Topic Archive Society
Roma attack on teen, which brought thousands into the streets, never happened
Police in the South Moravian town of Břeclav have called off an
investigation into three Roma who allegedly beat up a 15-year-old boy, in
an incident that raised racial tensions around the country. The boy has
confessed that the attack never took place, he injured himself in a fall,
and the mass demonstrations that followed now look like just another sign
of widespread prejudice against the Roma minority. More
Prague Food Festival to inspire Czechs to think global, eat local
On Friday, the magnificent Prague Castle gardens will open to host the
annual Prague Food Festival – a three-day celebration of fine dining and
healthy eating. Foodies from Prague and elsewhere will converge at the
venue to sample the delicacies prepared by three dozen classy restaurants
and enjoy the festival’s varied accompanying programme. More
Love Across Cultures: Relationships between Czechs and Foreigners
In the past 20 years, Prague has attracted a number of foreign
professionals, and many of them settle here permanently. With the Czech
capital growing more international, relationships between locals and
foreigners have also become more common. In this edition of Czech Life, we
speak to some of those intercultural couples about their experiences and
their everyday relationship life. 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
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
Shopping transformed since 1989 though Czechs still lagging behind West in some respects, says ex-Elle editor
Over the last 20 years Czechs have embraced consumer culture in a big way,
with a great number of shopping centres, both city centre and out-of-town,
now dotted around the country. To discuss how the experience of shopping
has been transformed – and how range and price now compare to other
countries – I met up with former Elle editor Jana Cíglerová at
Prague’s Palladium shopping centre, a short walk from Wenceslas Square. 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
Botanicus co-founder Dana Hradecká: planting the seeds of success
The Botanicus chain of stores offering herbal soaps, extracts and
delicacies is a Czech, and growing international, success story. Most
tourists will have probably bought something from one of their outlets in
the country. The small business was founded in the early 1990’s after the
restitution of a family farm around 40 kilometres north-east of Prague.
That has become the centre for the business and a tourist attraction with
more than 50,000 visitors a year. One of the firm’s co-founders Dana
Hradecká explained the roots of the original inspiration for the business. More
+1
+10
+100
