Last week 4/2007

In this week's news summary, Windstorm Kyrill batters Europe, the Czech Republic finally has a government, and the problem with students. A coalition government consisting of the Civic Democrats (ODS), the Greens, and the Christian Democrats received parliament's backing. Anarchy came to an end in the Czech Republic after 230 days without a government.

Czechs started booking their summer holidays. Hundreds of people gathered at the Všetaty cemetery to commemorate the anniversary of the heroic death of student Jan Palach. „Because all of a sudden it started looking like our family had just ceased to exist, after 28 years, and had been replaced by some individuals who were suddenly more valuable than us; that's why I decided to come out publicly and say, ‚here we are,‘“ said the Czech prime minister's wife Pavla Topolánková, explaining why she has been accepting all invitations from domestic tabloids and publicly-run mass media to talk about how her husband had left her and what she thinks of him and his new girlfriend. A survey revealed that Czech households have practically stopped dry-cleaning their clothes and have started washing them at home more often. European Hindus rebelled against a proposal to outlaw the use of their sacred symbol – the swastika or fylfot – in the European Union. Art Buchwald died. A court ordered the management of Vítkovice hospital to apologize to Helena Fernčíková, whom its physicians had sterilized without her consent during a routine operation five years ago. „Our students are smart, they just don't know how to speak, think critically, or state their own opinions, which their teachers forbid them to do. And, unfortunately, they don't read much either,“ replied Tomáš Sedláček – economic advisor to former President Havel and teacher at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University – when asked his opinion of Czech students by Respekt. According to the Yale Economic Review, Sedláček is one of the world’s five most talented young economists. Newspapers reported that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro had contracted peritonitis during an unsuccessful operation and is probably really dying this time. Ondřej Černý was named the new director of the National Theatre. Foodstuff producer Hamé Babice won a court dispute in Slovakia with RSK over the right to use the Májka trademark for its line of patés. Miloš Forman started directing the jazz opera Dobře placená procházka (A Well Paid Walk) at the National Theatre. Prague Mayor Pavel Bém (ODS) drew level with Defense Minister Vlasta Parkanová (KDU-ČSL) in the latest poll assessing politicians' popularity. Two high-ranking police officers, Josef Opava and Petr Koňařík, were sentenced to 14 and 12 years in prison by a central Bohemian court after being convicted of managing and ordering a band of hit men and thieves known as the Berdych Gang. „Such arguments don't befit ODS officials, and at best are those of politically correct Euro-unionists from Respekt weekly – and I told the prime minister that as well,“ replied Euro parliamentarian Jan Zahradil (ODS) to Lidové noviny's question, „What do you think of Prime Minister Topolánek's statement that you and President Klaus suffer from ‚national revivalist obsession?‘“ The media reported that the hands of the Doomsday Clock at the University of Chicago had moved to five minutes to twelve; scientists from The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists thereby hoped to warn mankind of the threat posed by the nuclear weapons in the hands of North Korea and Iran, and by climate change, the consequences of which are reportedly serious even if civilization doesn’t perceive them as such yet. Windstorm Kyrill swept through the Czech basin and meteorologists measured record winds of 216 kilometers per hour (134 miles per hour) on the Sněžka mountain. Authorities declared the storm the „biggest catastrophe since the floods of 2002.“ Five people died in the windstorm, and the damage is estimated at half a billion crowns. Climate experts warned the public to count on extreme weather becoming the norm. The ČEZ power company decided to build wind farms. „I'm afraid – and I chose that word intentionally – that I'm a bigger expert than most of those who purport to be,“ replied former Respekt writer, Civic Democratic Alliance spokesperson and Consolidation Agency employee, and current Czech National Bank board member Mojmír Hampl, when asked by Lidové noviny, „From your book, Exhausted Resources – A Well Sold Myth, one can gather that you don't believe in the threat of global warming. Do you really believe you are an expert in that as well?“ Vacláv Klaus received an honorary doctorate from Czech Technical University for being an „outstanding scientist and economist.“ Fans of the computer game World of Warcraft took specialized shops selling the game's new expansion, The Burning Crusade, by storm.