Last week 17/09

Beautiful warm weather over Easter drove people to the countryside and to urban parks such as Stromovka. Bikers set off on roads to die in droves. Mladá fronta Dnes warned its readers that mice, slugs and ticks would crawl out of their winter hideaways. Jaromír Jágr returned to the national ice hockey team. Experts announced that the Czech economy experienced its darkest drop in February (more than 23 percent) and has probably bounced back from the bottom in this crisis. After the government came out with the car-scrapping bonus, ČEZ came out with a washing machine bonus and the Education Ministry dusted off the forgotten idea of a school-supply bonus for parents of first-graders. "But it does, it does, it's just that one does not always get what one is after… don't overvalue what you do not have, don't undervalue what you do have; the wealthy man is not the one who has a lot, but the one who has little, and as my friend Naděžda says: Smile, soon you'll have a reason to…" movie star Eva Holubová replied to Mladá fronta Dnes magazine's question: "The film Líbáš jako Bůh (You Kiss Like a God) ends with an outpouring of optimism, but in real life it doesn't always work out that way for everyone - how does one reconcile with that?" The rapid onset of spring caused problems for those with allergies. One hundred and forty people with Parkinson's disease climbed to the top of Říp mountain in an effort to counter Czech society's prejudice towards patients with Parkinson's, whom they often confuse with drunks or crazy people because of their jerky movements and unmelodic speech. Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg met at the Vatican to discuss Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Czech Republic. Customers returned to new car showrooms after a short-term decline in sales. In a survey conducted by GfK, 44 percent of Czech respondents expressed the view that it is better not to have the euro during the economic crisis; 31 percent believe the opposite and the rest do not know. "I was a soldier and I was carrying out orders. Let's leave it be, it was very unpleasant," commented Czech pilot Vladimír N. on the revelation that, in 1975, flying in his Albatros combat plane, he shot down a biplane, eight kilometers from the Austrian border, in which Polish aviation instructor Dioniz B., 36, was attempting to escape from Communist rule to the free world in the West. The Czech secret service informed the government and authorities that selling Czech Airlines to the Russian airline Aeroflot represents a serious security risk to the Czech Republic. Česká pošta (Czech Post) began preparing its model franchise in Boží Dar. Four hundred bats were released in Prague's Stromovka park after having been saved from death by starvation or exhaustion this winter thanks to a stay at a conservation station. E.ON reduced the price of electricity. US senators met in Prague about the construction of the radar defense shield and Czech participation in the international anti-terrorism mission in Afghanistan. A long stretch of bright, sunny days was interrupted by rain. The national unit that oversees tuberculosis consented to a group of doctors' proposal to remove the TB vaccination from the children's compulsory vaccination schedule because of its futility and danger. Czech physicians climbed to first place worldwide for their success in combating heart attacks.

"That everyone's waiting for me to make a mistake is normal - when you are on top, everyone awaits your descent," said Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech, explaining the wave of criticism directed at him after he let opponents score seven goals in two matches after a long streak with no errors. In Brno, drunks brawled on Easter Monday. Václav Frič of the Pražský kulinářský institut (Prague Culinary Institute) won the national championship in opening oysters when he cracked 20 open in one minute and 24 seconds. The number of personal bankruptcies rose. News agencies reported that Iceland's Jóhanna Sigurđardóttir became the world's first openly lesbian prime minister. EU environment ministers met in Prague to discuss how to prepare for the looming threat of climate change. A fire caused by a carelessly discarded smoldering cigarette butt destroyed part of an apartment building on Orlí street in Brno. "We know there is a need for a uniform leaving exam, however, we feel that the assigned tasks must be clear and understandable, simply put: well-prepared rather than chaotic and irrational," wrote Vysočiny high school students in a petition to the Education Ministry, after the ministry posted online a sample version showing how next year's statewide leaving exams might look. A 55-year-old paraglider died in Dvůr Králové after his glider crashed. A NASA telescope spotted the cosmic "Hand of God" 17,000 light years away from Earth.