Topic Archive Society
Prosecutors rule out murder in north Bohemian shooting
Prosecutors investigating a New Year’s Day shooting in the north Bohemian
town of Tanvald, which left a Romany man dead and injured another, have
ruled out murder or any other premeditated crime. The investigators on
Friday said the 63-year-old shooter was facing an intense assault by two
Romany men in a conflict that had no racial or material motives. More
Extremist lawyer claims judicial expert biased because of Jewish background
Michal Mazel, a highly-respected judicial expert on extremism in the Czech
Republic (whose testimony was crucial in such cases as the Vítkov arson
attack and the dissolution of the rightwing Workers’ Party), has resigned
after an objection was filed against his assessment in a current case.
Lawyer Petr Kočí filed the objection on behalf of his client, a member of
the extremist Workers’ Party for Social Justice, charged with inciting
ethnic hatred, that Mr Mazel is biased because of his Jewish background.
For the judicial expert the objection was the last straw; the move also
shocked others, fuelling calls for the lawyer to be disbarred. More
Astronomer Jiří Grygar on a life of promoting stargazing and scepticism
It’s pretty fair to say that anybody in the Czech Republic who knows
anything about astronomy has learned at least some of it from Dr. Jiří
Grygar. Something of a Czech Carl Sagan, Dr. Grygar has been a frequent
personality of Czech and Slovak television screens since his popular
programme “Windows Wide Open to Space” in the late 1970’s. He was the
chairman of the Czech Astronomical Society and is one of the founding
members of the Czech club of sceptics, Sisyfos, which battles pseudoscience
and charlatanism in the Czech media. I met Dr. Grygar in his tiny office at
the Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences, and asked him to tell me
about how he first became interested in his life’s passion. More
Vlaada Chvátil – Designer of Through the Ages and Mage Knight
When it comes to game designers you would be hard-pressed to find one more
successful in recent years than the Czech Republic’s Vlaada Chvátil. Six
years ago, the Brno-based designer made his mark with a civ-building board
game called Through the Ages and since he has produced a slew of successes
including titles like Space Alert (where players have to cooperate aboard a
space vessel in trouble) and his newest game (released by the US company
Wizkids) called Mage Knight. It’s a niche hobby but within it the
designer has earned international recognition and success.
More
Mailbox
In this edition we read from your letters of condolence on the death in
December of the former president Václav Havel; we quote from your answers
to December's mystery Czech quiz question; and we announce a brand new
question for January. Listeners/readers quoted:Mary Lou Krenek, Allan
Loudell, Jana Zimmer, Lynda-Marie Hauptmann, Andy Martynyuk, Madeleine
Blum, Bibi Z. Shah, Jaroslaw Jedrzejczak, Caitlin Brown, Colin Law, Charles
Konecny, Jonathan Murphy, Hans Verner Lollike. More
Panorama
Panorama : thousands of people undertake a traditional New Year’s
pilgrimage to the Basilica of the Virgin Mary in Hostýn, over a dozen
enthusiasts strap on wooden skis to mark the centenary of the first
downhill ski race in Central Europe and -home is where the heart is – a
stray dog keeps returning to the dog shelter where a vet saved his life. More
Growing fears over faulty French breast implants
Czech health institutions say they are getting dozens of concerned calls
from women with silicone breast implants who fear they may be at health
risk in connection with the scandal surrounding faulty French implants
exported to 65 countries worldwide. It has been confirmed that around 2,000
of the risky industrial-grade silicone implants were delivered to Czech
clinics between 2007 and 2010 when the scandal surfaced. Some clients are
already demanding repeat surgery whether or not their doctors advise it. More
New legislation to enhance protection of animals against abuse
The Czech government has approved new legislation that will enhance the
protection of animals against cruelty. The draft bill, which introduces a
series of EU-wide measures fighting animal abuse, brings new rules for
animal slaughter and for laboratory tests. It will also allow the police to
fight animal abuse more efficiently. 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
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