Last week 04/09

After having problems breathing and swallowing, former President Václav Havel underwent surgery at Motol hospital and attending physicians announced that his condition remains serious. The Czech crown weakened considerably. After a seven-day shutdown, Russia reinstated gas supplies to Europe but the gas didn't flow. Meteorologists warned citizens that the bitterly cold weather would continue. Under the slogan „We enjoy entertaining“ („Baví nás bavit“) a new television station, TV Barrandov, began entertaining Czech viewers. Former collaborators with the Silver A group met in Pardubice, where they had operated at the time of preparations for the assassination of Nazi Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich. „The threat has been staved off, but we are still on alert,“ labor union bosses commented as they ended preparations for a general strike following a Finance Ministry promise not to submit its proposal to eliminate meal vouchers and travel tickets to the government. It was learned that, at the end of last year, Czech industrial production dropped 17 percent, moving the country closer to recession. Bankers sent word to businesspeople that loans would be more expensive. The Czech press learned that Kate Winslet received a Golden Globe for Revolutionary Road. A sculpture by Czech artist David Černý, depicting the artist's perception of each of the 27 European Union member states, was unveiled at the seat of the EU Council in Brussels. „He is our greatest scientist, a university doctor from Kazakhstan, an infallible visionary… He is our president, so let's show him to the world with delight – he is a great guy, not just a skier,“ said its creator, explaining why the Czech Republic is illustrated by a LED display in a gold frame in the shape of the country's borders, upon which President Václav Klaus's words of wisdom about the European Union and global warming are constantly repeated. „It is tasteless, truly scandalous. Do you Czechs always have to be so negative?“ one Bulgarian civil servant told Hospodářské noviny, commenting on Černý's Entropa, in which Bulgaria is symbolized by a Turkish toilet. Čunek left the government. The state stopped vaccinating children against tuberculosis. Javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková was named Sportovec roku („Sportsperson of the Year“). The leadership of the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) threatened that unless the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) agrees to eliminate fees for doctors' visits, it wouldn't approve the allied mission in Afghanistan, forcing Czech soldiers serving in international forces to return home. The price of unleaded petroleum rose.

Russia's state-owned airline, Aeroflot, confirmed its serious interest in the privatization of České aerolinie (Czech Airlines), and the Czech pilots association warned Cabinet ministers not to sell the company to a customer like that. „It's not just that the Russians have lower operating standards and a higher accident rate. There's also a strategic consideration: Further dependence on Russia, besides gas and oil, would be dangerous,“ the head of the association, Filip Gaspar, told the media, detailing the pilots' fears. The unemployment rate jumped from 5.3 to six percent.

Hyundai's newly opened car-manufacturing plant in Novošice suspended production because of a total dearth of orders. „Cars are dragging the Czech Republic down,“ Mladá fronta Dnes warned readers in a front-page headline. Low air fares and record discounts lured the Czech public on post-Christmas shopping trips to London. Ostrava city hall freed up 200,000 crowns from its budget to improve conditions for the homeless. Czech paleontologist Radek Vodrážka found a rare collection of fossilized cephalopods and clams from the Mesozoic era in the Antarctic. Having caught 117,000 passengers without tickets in 2008, Brno's public transport ticket controllers broke a 10-year-old record by 17,000 and entered local history. „Like Karel IV, I too want to defend European – not just Czech – interests,“ said Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, describing the goal of the his EU presidency to members of the European Parliament. Parliament's lower house, the Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecká sněmovna) delayed the vote on the Lisbon Treaty. Geological surveys in the Krušné hory mountains discovered a massive deposit of indium, a metal used in the electronics industry. The Czech Republic decided to sell six L-159 fighter planes to Bolivia. Architect Jan Kaplický died. The carmaker Škoda Auto announced that the release of its new model, the Yeti, would be delayed. The Czech language institute (Ústav pro jazyk český) and Brno's Masaryk University (Masarykova univerzita) posted a dictionary of literary Czech on the web. ČEZ came to the conclusion that the Dukovany nuclear power plant could become a source of heat for Brno. Astronomers informed the public that, according to their latest information, black holes existed before galaxies. St. Ludmila came to life in the computers of the construction faculty at the Czech Technical University (České vysoké učení technické).