Last week 44/2006

The Civic Democrats (ODS) won the communal elections in urban areas. Anti-government rioting continued in neighboring Hungary. Four new wind farms were erected around Nový Hrádek near Náchod. Právo informed its readers that two passenger trains had almost collided in Ostrava. Czech Consolidation Agency manager Radka Kafková, who was arrested by detectives recently on suspicion of mass corruption, was released from custody.

Statisticians calculated that just seven goals keep the phenomenal Jaromír Jágr from joining the elite club of “six-hundreders” in the NHL by. In an Internet poll, George Clooney was voted the world’s most masculine man.

“His words were along these lines: Do whatever you want, the police will be coming after you, and you’re going to have a really hard time,” said deputy Michal Pohanka (Social Democratic Party), conveying what the head of his party’s deputies’ group, Michal Hašek, had told him upon learning of his intention to leave the party and the group; Pohanka then went into hiding and, fearing his fellow party members, requested the protection of bodyguards. The cost of liability insurance rose. The Czech-Slovak company Penta acquired the arms maker Aero Vodochody from the government. Ostrava’s radiotherapeutics clinic bought a linear accelerator, a device that can find, isolate, and radiate a tumor in the human body. The impending merger of Ahold and Delhaiz stirred up tension among Czech supermarkets. Comics Centrum published the Czech version of Bryan Talbot’s latest work. The Security Information Service’s annual report stated that organized crime is growing in the ranks of justice, police, and state administration bodies, and Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil called it “consequential information.” It surfaced that former justice minister and chairman of the now defunct Freedom Union Pavel Němec had managed to call from his work phone so much that the bills reached as high as 130,000 crowns per month. “I’m grew up on a farm full of animals – moreover, people find animals’ fates more gripping; in two of my books I even let a horse talk, but that may have been taking it too far,” responded Finnish novelist Arto Paasilinna when asked by Lidové noviny: “Why do animals appear in your books so often?” Interest from Polish investors raised the price of ČEZ shares. Škoda started manufacturing the Praktik, a new commercial vehicle designed for small businesspeople and based on the carmaker’s Roomster. Trade unionists announced they would demonstrate in the center of Prague on November 25 against the Topolánek government’s efforts to postpone for one year implementation of the new Labor Code, which the outgoing ODS government and the political right complain overly courts the trade unions at the expense of businesspeople and is “full of legislative mistakes.” In the Fincentrum contest, Česká spořitelna was named Czech Bank of the Year and Jack Stack Banker of the Year. An Indian company expressed interest in acquiring the FAB car lock manufacturer in Dlouhá Ves near Rychnov nad Kněžnou. Mortgage rates went up. Jan Burian founded the Lonely Songwriters’ Association. The ministry of foreign affairs submitted a proposal to the government on how to prepare for the Czech Republic’s chairmanship of the European Union, which Prague is set to take over in the first half of 2009. Motoscoot started selling its new version of the legendary Pioneer motorbike. Czech millionaires threw themselves into building golf courses. “In hockey, there are lots of trades and I’m a professional: if they sent me to play in Auschwitz, Poland, I’d go,” replied ex-Slavia and current Pardubice goalkeeper Adam Svoboda when asked by Mladá fronta DNES, “Since the finals in 2003, Slavia has been Pardubice’s arch enemy. How do you feel about going to play for that team?” A hydrochloric acid leak from the German side of the border turned the Mandava River beyond Varnsdorf into a dead river. Anna Nešporová (86), one of the women who experienced and survived the Lidice massacre during the Heydrichiad (the period of terror following the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich) in June 1942, was buried in the Lidice cemetery; following Ms. Nešporová’s death, there are just thirteen surviving witnesses. Meteorologists announced that the end of the fall would be warm and dry despite previous forecasts to the contrary. The latest poll from the Center for Public Opinion showed that the Czech public esteems doctors and scientists most, and priests, parliamentarians, and cleaning ladies least. Krušovice Brewery expanded abroad. Citing an unbearably high volume of piracy, Warner Home Video closed its Czech branch and sold the right to distribute its films to the Central European company Magic Box. The affiliated bakeries Delta and Odkolek announced large-scale layoffs.