Last week 42/2006

Stanislav Gross and Jiří Paroubek’s former right-hand man Zdeňek Doležal was arrested by the police due to suspicion of misappropriation of European subsidies, extortion, and plotting the murder of police officer Kubice; two other suspects were arrested with him. Petr Čech and Tomáš Rosický were nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year award.

Invex ICT trade fair was held in Brno. While robbing a Prague jewelry store, two thieves left a machine gun at the scene of the crime. “It’s an expression of security concerns they’ve had for a long time,” declared Communist Europarliamentarian Miloslav Ransdorf, explaining why he sympathizes with North Korea’s nuclear testing, and Social Democratic shadow foreign minister Lubomír Zaorálek added that the USA is also to blame because of its unwillingness to negotiate with North Korea.

The Czech Bishops’ Conference invited the Pope to Brno and Prague. One hundred and fifty gays and lesbians entered into registered partnerships. The government submitted its demission. The Czech Republic fell from the top ten most desirable countries in Europe for investors because interest has shifted to the Balkans. Media reported that at a press conference during the Vysegrad Four meeting in Warsaw the Slovak and Hungarian premiers argued over who was complicating relations between the two countries. The Green Party criticized the Czech Republic’s stances on human rights abuses in Tibet and on the liquidation of Tibetans’ cultural and religious identity by the Chinese government as being too soft. A former Slavia defenseman said the players are afraid of coach Vladimír Ruzička. “I’ll file a criminal complaint against whoever writes this rubbish next,” Jiří Paroubek wrote in Hospodářské noviny after reading a commentary linking the police with the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). A secret police file on former interior minister František Bublan was found in the home of Zdeňek Doležal. A soldier was killed during training in the Boletice military zone. Karlín Music Theatre was opened for the first time since the 2002 floods. The government refused to support a legal initiative introduced by the South Bohemian Region giving children of foreigners free schooling. Construction of a NATO radar began in Slavkov. Otakar Vávra began shooting a music video for Michal Horáček and Petr Hapka in Prague’s Café Slavia. Plans were announced to build a ninety-meter skyscraper in Ostrava. Lenins dashing around, various insects, and notions of political conspiracies were examples of alcohol-induced hallucinations cited by addiction treatment expert Karel Nešpor. “The denunciatory affairs and political provocations which one of Czech Radio’s permanent staff members – who’s still being protected by his superiors – became involved in, cast serious doubt on the entire institution’s impartiality,” Czech Radio Council member Štěpán Kotrba wrote in Britské listy; Kotrba believes employees of the public radio network work in the interest of the secret service, which is reportedly proven by the release of the “Kubice Report,” which contained allegations of politicians’ influencing investigations into corruption. The Regional Court in Brno decided it has to stop construction of equipment needed for collecting tolls on highways due to ambiguities in the tender. The European Commission announced that the Czech Republic has the sixth most endangered public finance among EU member states. Vojtěch Mišun from the faculty of machine engineering in Brno came out with a unique invention – the first artificial vocal chords in the world. A survey by CVVM revealed that some 62 % of Czechs are against having a U.S. military base here, 24 % are for it, and 14 % don’t know. According to the police, an economist at Industria Secondary Professional School in Ustí nad Labem sold drugs directly in the school. “WE’LL DO IT SOMEHOW, Taťána text messaged, so we’ll break traffic regulations to get to Warsaw as soon as possible,” wrote reporters from MF DNES, which recently detected ministers breaking speed limits on highways, describing how they set off for Warsaw to see the new Miss World. Plans were announced to build a new memorial to people who have died on the D1 highway in the Moravian highlands. ČEZ announced it intends to invest in coal mining and the construction of power plants in Kosova. A passionate contest broke out among communal politicians for whose teams could most frequently paste their posters over their political rivals, but the winner is still undecided. Wooden gnomes sprouted up along a path in Kyjov Forest on Kameňák Mountain. While digging a tunnel for a pipeline in Krupec in North Bohemia, workers hit on a leaking substance which subsequently proved to be a dangerous combat gas most likely left behind by the Soviet Army.