Current Affairs | All stories

A report outlining Roma minority problems in the EU, adopted by the European Parliament on Thursday, highlights the case of a pig farm built on the site of a wartime concentration camp for Romanies near the community of Lety, central Bohemia. Members of the European Parliament are calling on the Czech authorities to abolish the farm, and create a memorial in honour of the camp’s victims.

A 27-year old Czech police officer is being held over a stabbing in the early hours of Wednesday, which resulted in the death a US citizen. The incident happened sometime after 1 am, after the officer, who was off-duty and apparently drunk, made obscene gestures at a passing car. The American driver stopped and got out of his vehicle, resulting in a quarrel which led to the fatal attack.

After months of anticipation, and several unauthorized versions finding their way onto the internet, the Czech translation of the seventh and final Harry Potter book has been released. On Wednesday night, hundreds queued for a copy of Harry Potter a Relikvie Smrti – the Czech version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The official launch was held at Kanzelsberger bookshop, and organized by Klára Honzíková, to whom I spoke earlier today. She said she was happy with attendance at the launch:

Citizen Havel, a new fly-on-the-wall documentary about the former Czech president, premiered on Wednesday night in Prague. The film draws on 45 hours of unique behind-the-scenes footage of Václav Havel shot over a period of 13 years. The result is a film that lifts the curtain on the Havel presidency, in a way that no other politician has been captured on screen before.

It’s something of a Czech tradition: fans of Czech beer Plzeňský Prazdroj (Pilsner Urquell) debating which pubs have the best Pilsner on tap. Now the debate may see a little “closure”. On Monday the famous brewer launched a flashy new guidebook ranking the best Pilsner-serving establishments. Interestingly, the book is based on rankings not by professional critics but by regular pub-goers.

In March of 2006 Czech homosexuals celebrated an important victory. After seven years of intensive lobbying the Czech Parliament finally passed a law on same-sex partnerships or so called gay-marriages, overriding president Klaus’s veto by a narrow majority. A year and a half later the number of registered partnerships between same-sex couples in the Czech Republic has reached nearly five hundred. Ruth Fraňková spoke to Slavomír Goga from the Gay and Lesbian League and started by asking whether the new law had made a significant difference to the

Only the Roman Catholic Church is authorized to decide what wine can be labelled sacramental, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled on Tuesday. In a lawsuit filed by a wine-producing company against the Church, the court said that the Church has autonomy to decide which wine may be used in Catholic worship.

President Klaus is famous for his views on Co2 emissions – namely that they are not responsible for climate change. Now, he has shifted his gaze to smoking, and angered other elements of the scientific community, suggesting that passive smoking might not be the health risk that it’s made out to be. As Czech MPs start debating whether smoking should be banned in the country’s restaurants, Mr Klaus has told the press that such a ban would deny smokers their rights, and that the effects of passive smoking are less dangerous than people say.

All eyes on Tuesday afternoon were on the Czech Senate, where the two candidates in Friday week’s presidential election were taking part in a Q and A-session-cum-debate. For over an hour, the incumbent Václav Klaus and the challenger Jan Švejnar sat opposite each other before senators from the opposition Social Democrats in what was a strictly controlled exchange, with a maximum one minute allowed for questions, and three for replies. I spoke to my colleague Jan Richter who was at the Senate and first asked him how he would characterise the

The figure skater Tomáš Verner has been all over the Czech media since last week taking the Czech Republic’s first European men’s gold medal in 16 years. A year ago he had led the field in the European Figure Skating Championships after the short programme on day one, but ended up finishing second after surrendering his lead on day two. When I spoke to Tomáš Verner (21) on his return to Prague, he told me what the difference had been this time out.