Current Affairs | All stories

A Russian top politician turned opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov was shot dead in central Moscow in 2015. Following his murder his daughter Zhanna Nemtsova moved to Germany, where she works as a journalist and runs a foundation named after her father. At the weekend Nemtsova appeared at a packed theatre at the Jihlava documentary festival as part of its Inspiration Forum talks series. Afterwards, she shared her own sources of inspiration.

The top prize at this year’s Jihlava documentary festival went to a candid exploration of conditions in some of the Czech Republic’s worst-paid jobs.

Just one week after the country’s general elections, ANO leader Andrej Babiš has given up on the idea of forming a coalition government and is working on creating a minority government of ministers from his own party and experts. The anti-establishment, billionaire leader of ANO, who is shunned by the traditional parties, wants a vote of confidence in his government before Christmas.

Czechs marked the 99th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia at the end of the First World War on October 28, the country’s national day and holiday.

A week after Czech voters started to go to the polls and following days of negotiations between party leaders, the path to a viable Czech government still looks a long way off. The likelihood of a minority government has been raised by one party leader.

The renowned Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo is in Prague, readying himself to conduct two performances of Mozart’s Don Giovanni staged on the occasion of the 230th anniversary of the premiere of this opera in 1787.

The dank space beneath where a huge statue of Stalin stood in Prague will next year house an exhibition focused on the country’s totalitarian past.

Designblok, Prague International Design Festival opened today Prague. The festival, now in its ninetheenth year, boasts that it is the largest showcase of fashion and design in Central Europe. The event is mainly based in the historic Výstaviště Praha exhibition grounds, and will feature the works of 304 designers, this year guided by the overarching theme of food. I spoke with Bára Švehlová, PR manager for the event, and began by asking her to explain the theme of this year’s Designblok:

The 21st edition of the annual Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival has got underway. The festival opened with a film by Tereza Nvotová called The Lust for Power about the controversial Slovak politician Vladimir Mečiar. The former Slovak prime minister is not the only politician focused on by documentary film makers this year.

The Czech domestic counterintelligence and security service has once again highlighted Russian and Chinese espionage activities as among the most active in pushing their political and economic interests in the country. Stepped up cyberattacks and hacking formed part of the activities.