Section Archive Current Affairs
Czech Republic beats Sweden to advance to semi-finals in Ice Hockey World Championship
It was a dramatic game: a last-minute goal by Milan Michálek some 30
seconds before the end of the match against Sweden on Thursday brought the
Czechs the victory they needed to advance to the semi-finals in this
year’s Ice Hockey World Championship. The Czech 4:3 result also marks the
first time in 12 years that Sweden will not be playing in the semifinals.
In the next match, the Czech Republic faces its neighbor Slovakia. While
this is the third time that the Czechs will be competing for a spot in the
finals, this year’s solid performance of the Slovak team has come as a
surprise. Ahead of Friday’s match, we spoke to daily Mladá fronta dnes
hockey expert Karel Knap. More
Brno centre for childcare launches “rent-a-granny” scheme
This month saw the launching of a new EU-funded child-care project aimed at
helping families with young children juggle work and family. In view of the
lack of day nurseries and kindergartens around the country the Brno Centre
for Family Planning and Child Care has launched a “rent-a-granny”
scheme along the lines of the Oma Dienst project successfully implemented
in neighbouring Austria. More
Constitutional Court upholds solar tax
The Czech Constitutional Court has upheld the government’s tax on solar
power, introduced retroactively last year in an effort to cool the solar
boom in the country. Photovoltaic firms complain the tax damages their
business while foreign investors into the business are threatening to
initiate international arbitrations against the country. But the court said
their interests cannot be superimposed over those of Czech citizens. More
International meeting of experts on Czech language and literature kicks off in Prague
An international meeting of Czech language and literature experts, among
them teachers and translators, kicked off at Prager Literaturhaus, a Czech
institute that promotes Prague’s German literary heritage. For the next
four days, lovers of the Czech language will be discussing their field of
expertise and exchanging their findings in a number of seminars, panel
discussions and lectures. On the first day of the international
get-together, we speak with Kristin Kilsti, a Norwegian literary translator
who works from Czech into her native tongue. More
Defiant David Rath remains in police custody
As Czechs are slowly digesting the shocking case of the Social Democrat
politician David Rath, more details emerge about his arrest and the crime
he allegedly committed. The opposition MP and governor of Central Bohemia
was arrested on Monday with seven million crowns in his possession. While
Mr Rath maintains his innocence, he has been charged with corruption, and
remains in detention. More
Prominent Social Democrat MP charged with corruption
One of the most prominent figures of the opposition Social Democratic
party, MP and Central Bohemian governor David Rath has been charged with
corruption. Mr. Rath was arrested on Monday night along with seven other
people in a large-scale police operation that is believed to be linked to
abuse of EU funds. More
Czech shareholders ripped off by Kožený could gain from sale of Aspen chalet
Czech shareholders who lost millions of crowns to controversial businessman
Viktor Kožený in the 1990s, have a strong chance of getting back partial
compensation. There is a new possibility that the equivalent of around half
a billion crowns gained from the sale of Mr Kožený’s Aspen chalet in
the US, could be transferred to the Czech Republic. Shareholders have 10
days in which to file a formal request. More
Health insurer counting its losses as government moves to scrap costly and inefficient electronic health records project
The Czech government has announced its decision to dump a costly electronic
health records project launched ten years ago. The project which was to
facilitate communication between doctors regarding treatment of individual
patients failed to get off the ground properly and was frequently
criticized for lack of transparency. More
Woman gets life sentence for murder of her four children
A 37-year-old Czech woman has been sentenced to life in prison for
murdering her four children. The Regional Court in Hradec Králové, in
eastern Bohemia, on Friday rejected the woman’s claim she suffered from
memory loss, and convicted her of the murders. She became the fourth woman
to receive a life sentence since the fall of communism in the country. But
the woman collapsed during the reading of the verdict and the court will
now decide whether the defendant will be brought to court again. More
Bikes for Africa project attracts hundreds of donors in first four months
Organisers in the Czech Republic have launched a project similar to Great
Britain’s Jolly Riders Foundation, whereby anyone can donate an old
bicycle to a child in Africa. Although in operation only briefly, Kola pro
Afriku (Bikes for Africa) has already taken off and is attracting broad
interest. More
+1
+10
+100
