Current Affairs | All stories

In 2002, Prague Zoo was one of a number of key Prague sites devastated by flooding. A little over ten years later, the zoo again was not spared. Despite improvements in prevention and preparation, its lower levels are once again under water. Damage to pavilions and the lower part of the site has already been estimated at more than 100 million. If confirmed, the figure is not far off the one posted eleven years ago.

The Czech Republic has been hit by major floods. A nationwide state of emergency has been declared as water levels on around two dozen rivers keep rising. Five people have died and thousands of homes have been evacuated; among the heaviest hit regions are south, west, north and central Bohemia as well as the capital Prague.

Firefighters from as far as Moravia, soldiers and volunteers were setting up sand bags and metal barriers along the Vltava. Eleven years after catastrophic floods hit Prague, the Czech capital is again facing an unexpected influx of water, this time hopefully with a better outcome.

In less than a fortnight, principal photography will begin on one of the most significant film productions in the Czech Republic this year, the adaptation of Tom Rob Smith’s Child 44. The thriller, a bestseller published in 2009, tells the story of a police detective in the Soviet Union who gets on the wrong side of his bosses. The film of the book represents a major investment and boost in Czech products and services.

A few hundred people gathered in the north Bohemian town of Duchcov on Wednesday evening to protest against a rise in violence, specifically a recent beating of a local couple by a group of Romanies. Although most participants peacefully listened to the organizers and the town’s mayor Jitka Bártová, a couple of hundred people staged an unannounced march towards the neighborhood where most Roma reside, chanting racist slogans. The police prevented direct confrontation from taking place, and organizers as well as the authorities have appealed for

A 1920s Prague villa built for the Czech writer Karel Čapek has been put up for sale, along with Čapek’s library, personal archive and some original furnishings. The owner’s decision to sell the house has surprised the Czech Culture Ministry; its officials say they would like to buy the property but admit it will be difficult as the price might be beyond their reach.

The Moravian capital Brno has seen a striking growth in civic activism in recent years, with a group of young people making effective use of technology and the media to highlight – and poke fun of – shortcomings at City Hall. Their biggest coup has been subverting Brno’s ungrammatical official slogan.

Around one-third of Czech 12- and 15-year-old children say they would never have a Roma friend, while 40 percent of them would take part in an anti-Roma rally in their town. These are some of the findings of a survey conducted among more than 1,400 elementary school pupils in the Czech Republic. The study also found a strong emphasis on conformity, says one of its authors Štepán Pudlák from Scio, a Prague-based educational think tank.

The Zlín Film Festival is one of the oldest in Europe, focussing largely on movies for youth and children. On Monday it began its 53rd year with screenings that included the Canadian feature film Pee Wee: The Winter that Changed My Life.

The dramatic circumstances surrounding the extradition of Russian businessman Alexej Torubarov from the Czech Republic earlier this month are making headlines amid fears for the man’s fate in Russia. Since the daily Lidové noviny broke the story on Monday it has emerged that several cabinet ministers made a desperate though vain attempt to get Torubarov off the Aeroflot plane just before take-off.