Last week 38/08

News agencies reported that proton beams were injected in the huge particle accelerator on the Swiss-French border for the first time and that Europe's Big Bang project can thus be deemed to have been launched. The warm weather was replaced by a cool weekend. The price of oil dropped below $100 per barrel. Due to long-lasting dry weather, the site of a mysterious prehistoric settlement near Kramolín emerged above the water's surface in the Dalešice reservoir. Economists warned that the global car market could face a slump due to an unexpected downturn in sales in China and India. „I just don't know how to get away from it. When it's quiet at night, you can hear the noise everywhere. I can't get a good night's sleep. I can't tell you how many times I've cried in the middle of the night,“ Hana Fajmonová of Lhánice told journalists, describing her life since July, when her house began to shake and be pervaded by humming noises; the authorities have begun to investigate whether the matter is related to the Dukovany nuclear power plant or to the nearby air force base, to which military helicopters were moved in July. The European Union offered Ukraine „exceptional friendship.“ A total of 14 wild cats from four Czech zoos were released in the Velká Fatra national park. Culture Minister Václav Jehlička dismissed Národní knihovna (National Library) Director Vlastimil Ježek for his persistent efforts to have the new national library building designed by architect Jan Kaplický built, against the will of President Václav Klaus and Prague Mayor Pavel Bém. The city of Humpolec decided to buy a new ice resurfacer for its rink. It emerged that Czech per-student expenditures have fallen the most of all developed countries in the last 10 years, and the OECD called on the Prague government to restore the missing billions to education without delay. Liberec neurosurgeons became the first in the world to screw together a patient's first cervical vertebra without making an incision in the neck. „It is a nice image of the degradation of an artist who became what he once fought against. And in a certain sense, the director ended up even worse than those Communist artists whom he came out against as a young man - at least I don't know of any of them filing a criminal complaint against him,“ remarked Milan Mikuláštík, a member of the Guma Guar art group, regarding the fact that Národní galerie (National Gallery) Director Milan Knížák filed suit against him and his group for organizing a misleading operation last year, during which they presented themselves as created artworks under the name „Milan Knížák group,“ and then put the pieces on sale with a notice that that they were not the work of the real live Knížák. Hector Zazou died. The government approved a Status-of-Forces Agreement allowing US soldiers to be stationed in the Czech Republic. The leadership of the Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL) passed a resolution stating that it does not agree with the current ironic slogan chosen for the government's Czech EU presidency publicity campaign, „Evropě to osladíme“ (the slogan has a double meaning: „We'll sweeten it up in Europe“ or „We'll give Europe a taste of its own medicine“), and called on Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra to consult with the KDU-ČSL on the next promotional campaign. The Prague Stock Exchange dropped to its lowest level all year.

„I only reproach myself for listening and for having respect for the judicial authorities. After all, the Supreme Court always has the best there are - there were six of them, not one justice from the people, and they affirmed everything,“ pronounced Ludmila Brožová, 86, who, as the Communist prosecutor, succeeded in getting opposition politician Milada Horáková sentenced to death by hanging 58 years ago, and was now sentenced to six years in prison for her active role in the judicial murder. „The defendant's involvement cannot be assessed by the degree to which she complied with or breached judicial regulations… A prosecutor's actions must always correspond at least to elementary, timeless ethical viewpoints,“ the court wrote in substantiating its verdict against Brožová, which commentators called „historic and groundbreaking.“ The opening of the last section of highway between Nuremburg and Rozvadov enabled Czechs to travel by highway from Prague all the way to the Spanish shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Newspapers carried the news that Kim Jong-Il was missing from the celebrations in Pyongyang marking the 60th anniversary of Communist North Korea. The Finance Ministry submitted to the Cabinet a budget with the lowest deficit since 2000. Tomáš Baťa, Jr. was buried in Toronto. Conductor Libor Pešek announced that, despite billboards claiming the opposite, he would not appear at the Pražský podzim/Prague Autumn festival with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Twenty-five years passed since plastic clocks hit the market.