity measures in face of European debt crisis
President Václav Klaus’s traditional New Year’s address reflected key
political events of the year, among them the death of his predecessor,
Václav Havel. Moreover, Mr. Klaus warned of both false optimism and fear
mongering in face of a possible recession in the eurozone. The Czech
president said it was crucial to support additional cuts in government
spending and emphasized that this was a time for the nation to tighten its
belt. More
Czechs wax sentimental over Václav Havel’s legacy
As the shock of Václav Havel’s death slowly wears off, Czechs are
considering the best possible ways to honour his memory and uphold his
legacy for future generations. Proposals range from the sentimental – a
heart of wax melted from the thousands of candles people lit for their hero
–to the stately - a law stating his contribution to freedom and
democracy. More
Village commemorates arrival of parachutists who assassinated Reinhard Heydrich
The village of Nehvizdy, in central Bohemia, on Wednesday commemorated the
70th anniversary of the start of Operation Anthropoid, the targeted killing
of the Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich. Two Czechoslovak commandoes who
carried out the killing, landed near the village on the night of 28
December, 1941. More
Czech roads see lowest number of fatalities since 1947
2011 saw vast improvement in the number of road deaths, dropping to 695.
That is the lowest number since the late 1940s, although then there were
only some 128,000 thousand registered vehicles on Czech roads compared to
around four million today. Experts suggest that a number of factors have
contributed to the continuing drop in road fatalities. More
Police to probe Czech communist party leader’s condolences to North Korea
The Czech police will investigate whether the Czech communist party leader
broke the law when he sent condolences on the death of the North Korean
leader Kim Jong-Il. In his letter, Czech communist party chair Vojtěch
Filip said, among other things, that the late North Korean dictator
sacrificed himself for the well-being of his people. More
Bureaucratic goof could cost country billions of crowns
What appears to be gross bureaucratic incompetence may cost the Czech
Republic billions of crowns. The country’s belated bid to become a party
in the ongoing criminal case against the former managers of the Czech
mining firm Mostecká uhelná, involving billions of crowns now frozen in
Swiss bank accounts - has been thrown out by a Swiss court, leaving the
Czechs out in the cold. More
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