Last week 2/2006

The Czech Republic' oldest citizen, Františka Novotná (108), died at a hospice in Moravská Budějovice. The Three Kings – Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar – passed through the country. New year' sales began in shops. Heavy snowfall caused power outages and disrupted train services in South Bohemia. Jiří Havel replaced Martin Jahn as the new deputy prime minister for the economy. Following a massive stroke, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was put on a life support machine and the media reported on it.

Seven Czech mountain climbers perished in an avalanche in Slovakia's Roháč mountains in the western Tatras. Ski-jumper Jakub Janda was the second Czech in history to win the prestigious Four Hills Tournament in Bischofshofen, Austria; he shared first place with the renowned Janne Ahonen, a.k.a. the Flying Finn. Experts announced that Iran's nuclear bomb, which Czech politicians still wanted to help develop one month ago, will apparently be capable of reaching Europe. „We originally wanted to go as early as this February, but it came to light that the temperatures there aren't favorable for central Europeans during that time, so alternate dates are being sought,“ said communist deputy Zuzka Rojbrová, explaining to reporters why Czech deputies had postponed their trip to Tibet, where the four-member delegation intends to look into compliance with human rights there. An unnamed lane near Haštalské náměstí in Prague was given the name Ve Stínadlech based on a decision by local residents. The International Monetary Fund criticized the Czech political elite for its inability to propose and bring to fruition a truly viable pension system. After an eight-year hiatus, Dagmar Havlová returned to Vinohrady Theatre. „We made a rose garden out of charred land,“ said Labor and Social Affairs Minister Zdeněk Škromach (Czech Social Democratic Party – ČSSD) in an interview for the daily Lidové noviny, describing the upshot of the Social Democrats' eight-year reign. Czech consumer debt exceeded 415 billion crowns and banking statistics revealed that every seventh household can no longer pay off its loans. České Budějovice City Hall warned residents of the risk of potentially lethal snow-slides falling from housetops. Floods of fallen snow complicated the planned tally of bats in the Jeseník mountains. Writer Jiří Gruša received from the German government the high state honor Great Cross with Star for his contribution to strengthening Czech-German relations. Martina Hingis returned to international tennis courts in fantastic form. Austria took over European Union leadership from Britain and newspapers announced that Viennese scientists had managed to identify the skull of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. „There is absolutely no reason to change the limits– our region does not need to open any more coal deposits,“ said Ústí Regional Administrator Jiří Šulc (Civic Democratic Party – ODS), rejecting Prime Minister Paroubek's plan to satisfy the mining lobby's wishes and open North Bohemia up to further profitable plundering. The Villa Milada squat in Prague caught fire. The country's Chief Hygienist Michael Vit reassured the population that despite two human deaths from bird flu in Dogubayaz in eastern Turkey, there is no threat of the mutated virus attacking the Czech lands. Petr Želázko was named Prague Police Chief. Svratouch town council supported a proposal by inhabitants to erect a memorial plaque to legendary healer and local resident Jindřich Pasek, who died last year. Czech arms smuggler Dalibor Kopp was arrested in Brussels. The Dutch logistics firm TNT bought the Czech distribution firm Noční Expres. Former defense minister and later state-installed CEO of Czech Airlines Jaroslav Tvrdík, who led the airline from billions in profits to a billion-crown loss in his two years at the top, resigned from the job and became campaign manager for the ČSSD for the upcoming elections. Singer Marie Rottová rejected an offer from the Christian Democrats to run for the Senate on the party's ticket. The daily Mladá fronta Dnes warned its readers that rifling bank accounts through copied data from payment cards is much easier than previously thought. Citing „reappraisal of activities in the area of sponsorship“ as its reason, Czech Telecom stopped sponsoring Safety Line, where children facing difficulties can call for free. „Our relations with Russia are good and we have exceptional contracts with Gazprom,“ said Industry and Trade Ministry spokesperson Ivo Mravinac, commenting on the fact that Russia closed the supply of gas to Ukraine due to price bickering and the European Union began discussing how to deal with dependence on a strategic partner like that. Czech resistance movement hero General Rudolf Pernický (90) was cremated in Strašnice Crematorium.