Last week 08/09

The mild weather ended and the frost returned. A 60-year-old cross-country skier died of a heart attack at a refreshment kiosk on the Promenádní cesta („Promenade trail“) in the Jizera mountains. Snowstorm Quinten blasted through the country. The Czech National Bank (Česká národní banka) officially announced that the Czech Republic is heading into recession. The Holiday World annual tourism trade fair was held in Prague. January inflation slowed down to a record two percent. Three senior police officials were arrested on suspicion of corruption and embezzlement in Liberec following long-term surveillance. In the face of the rising number of divorces, the Social Affairs Ministry launched a new campaign, „Žeňte se a vdávejte“ („Get Married“), which aims to promote the institution of marriage during the upcoming „love holiday,“ St. Valentine's Day. „It is literally an epidemic, the authors are building an army of computers with which they'll be able to do whatever they want - steal internet banking passwords from them, use them to knock out other computers, send spam,“ said Pavel Krčma of the AVG anti-virus software company, describing the potential effects of Conficker, a globally spreading computer worm that has started ticking in tens of thousands of local computers. According to news agencies, Kate Winslet was the queen of this year's Berlinale. Peugeot executives rejected French President Nicolas Sarkozy's call to cease production in the Czech Republic and move their factories back to France. European Council President Mirek Topolánek convened a pan-European summit in Brussels to address the crisis. Hypoteční banka warned candidates that mortgage rates would not fall much just yet. Thirty South Moravian villages and towns registered in a regional competition for best website. The mint in Jablonec began producing a gold medal - weighing one kilogram and costing 900,000 crowns - in honor of the Czech EU presidency. The Jumbo Jet celebrated its 40th birthday. New US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met in Washington with her Czech counterpart Karel Schwarzenberg and announced after the meeting that if Iran ceases to strive for a nuclear bomb, President Barack Obama's Cabinet would not seek to build the radar base in the Brdy hills.

„From the rise of populism and extremism. And out of resentment, people will start saying: It couldn't have happened under the Bolsheviks,“ replied Mirek Topolánek to Hospodářské noviny’s question, „In connection with the crisis, where does your biggest fear as prime minister come from?“ Gazprom cut natural gas prices. Brno conservationists called on city hall to return the towers that were demolished long ago to the Brno train station building. A landslide buried wine cellars in Bořetice. The police decided to temporarily seize cars from „roadway outlaws.“ Seven clerks from Ostrava city hall were sacked and 130 more were forced to take major wage deductions after a computer tracking program revealed that they had been playing computer games or surfing the internet instead of doing their jobs. Czech piano maker Petrof began manufacturing furniture instead of pianos due to a slump in sales. To the great surprise and dismay of Praguers, demographic studies revealed that Brno is growing rapidly and that 540,000 people are expected to be in the city on a daily basis next year. „They cannot be exterminated quickly enough, and so all hunting ethics are being thrown to the wayside - now even pregnant does are being shot. It's a complete inferno,“ forest expert Josef Hrbáček told Lidové noviny, commenting on events in the Radějov u Hodonína game park, whose tenant was recently ordered by authorities to „kill off“ at least 1,000 fallow deer from the local 13,000-head herd - which according to experts is totally overpopulated - within one month. TV Prima announced that in its upcoming spring „entertainment show“ a fully clothed male host will deliver confidence to undressed women. At the age of 67, psychologist Vladimir Borecký died in Prague. Lego announced that it had no intention of leaving the Czech Republic. A parade of German sailors in allegorical floats closed the Hřensko-Schmilka border crossing for two weekend hours. The US telecommunications satellite Iridium collided over Siberia with a Russian military satellite as it orbited the Earth. Prague Autumn (Pražský podzim) disappeared from the domestic music festival scene.