Head of state Miloš Zeman has made one of his most outspoken attacks on the Czech National Bank to date and says he intends to fill it with nominees that share his own economic views. That’s brought to the surface a latent debate over whether the Czech central bank is independent enough.
The Czech government on Monday approved measures which will give the country’s intelligence service greater powers in fighting terrorism and organized crime. It also released more money to equip Prague’s international airport with a face recognition system and other state-of-the-art security technology.
Regular Czech Radio interviews with the Czech president will most likely be discontinued. The station is refusing to carry on with the present live format following a scandal surrounding foul language uttered by President Miloš Zeman in the programme’s most recent edition. The broadcaster says it will only pre-tape the show – an idea rejected by the president.
Among the many Christmas events underway in Prague at this time of year is an exhibition of nativity scenes and bells at Bethlehem Chapel in the city centre. Hidden deep in the bowels of the chapel, the exhibition is light years away from the bright lights and bustling city life above. Everything on display is hand made –from wood carved nativity scenes to Christmas decorations made of lace – and it transports visitors to the Christmases of days-gone-by. My guide around the exhibition Hanka Drahošová says this is the place to come for the real Christmas spirit.
Countless events across the Czech Republic – and indeed across the globe – are taking place over the next four days to mark the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. These are scheduled in key places associated with the Revolution, such as Wenceslas Square or Národní třída in Prague, as well as in locations such as Washington D.C. and London.
The Jihlava festival, which came to a close on Tuesday, is the biggest event of the year in Czech documentary film. In this report, we speak to some of the most interesting guests at the 2014 edition, including Godfrey Reggio, maker of the ground-breaking 1980s film Koyaanisqatsi, main prize winner Martin Dušek and young Czech-Vietnamese filmmaker Dužan Duong.
President Miloš Zeman on Monday concludes his official visit to China. During his four-day trip, the Czech president assured his hosts his country respected China’s integrity, and did not recognize Tibet’s government in exile. The visit comes as part of Czech efforts to boost relations and trade ties with China – but leading Czech sinologist Olga Lomová is sceptical about the potential economic benefits of Mr Zeman’s visit.
Countless Hollywood movies and TV series have been shot in the Czech Republic in the last two decades. Casting director Nancy Bishop, who moved to Prague in 1994, has worked on many of those projects, from The Bourne Identity to Mission Impossible IV to the as yet unreleased Child 44. We began our tour of “her Prague” at Náměstí Míru, a square close to where she lives. As Bishop and I spoke, a passer-by tinkled the ivories on a free piano metres from our bench.
Ghana is readying to lodge a formal complaint with the Czech Foreign Ministry over the alleged poor treatment of one of its citizens during an Ebola scare last week. Last Saturday, medical workers and the police tracked the student, who had visible symptoms of a bad cold, to Prague’s main station, after he and three others allegedly failed to await health clearance at the city’s international airport. The fear was the student might be infected with Ebola.
The guerrilla art group Ztohoven, known for their controversial projects and often operating in anonymity, have made a somewhat surprising move. This weekend, they opened an official institution, a so-called institute of crypto-anarchy. Situated in a former factory building in Holešovice, the Paralelní Polis or parallel world will serve as a hacker space, a hub and a bitcoin café. According to its founders, it will offer the public a possibility to “step out of the system”.
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