News

Police: Number of illegal migrants on Slovak-Czech border drops

Police say that the number of illegal migrants detained on the eastern border with Slovakia has dropped this year. While in 2004, border police detained around 500 people, this year it has been fewer than a hundred. They were mostly Chechens, Mongolians and citizens of former Soviet countries. Police say that overall the number of migrants in Central Europe has decreased. Also after the Czech Republic joined the European Union, the routes of migration to Western Europe have changed.

People in Need collect 132 million crowns for tsunami-hit Sri Lanka

The Czech humanitarian organisation People in Need says it has collected 132 million crowns (5.5 million dollars) in aid for the survivors of last year's tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean. People in Need is now running a number of projects in Sri Lanka. Having started with immediate relief deliveries in the first days after the disaster, the organisation has been involved in the cleanup works and restoration of the country's power grid and is now building schools and houses.

Czech expedition finishing works on Antarctic polar station

A team of Czech experts have spent Christmas at a Czech-built polar station on James Ross Island between the Antarctic and the southernmost tip of South America. Building works on the site started a year ago and the station should be completely finished by April. It is expected to host climatologists, biologists and geologists who will study climate change and the origin of the so-called Antarctic "oases", areas where the glacier had receded and allowed some simple forms of life to inhabit the location.

Seventy "hardy-men" take part in 59th annual swim in Vltava River

Some 70 "otuzilci" ("hardy fellows") braved the cold water of the Vltava River in the centre of Prague in a traditional St Stephen's Day swim on Monday. Among the participants were 13 women and also swimmers from Belgium, Germany and Slovakia. Also taking part were Stanislav Bartusek, who swam the English Channel this year in ten hours seven minutes and a veteran of the St. Stephen's Day swim, 92-year old Ladislav Nicek. This year has been Mr Nicek's 56th time in the 59-year old history of the swim.

Czechs send record number of mobile phone text messages on Christmas Eve

People in the Czech Republic sent a record number of SMS text messages from their mobile phones on Christmas Eve. According to data supplied by mobile phone operators, Czechs sent 58.5 million SMS messages, which is a 15-percent increase compared to last year. Czechs also sent 250,000 MMS's which is twice as many as last Christmas Eve. Czechs also made some 37 million calls from their mobile phones, approximately the same as last year.

Weather

In the next couple of days we can expect overcast skies and snow in most of the country. Daytime temperatures are expected to range from minus 1 to plus 1 degree Celsius.