Section Archive Current Affairs
Anti-corruption watchdog backs referenda to brake councils’ plans to steamroller through solar power projects
A Czech anti-corruption watchdog is helping citizens at several sites
around the county to prepare referenda for or against plans for massive
solar power plants. It is taking the unusual step because it says local
politicians are riding roughshod over their wishes and curbing democratic
discussion to get a share of the huge amounts of cash at stake.
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Former StB observation post in Malá Strana bell tower opens to public
Prague has just seen the opening of a new and rather unusual tourist
attraction – a former secret police observation post recently discovered
at the top of a bell tower in one of the city’s gothic churches. For just
under four decades – from the 1950s to the 1980s – the tower was home
to a detachment of communist secret policemen who’d spy on the foreign
embassies below. Rob Cameron climbed to the top to have a look.
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Prime Minister Jan Fischer to become vice-president of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Prime Minister Jan Fischer will be leaving Czech politics after May’s
general elections. The head of the caretaker government said on Tuesday he
was nominated for vice-president of the London-based European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development. The 59-year old former statistician should
assume the post by the beginning of September. More
New Svěrák movie and 3 Seasons in Hell in competition at 45th Karlovy Vary IFF
Preparations are in full swing for the 45th Karlovy Vary International Film
Festival. Though much is still being decided, the organisers revealed a lot
on Tuesday: there are not one but two Czech films in competition, veteran
director Juraj Herz will get a lifetime achievement award, and there will
be special sections dedicated to the great British filmmakers Powell and
Pressburger, contemporary Belgian film and Australian schlock-horror
movies. I caught up with senior programmer Karel Och and asked him what he
felt would be the highlights at this year’s Karlovy Vary.
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Prague’s last metro proposal wins plaudits on the ground
Prague’s transport authority has come up with the idea of extending the
night time underground or metro services. The surprise suggestion comes
just weeks after they suggested the services end earlier. For the most
part, Czechs seem to have welcomed the proposed extension.
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Libuše Niklová’s famous toys on display in Prague
The Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague is currently hosting an exhibition
featuring the work of one of the most talented Czech toy designers of all
time Libuše Niklová. Though her name might not ring a bell with the
general public, her plastic toys, such as the red inflatable buffalo, have
been popular companions to several generations of Czech children.
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Airlines watch skies - and balance books - as no-fly losses mount
Flights to and from the Czech Republic are beginning to resume as normal
after Czech airspace was reopened on Monday, but the country’s airlines
and airports are now counting the cost of disruption. They’re also
nervously watching for news from Iceland after the emergence of a second
ash cloud which threatens to ground European air traffic once again.
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Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids celebrates reopening
In June 2008, the Czech and Slovak Museum in the US state of Iowa was hit
by a devastating flood, which has caused damage running into millions of
dollars. Now, nearly two years later, it has opened in a new location in
the Kosek Building, right in the middle of the Czech Village. To mark the
first step on the road to its recovery, the Czech and Slovak Museum has put
up a new exhibition called “Rising Above: the story of a people and the
flood”. I spoke to the museum’s director Gail Naughton.
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Popular Czech children’s book under fire over racist undertones
A racist passage from a popular Czech children’s book recently sparked a
heated debate in the Czech media after a Romany activist asked for it to be
withdrawn from the school curriculum. Thousands of Czechs publicly opposed
the request, which was also dismissed as unjustified by some Romany
organizations. But others believe the issue of racist undertones in some
Czech literary works should be taken seriously.
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Cardinal Tomáš Špidlík dies at the age of 90
One of the greatest Czech theologians, a member of the Jesuit order and a
prolific author, Cardinal Tomáš Špidlík died in Rome on Friday at the
age of 90. He spent most of his life abroad but will be laid to rest in his
native Moravia.
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