News

Official ceremony in honor of Czech victims of Yaroslavl plane crash held at Prague’s Old Town Square

Thousands of people gathered in Prague’s Old Town Square on Sunday to pay their respects to ice hockey stars Karel Rachůnek, Jan Marek and Josef Vašíček, the three Czech players who were killed in a plane crash near the Russian city of Yaroslavl on Wednesday. The official commememorative ceremony was moderated by Czech TV sports commentator Robert Zárub and opened by ten minutes of silence in honor of the plane crash victims. A sermon by Prague Archbishop Dominik Duka followed. The president of the Czech ice hockey federation Tomáš Král, famous ice hockey players such as Jaromír Jágr, Patrick Eliáš as well as the coaches Alois Hadamczik and Vladimír Růžička attended the ceremony. As a tribute to the three deceased players, their numbers – Rachůnek’s four, Marek’s 15 and Vašíček’s 63 – will not be used by the Czech national team in the future.

On Wednesday, a Yak-42 plane came down shortly after take off from the Russian city of Yaroslavl and burst into flames. The players were taking off for Minsk for the first match of the season. Among the 43 victims were Russian and European hockey players.

9-11 commemorations held across Czech capital

Commemorative events marking the 10-year-anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, are being held across the Czech capital. On Prague’s island Strelecký ostrov, an all-day concert against fear is taking place. In the afternoon, a commemoration of firefighters and paramedics killed on 9/11 will be held on Kampa island. Defense Minister Alexandr Vondra and other important political figures are expected to attend a gathering with the motto "Together Against Terrorism" at Jungman square in the afternoon.

In the evening, a flag ceremony will be held at Prague castle, followed by a memorial service at St. George’s basilica. Czech and American officials have organized a commemorative event to mark the tenth anniversary of 9-11 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Černínský Palác) at 6 p.m. Headlining the program will be the classic Czech underground band Plastic People of the Universe. An exhibition of photographs by Jan Šibík showing the aftermath of the attacks in New York will be on display, as will a new exhibit on Czech contributions to reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. The event is being organized by the Czech Foreign and Defense Ministries in cooperation with the American Center and is open to the public.

Six injured, forty-one arrested in far-right demonstrations in North Bohemia

Six people, three of them police officers, were injured in demonstrations and gatherings organized by the Workers Party for Social Justice in the North Bohemian towns of Varnsdorf, Rumburk and Nový Bor on Saturday. A total of 41 were arrested. In Varnsdorf, locals joined supporters of the extremist party in an impromptu march to a Romany neighborhood, where a police unit intervened and prevented clashes. The police mission is estimated to have cost hundreds of thousands of crowns. A total of three to four hundred far-right extremists attended the demonstrations, with some supporters of the party coming from abroad. Interior Minister Jan Kubice and the deputy chief of police Vladislav Husák were also present in Nový Bor.

Ahead of the extremists’ gathering, the government’s human rights commissioner, Monika Šimůnková, called on residents of the three towns to not buy into the arguments of radicals and to carefully consider their participation. For days, police have maintained a state of readiness in the area due to assemblies and demonstrations provoked by tensions between ethnic Czechs and Romanies, which have escalated over the past month.

Finance Minister: Economic slow-down could cause drop in tax revenue of up to 15 billion Czech crowns

In an appearance on the commercial TV station Prima on Sunday, Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek said that the recent slow-down in economic growth could lead to drops in tax revenue of up to 15 billion Czech crowns. He added that further budget cuts will most likely not be necessary, since the planned budget cuts for 2012 should be enough to compensate for a growth in GDP that has been slower than expected. The finance minister said that Europe could be hit by another recession. In the second quarter of 2011, the Czech GDP grew by 2.2 percent, which falls 0.1 percent short of preliminary estimates.

Seven thousand chickens killed in fire at large-capacity poultry farm

A large-capacity poultry farm in the Moravian-Silesian Bruntál region caught fire on Saturday afternoon. Some 7000 chickens were killed in the fire, which was most likely caused by a technical problem with a conveyor belt. Firefighters assisted employees in saving the chickens; roughly 2600 survived the incident. Damages are estimated to reach a million Czech crowns.

Špotáková comes first in last event of season

The Czech athlete Barbora Špotáková ended her season with a win in the javelin at the ISTAF meeting in Berlin on Sunday. Špotáková came first with a throw of 67.14 meters, more than two meters further than local favorite Christina Obergföll. The Czech, who is 30, recently took silver at the Athletics World Championship. She is the current Olympic champion and holds the women’s world record in the javelin.

Temperature record from 1948 broken in Prague on Sunday

On Sunday, temperatures in Prague reached a record 28.3 degrees Celsius, the hottest weather observed on this day in the city since 1948. Across the country, similar records were reached. South Bohemia saw the warmest conditions, with temperatures of over 30 degrees centigrade.

Weather

The start of next week is expected to bring mild conditions with daytime temperatures between 20 and 24 degrees Celsius, with a chance of rain and overcast skies.