News
Palestinian leader Abbas cancels Prague visit
The president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has cancelled a visit to Prague scheduled for Monday. A spokesperson for the Czech president, Václav Klaus, said Mr Abbas had to change his plans because of talks in Cairo and the situation in the Middle East. The Palestinian leader had been due to meet Mr Klaus, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and other senior Czech representatives in Prague.
Communists lead Prague protest against planned American radar base
Around 1,000 people protested in Prague on Saturday against a planned US radar base. Among those who spoke was Vojtěch Filip, the leader of the Communist Party, which organised the demonstration. Opinion polls have consistently suggested that around two thirds of Czech are opposed to the radar base, which would be built in central Bohemia and be part of a planned American anti-missile shield. Prague and Washington have signed treaties on the radar, though the Czech Parliament has not yet voted on the matter.
Russia again intensifies rhetoric on US anti-missile shield
Meanwhile, Russia, which is opposed to the radar and a planned missile site in Poland, has again intensified its rhetoric on the subject. A few days ago Moscow indicated it had dropped a threat to place short-range missiles in its Baltic territory of Kaliningrad in response to the US facilities. On Friday, however, the AP news agency reported that Russia said it would place missiles in Kaliningrad if the American project went ahead.
Gipsy.cz to represent Czech Republic at Eurovision
Czech Television has chosen the Romany pop group Gipsy.cz to represent the Czech Republic in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Czech TV dispensed with the idea of a national song contest and itself nominated Gipsy.cz for the semi-finals of the Eurovision, which is being held in Moscow in May. Viewers will be able to vote on what song Gipsy.cz performs.
Since the Czech Republic began taking part in Eurovision in 2007 neither of the country’s two entrants – rock band Kabát and pop singer Tereza Kerndlová – made it past the semi-final stage.
PM Topolánek attends Czech ball in Brussels
The Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, attended a Czech ball in Brussels on Friday evening representing the symbolic launch of Czech cultural events during the country’s presidency of the European Union, the Czech News Agency reported. Speaking at the start of the ball, Mr Topolánek joked that he hoped it would become a tradition, at least until the Czech Republic was expelled from the EU. He said as well as its interests and agenda, the Czech Republic would also like to present its humour and bad habits during its presidency.
Operators: EU presidency site visited by over half a million in January
The operators of the website of the Czech presidency of the European Union say over 590,000 people visited it in January, the Czech News Agency reported. The most frequent users of www.eu2009.cz are based in the Czech Republic, with more traffic on the Czech than the English or French language versions. Among those visiting the site are journalists, state employees and students.
Czech international Kováč joins West Ham on loan
The Czech football international Radoslav Kováč has joined the English Premier League club West Ham on a six-month loan deal from Spartak Moscow. The 29-year-old, who can play in both central defence and midfield, joined Spartak from Sparta Prague four years ago. Kováč has 28 international caps.
Karamazov Brothers, Tobruk and Country Teacher pick up multiple nominations for Czech film awards
The Karamazov Brothers by Petr Zelenka and Tobruk by Václav Marhoul have both received eight nominations for the Czech Lion film awards. The Country Teacher by Bohdan Sláma picked up seven nominations at an event at Prague’s Lucerna on Friday night. The winners of the leading Czech film awards will be announced on March 7.
Weather
It should get a bit warmer over the next few days, with temperatures set to reach up to 6 degrees Celsius. Forecasters say it will be cloudy and wet.
