Last week 03/09

Autor fotografie: Pavel Reisenauer

Snow fell and freezing temperatures followed. It was minus 36 degrees Celsius in the settlement of Jizerka in the Jizerka mountains. "Apprehensively - that's how the Czech Republic approached 2009; its citizens are concerned about the impending economic crisis, which analysts say will soon hit the country full-on," Lidové noviny titled the headline story of its first January issue. "If we judge this crisis from the economic perspective, there is nothing tragic awaiting us: We are better off than we ever have been in the history of mankind. For a few years we hurtled forwards in a fury, and now we'll slow down a bit - nothing more," replied Tomáš Sedláček, ČSOB's chief economic strategist, when asked by Hospodářské noviny, "Are we in for a tough year, or are the forecasts exaggerated?" The Czech Republic officially launched its presidency of the Council of the European Union at the National Theatre (Národní divadlo), at a gala evening attended by top Czech and European politicians. The price of ice-skates went up. Woody Allen met with President Václav Klaus at Prague Castle. The media reported that Harold Printer had died in London. The Brno-Tuřany airport dealt with its 500,000th passenger. The Czech Muslim community held a demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy in Prague to protest the Israeli government's refusal to continue to ignore the rockets launched by Gaza Strip militants that kill Israeli civilians over the border and its attack on the hideaways and headquarters of the terrorist organization Hamas. The number of people playing the Prague Stock Exchange rose to a record 54,000. "Femininity - that is bosoms at Oktoberfest, heels on an outing, higher emotional intelligence and sensitivity, for example; as soon as I see Julie Roberts, I weep and get goosebumps all over," replied one half of the brilliant musical duo Čokovoko when asked by Hospodářské noviny, "What does femininity mean to you?" Czech Airlines (Česke aerolinie) denied reports that it would stop serving free meals on board in an effort to cut costs. Vlastimil Košťál resigned from his post at the Czech football association (Českomoravský fotbalový svaz). Because of a lack of interest in its products, the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing plant in Novošice reduced production – to four days a week, for the time being – after two months of operation. A car crashed into a dog sled on a mountain road near Orlické Záhoří; nobody from either party was hurt. With regret and envy, the Czech public watched their neighbors in Slovakia begin using the euro.

"Dear hunting fans, If you are dreaming of a hunting vacation this year, we invite you to the very exclusive Lány game park, where you can pick off a fallow deer, at prices ranging from 560 to 1590 euros," the office of the Czech president wrote on its website to hunters hungry for big adventures in 2009. Champagne sales dropped. Actress Dana Batulková, 50, won the television contest Star Dance; "She demolished the cult of youth through dance," Mladá fronta Dnes commented on her success. The Koramo mineral refinery in Kolín caught fire. A new species of large, colorful and extremely poisonous spider was discovered in Moravia; the recently discovered spider, which had managed to elude scientists to date thanks to its custom of burrowing into deep subterranean dens, has been called Eresus moravicus - the Moravian ladybird spider. Owing to payment disputes between Russia and Ukraine, natural gas supplies to Europe were disrupted. "And you didn’t see me calling for the chairman's resignation when the shots rang out at U Kočků," said Vladimír Dryml (Social Democratic Party, ČSSD), the new deputy commissioner of the Hradec Králové Region, responding to ČSSD leader Jiří Paroubek's call for Dryml to leave the Social Democratic Senate club because he had been found to have sought compromising information on a party colleague, Hana Orgoníková, the head of ČSSD's Hradec Králové regional organization, after her rejection of a proposal by Drym for the region - controlled by their party - to acquire his hospital in Vrchlabí. Frozen railroad switches delayed the high-speed Pendolino train. Prague Mayor Pavel Bém denied reports from coworkers and the media that he had spent his two-week-long winter holiday on a costly trip to the Antarctic; he also refused to reveal where he had vacationed. A hornbeam was named 2009 tree of the year. South Moravian thermal power suppliers told customers that the price of heat would drop - but not until spring.