Last week 24/2007

Storms and torrential rains swept across the republic. The debate on public finance reform began in parliament. The leadership of a statewide labor union threatened to hold a general strike to protest the reform proposal. Writer Jan Beneš (71) died. US President George Bush visited the Czech Republic on his way to the G8 Summit in Germany; Defense Minister Vlasta Parkanová teamed up with musician Jan Vyčítal to give Mr. Bush a gift in the form of a song entitled Hello, Stars and Stripes, which, according to newspapers, elicited derision from Communist and Social Democratic deputies. „Look, that radar is only 60 kilometers from Prague, that's very close – the Danes, for example, resolved the issue by putting the radar in Greenland. We don't have a Greenland, from which it follows that we can't have a radar either,“ said Jiří Paroubek, chairman of the opposition Social Democrats (ČSSD), explaining why he is still against having a radar base on Czech territory as part of the US defense shield aimed at protecting the West from missile attacks by terrorists or totalitarian regimes. Czech filmmakers decided to dub the voices of Slovak actresses in their productions.

The average monthly salary climbed to 20,399 CZK. The number of pensioners rose again. „The state had to pay out 193.2 billion crowns to Czech pensioners last year,“ commented Lidové noviny. A court in Brno sentenced Petr Neisser (35) to 12 years in prison for having hit a 15-year-old boy with his car last November, then driving the seriously injured boy to a forest path, throwing him into the trees, and abandoning him there; after crawling for several hours, the boy finally reached the main road, where he was rescued by drivers passing by. „I proceeded in strict accordance with the code of ethics of our Chamber of Court Executors,“ said Czech Chamber of Court Executors President Juraj Podnický after it surfaced that he had paid 16 million crowns for a Prague villa with an estimated value of double that amount via distraint proceedings organized by his chamber presidium colleagues two years ago. An emergency intestinal operation saved the life of a young leopard encaged in the Hradec Králové zoo, which, out of boredom, had devoured a ball tossed into his corral by entertainment-seeking visitors. An exhibition of works by Jindřich Štyrský opened in the House at the Stone Bell in Prague. Karel Poborský ended his football career. Trolleybuses serving the Česká stop in Brno stopped running due to repairs on the route. Czech Mycological Association Chairman Miroslav Smotlach (86) passed away in Prague after fighting a serious illness. The Association of Professional Clubs expelled Vsetín from the nation's top ice hockey league, the Extraliga, due to debts. Czech authorities denied a report in the British tabloid The Sun that actress Angelina Jolie wants to adopt a child from one of the Czech Republic's overcrowded homes for children who have been abandoned by or taken away from their parents. One hundred and thirteen postal workers in Jihlava lost their jobs due to new automated machines at the postal service's headquarters in Brno. „It's embarrassing enough being an actor for a living – it's a worthless, pointless job. But when people know you earn a thousand times what a nurse earns it's fucking embarrassing,“ said Ricky Gervais, the author of and main character in the famous British TV series The Office, quoted in Lidové noviny. Vladimír Mišík celebrated his 60th birthday. The European Commission ordered mobile communications operators to cut international calling rates, and announced that text messages were next in line. Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg (Green Party) informed Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek (Civic Democrats – ODS) that he would step down from his post if his colleague Deputy Prime Minister Jiří Čunek (Christian Democrats – KDU-ČSL) were to remain in the government even after being – as anticipated – charged with corruption. The energy company ČEZ entered a tender for strategic partnership with the Bulgarian power plant Belene. Carlsberg entered the Czech beer market. It came to light that women working in top managerial positions in the Czech Republic earn roughly half as much as male colleagues in the same posts: 30,000 CZK compared to 61,000. „The main thing is that I'm healthy and nothing hurts. And that I regained my stroke and rhythm,“ replied Czech tennis player Nicole Vadišová, when asked by a Mladá fronta Dnes reporter, !You failed to make it past the semifinals in Paris last year. What could be said about you?" The Slovaks opened a harbor in the border town of Skalica and thereby connected to the Bat’a channel.