News

Topolanek to quit if he fails to become prime minister after elections

Civic Democrat chairman Mirek Topolanek says he will resign if he is unable to form a government after elections next June. Mr Topolanek made the comment in a newspaper interview on the eve of his party's annual conference in Brno.

The right-wing Civic Democrats have been ahead in the opinion polls for some time but have conceded ground to the governing Social Democrats since Jiri Paroubek became prime minister this year.

Survey: Czechs leading marijuana smokers in Europe

Czechs are the leading smokers of marijuana in Europe, suggests a survey of EU states and Norway, Bulgaria and Romania which has just been published. Some 22% of 15- to 34-year-old Czechs questioned admitted to smoking the drug in the previous year.

The Czech Republic is also among the leading countries when it comes to the use of ecstasy, so-called magic mushrooms and methamphetamines, suggests the data released by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

HIV infection rate rising relatively slowly, young Czechs not using condoms

The rate of HIV infection is rising relatively slowly in the Czech Republic, with 70 new cases recorded so far this year, Miroslav Hlavaty of the charity AIDS pomoc said on Friday.

Mr Hlavaty warned that young Czechs were unworried about catching HIV, with only 20 percent saying they use condoms the first time they sleep with a new partner.

According to the latest available figures over 800 Czechs are HIV positive and almost 200 have AIDS.

Greenpeace: Czech carp contains worryingly high levels of harmful chemical

The environmental group Greenpeace says carp caught in the Czech Republic and neighbouring countries contains worryingly high levels of phthalate, a harmful chemical compound found in plastics. A spokesperson said Greenpeace found traces of the chemical far above prescribed limits in carp from three stores in Prague. Carp is the traditional Czech Christmas meal.

Rolling Stones to play Brno next summer

Legendary British rock band the Rolling Stones are set to play in the Czech Republic's second city Brno next summer, with the promoters due to announce the exact date next week.

The Rolling Stones were one of the first big foreign rock bands to appear in Czechoslovakia after the fall of communism when they performed at Prague's Strahov stadium in August 1990. They have since played here several times.

Jagr back on top of NHL points table

Czech ice hockey star Jaromir Jagr has returned to the top of the points standings in the NHL, after notching up one goal and one assist for the New York Rangers in their 6:3 defeat of Atlanta on Thursday. Jagr, who is 33, is the best paid hockey player in the world.

Weather

It should remain quite cloudy in the coming days with temperatures around 2 or 3 degrees Celsius.