News News

Thousands hit slopes, conditions ideal

Thousands of people have been hitting ski hills in the Liberec region, north of Prague. Hills in the area reported more than a metre of snow on trails and ideal skiing conditions. According to the Czech news agency, parking areas at Ještěd Mountain, for example, are full. Other areas seeing a lot of visitors and full parking lots include the Jizera Mountains. Rokytnice nad Jizerou in the Krkonoše (or Giant Mountains) reported snow between 120 and 180 centimetres. The resort said it saw more than 4,000 skiers on Saturday alone.

Hydrogen explosion cause fire at plant

A hydrogen explosion caused a fire at a hall at Unipetrol’s factory in Litvínov near Most on Saturday morning, which took fire fighters roughly an hour to put out. The explosion took place at around 11 am. Clean-up work, however, continued well into the evening hours. No one was hurt in the incident.

Extremist rally in Varnsdorf ends without incident

A public demonstration organised by the ultra-right Workers' Party for Social Justice was attended by about 400 people, mostly local residents in Varnsdorf, North Bohemia, on Sunday. After the rally, its participants set out for town districts inhabited by a largely Romany population. There were no incidents, however, during the two-hour event which was monitored closely by the police. The Workers' Party for Social Justice is the successor to the banned Workers' Party. The marchers walked twice past a dormitory primarily occupied by Romanies, considered one of the more difficult areas in the town. Extremists carried placards referencing ultra-right slogans used by some in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s, ČTK reported.

Literary critic Milan Jungmann dies aged 90

Highly-respected literary critic Milan Jungmann, who headed several literary journals in the 1960s as well as the Writers’ Association, died at the age of 90 on Friday; the news was revealed a day later by Libuše Ludvíková of the Czech PEN club. Dr Jungmann, born in 1922 in Hořany near Most, completed studies at Charles University and headed the Czech National Library as well as Literární noviny and other publications in the 1960s. He joined the Communist Party in 1945 but was expelled in 1969 following the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Jungmann received the Tom Stoppard prize in 1989 and the F.X. Šalda award in 1995. The date of his funeral is expected be announced on Monday.

Czech filmmaker Jan Němec receives Vladislav Vančura prize

Czech filmmaker Jan Němec received the Vladislav Vančura prize on Saturday for his lifelong contribution to Czech and world cinema in the areas of fiction, documentary and experimental film. The prize was given at the annual Trilobit awards in Beroun, near Prague, by the Czech Film and Television Association FITES. Others awarded on the evening included the late Václav Havel, given the Josef Škvorecký prize in memoriam for the adaptation of his play Leaving for the screen, which Mr Havel also directed.

Decapitated head found in Prague’s Karlín

Investigators and a medical examiner were called to the scene in Prague’s Karlín district on Sunday after a decapitated human head was found at the corner of Pobřežní and Šaldova streets. It is the latest in a series of gruesome discoveries in the Czech capital: at the beginning of December hands cut at the wrists and taped together were found near the Kunratice stream ; then, part of a woman’s body was found on Christmas Day at another Prague park. The victim has been estimated as having been between 40 – 45 years of age.

Figure skating: Březina 4th, Verner 5th at European championships

Czech figure skaters Michal Březina and Tomáš Verner have finished outside of the medals at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield. Verner was in third place after the short programme but dropped to fifth after falling on a quadruple toe loop and jumping only a single axel as well as leaving out another jump. Březina’s fourth-place finish is his fourth at a major event in three seasons. Russian star Evgeni Plushenko won the European title.

Weather

The rest of the weekend should see partly cloudy to overcast skies with more snow and day temperatures dropping to minus 3 degrees. Night time lows can reach minus 15, though in some places as much as ten degrees lower.