Last week 19/2006

Despite heavy rains, witch-burning fires burned again on hilltops across the country. The Morava River rose to a state of emergency. In light of the retreating threat of avian flu, veterinarians lifted the ban on the free movement of poultry. Minister David Rath joined the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). “He’s just a street police officer who’s trying to work. Of course the question, provided it’s proven, is whether he didn’t commit heightened zeal,” Chief of Police for Prague 2 Captain Jan Navrátil said of the case where one of his men, trained in a communist regiment for breaking up political demonstrations, brutally beat the Director of the Human Rights Section of the Office of the Government, Kateřina Jacques, as she and her children were walking past marching neo-Nazis and she, according to the police, made some improper remarks towards them.

Radio 1 celebrated its 15th birthday. Spain, Greece, and Finland opened their labor markets to Czechs beginning on May 1. The election campaign has entered the final stretch. Nathaniel Rothschild expressed interest in building a new shopping center, Ostrava Center, on the grounds of the former Karolina coking plant. Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimír Putin asking Russia to reduce the price of natural gas for the Czech Republic. Former Communist Party Chairman Miroslav Grebeníček then called on Jiří Paroubek, as Prime Minister, to ban the sale of t-shirts with the inscription, “Kill a Communist, Strengthen Peace,” at the Czech Center in Vienna. “To claim that Jesus was married and even had children is at least as serious an attack on the Christian faith as the recent publication of a caricature of the profit Mohammed. The only difference is that thanks to our cultural traditions we Christians aren’t calling for the murder of writer Dan Brown,” said Czech Bishop Conference spokesperson Milan Horálek, condemning the global bestseller The Da Vinci Code, the film version of which is to premiere in the Czech Republic next week. Hard liquor consumption in restaurants rose. Bakers imparted that the price of rohlíks would rise any minute by ten halers, and bread by several korunas. Some three thousand techno fans gathered in Krásna u Sokolova for CzaroTekk. Because none of the candidates for Orthodox Metropolitan of the Czech Lands and Slovakia received a majority of votes during an election, in the end the appointment was decided by lottery, which awarded the function to Prague Archbishop Kryštof. Poštovní spořitelna (Post Office Savings Bank) announced that, beginning this summer, it would stop charging people for depositing their money there. Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda held talks in Canada about the Canadian government canceling visas for Czech citizens. “Possibly, reportedly, soon,” Svoboda pronounced after the meeting with his Canadian counterpart in Ottawa. Kykolka was eliminated from the VyVolení TV show’s villa. A felled May pole killed a twenty-year-old man in Volduchy in the Rokycany region. Scientists came to the conclusion that even polar bears and hippopotami are at risk of extinction now. Indian industrialist Ratan Tata bought the tea manufacturer Jemča Jemnice. Andrej Babiš headed for China. Václav Havel published a new book, Briefly, Please. In Ořechov near Telč a memorial ceremony was held for parachutists from the group Out Distance, who parachuted in here to fight the Nazis during World War II but were all apprehended and killed by the Gestapo after a Czech policeman from Telč found and turned in to the secret police a wallet with a photo of the fiancée of one of the group’s membersthat had fallen out during the jump. Doctors in Zlín began using a new method for treating the retina. Repair work on Freedom Square forced pedestrians from the center of the Moravian capital. Trading on the Prague Stock Exchange fell to a new low for this year. The European Commission fined the Czech Republic 170 million korunas because – despite valid agreements for the whole continent – domestic farmers exceeded the limit for milk production, for which they receive subsidies, by millions of liters even though there isn’t great demand for milk and the excess milk must be liquidated with the aid of further subsidies. A poll conducted by ScandC revealed that the majority of Czechs want Václav Havel as the next president. “A few corrugated-metal markets with moldy tennis shoes made of nylon and a few other pieces of rubbish inside,” said Plastic People saxophonist Vratislav Brabenec, describing to the Brno monthly Uši a vítr the legacies of white civilization. Screen idol Vojta Kotek told Mladá fronta DNES he doesn’t want to be a sweet little boy anymore. The Ministry of Social Affairs and non-profit organizations organized International Family Day celebrations at the Prague Zoo.