Category Archives: Czech Republic

Czech president in hospital after shock election defeat for PM

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Fears of a political crisis as Miloš Zeman, an ally of Andrej Babiš, is admitted to intensive care unit

The Czech Republic is facing political upheaval and a possible power vacuum after its billionaire prime minister, Andrej Babiš, suffered a surprise general election defeat and then saw his most powerful backer and sole potential saviour, the country’s president, Miloš Zeman, taken to hospital, apparently gravely ill.

In a stunning upset that confounded pollsters’ forecasts, Babiš’ populist Action for Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO) 2011 party finished second in this weekend’s popular vote behind the centre-right Spolu (Together) alliance, which previously vowed not to form a government with him.

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Czech PM’s party loses election to liberal-conservative coalition

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Andrej Babiš’s populist ANO party narrowly behind Together three-party grouping in parliamentary poll

Prime minister Andrej Babiš’s centrist party on Saturday narrowly lost the Czech Republic’s parliamentary election, a surprise development that could mean the end of the populist billionaire’s reign in power.

The two-day election to fill 200 seats in the lower house of the parliament took place shortly after details emerged of Babiš’s overseas financial dealings in the Pandora Papers. Babiš, 67, has denied wrongdoing.

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Illegally sterilised Czech women to be offered compensation

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Hundreds of mostly Roma women were threatened, tricked or bribed into being sterilised until 2012

Women sterilised without their consent are to be offered compensation in the Czech Republic after President Miloš Zeman signed a bill into law this week.

The women, most of whom were Roma, will be awarded 300,000 Czech crowns (£10,000) from the government as compensation.

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Malawi Pride and press freedoms in Palestine: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

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A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Chile to Cambodia

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Netherlands v Czech Republic: Euro 2020 last 16 – live!

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The Dutch started vibrantly but the organised and athletic Czechs gradually grew into the game and it’s now very even between two contrasting side. I mentioned the Czechs famous win over the Netherlands at Euro 2004; well, that Czech team ultimately lost to Greece; and this Czech team has certain similarities with those Greeks. This is tricky for the Dutch.

Related: Revealed: shocking scale of Twitter abuse targeting England at Euro 2020

Related: Can Belgium’s world-beaters win a major trophy? It may be now or never | Jonathan Liew

Related: France hoping for a grand statement from Kylian Mbappé

45+2 min: Lovely move by the Netherlands, with virtually every player getting a touch. When it reaches Depay in the box, he rolls past Kalas at the right-hand side of the box and flips a pass through to van Aanholt ... who drags his shot wide from nine yards! Oh, he was offside anyway.

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Man captures moment tornado hits his house in Czech Republic – video

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An eyewitness video captured the moment a tornado hit a house in the southern Czech city of Hodonín on Thursday evening. The footage shows trees being bent and broken by winds that knock through a wall and send debris flying through the air before the tornado hits the man's house, blowing a window in. At least five people were killed and hundreds injured after the tornado ripped through towns and villages around Hodonín, near the Czech Republic's borders with Austria and Slovakia. The man who filmed this footage says he was not injured

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Tornado hits south-east Czech Republic, razing houses and injuring dozens – video

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A rare tornado has hit the south-east of the Czech Republic, razing houses and causing dozens of injuries. Winds hitting 267-322km/h were reported in the towns surrounding Hodonín. Villages were also hit by large hailstones, while the tornado caused widespread power outages

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Death of Romany man knelt on by Czech police must be ‘investigated urgently’

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Council of Europe and human rights groups demand answers after footage shows man being pinned to the ground

Human rights organisations are leading calls for an urgent investigation into the death of a Czech man who died after being restrained by police, after footage of the incident went viral on social media.

The neck restraint technique used during the arrest of a Romany man was “reckless, unnecessary and disproportionate, and therefore unlawful”, according to Amnesty International, who also called on the local authorities for an immediate, impartial investigation and a ban on coercive techniques that severely restrict breathing.

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England beat Czech Republic to top group as Raheem Sterling strikes again

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More than anything, it was a night when Gareth Southgate needed his attacking talents to express themselves. Safe passage to the last 16 at Euro 2020 had been guaranteed but could England show something to generate a bit of excitement, to fire the feeling that they might be able to cut through teams – a quality that had been wholly absent last Friday in the 0-0 draw with Scotland? Thanks in large part to Jack Grealish and Bukayo Saka, who both came into the starting lineup for the first time at these finals, they did so during an enjoyable first half when England asked questions of the Czech Republic with their movement and interplay.

Related: Bukayo Saka’s versatility has Czechs flailing and England flying | Jonathan Liew

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Death of Romany man knelt on by Czech police compared to that of George Floyd

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Video footage challenges official claims that the cause of death was unrelated to man’s arrest

Video footage of a police officer kneeling on the neck of a Romany man who later died in an ambulance is being shared among Czechs on social media, leading many to compare his treatment to that of George Floyd.

The video, shot on 19 June, shows three police officers in Teplice, a town in the north of the Czech Republic, detaining a Romany man on the floor. As one officer holds the man’s feet, another appears to kneel on his neck, and a third tries to handcuff him. Voices of several Roma bystanders are heard in the video.

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Euro 2020: Uefa blocks rainbow light display at Germany v Hungary – live!

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“It was like a winter bath for the people’s souls.” Marcus Christensen looks at the Danish media reaction to last night’s excitement in Copenhagen.

Related: ’Now we take Wales’ – Danish media celebrates ‘magical’ night against Russia

If you’re struggling with live football cold-turkey this afternoon, I feel compelled to inform you that some intense, high-quality, low-scoring cricket is taking place in Southampton, where India are fighting back against New Zealand. And you can follow it here.

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‘None of the evidence was enough’: Czech women fight to criminalise all non-consensual sex

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In the Czech Republic, the legal definition of rape requires the threat of violence. Campaigners say it is failing victims

“I felt so lost when I heard the court verdict; as if the fact that he raped me was somehow not enough,” said Jana Novak.

Novak, from Prague, pressed charges against her attacker in 2019 and endured an 18-month-long court case. “I had all the evidence, the creepy messages, the medical notes,” said Novak, whose name has been changed to protect her identity. “But none of it was enough.” While the court found that there had been non-consensual sex, the defendant was acquitted on the basis that there was insufficient evidence it constituted rape.

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Russia officially dubs US and Czech Republic ‘unfriendly’ states

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Government says US missions can no longer hire local staff following law Putin signed last month

The Russian government has officially deemed the United States and the Czech Republic “unfriendly” states, and announced that US diplomatic missions could no longer employ local staff while Czech missions could employ a maximum of 19.

Moscow first announced the ban on the US hiring local staff last month as part of its retaliation for a slew of new US sanctions against Russia for interfering in the 2020 US presidential election and for involvement in the SolarWind hack of US federal agencies.

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Russia expels 20 Czech diplomats in tit-for-tat response

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Czechs expelled 18 Russians over Skripal suspects’ alleged role in deadly warehouse blast in 2014

Moscow has expelled 20 Czech diplomats in a tit-for-tat response after Prague accused Russian military intelligence of setting off a deadly blast at an ammunition warehouse in 2014.

Video from Moscow showed the Czech ambassador being summoned to the foreign affairs ministry where he was informed that four-fifths of his diplomatic envoys would be given 24 hours to depart the country.

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Dominic Raab: UK fully supports Czech hunt for Skripal suspects

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Foreign secretary hints he believes same Russian cell behind Salisbury poisoning and Czech explosion

The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said the UK stood in “full support” of the Czech Republic after the country’s police announced they were hunting two Russians, suspected of carrying out the Salisbury poisonings, in relation to an explosion at an arms depot.

The Czech authorities said on Saturday they were seeking Alexander Petrov, 41, and Ruslan Boshirov, 43, in connection with a previously unexplained 2014 explosion at a munitions dump in Vrbětice, which left two dead.

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Czech police hunt two men with names matching Skripal suspects

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News follows announcement of expulsion of 18 Russia diplomats identified as spies linked to 2014 blast that killed two people

Czech police have said they are seeking two Russian men in connection with a 2014 blast that killed two people. The men, they said, hold passports used by the suspects in the attempted poisoning of Sergei Skripal.

The names match those used by the two men accused of poisoning Skripal and his daughter Yulia with the Soviet-era nerve agent novichok in the English city of Salisbury in 2018. Russia denied involvement in the poisoning, but about 300 diplomats were sent home in subsequent tit-for-tat expulsions.

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Czech Republic’s richest man dies in Alaska helicopter crash

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Billionaire Petr Kellner among five killed including guests, pilot and guides, with one survivor

Petr Kellner, the Czech Republic’s richest man, was one of five people killed when their helicopter crashed on a skiing trip in Alaska.

The 56-year-old was among the passengers and pilot killed on Saturday in the crash near Knik glacier north-east of Anchorage, Alaska state troopers said. One survivor was taken to hospital, they said, adding the group had been on a heliski tour.

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Stalin statue site reveals chilling remains of Prague labour camp

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Archaeologists have discovered foundations of the previously unknown structure in the city’s Letná park

The colossal monument to Joseph Stalin that towered over Prague at the height of the cold war stood as a frightening reminder of the Soviet dictator’s tyranny and communism’s seemingly unshakeable grip on the former Czechoslovakia.

Nearly 60 years after its demolition, the brooding 15.5-metre (51ft) shrine retains a hold on the popular imagination, with locals referring to the now popular meeting point where it once stood as “Stalin’s”.

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ChimpanZoom? Primates at Czech zoo go wild for video calls

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To make up for lack of interaction under Covid-19 restrictions, apes at zoos 150km apart can now watch each others’ daily lives on big screens

Humans might be tiring of video calls, Zoom birthdays and streamed performances, but the chimps at two Czech zoos are just starting to enjoy their new live online link-up.

To make up for the lack of interaction with visitors since the attractions closed in December under Covid-19 restrictions, the chimpanzees at Safari Park Dvur Kralove and the troop at a zoo 150km away in in Brno, can now watch one another’s daily lives on giant screens.

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‘I always wanted a girl’: scandal of Czech Roma forcibly sterilised

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Czech MPs to debate compensation bill for women as state refuses to acknowledge ‘attempted genocide’

Elena Gorolová was 21 when she gave birth to her second son. “The doctor told me I would need to deliver via a C-section otherwise I would be risking the health of me and the baby.”

In the delivery room, a nurse gave her papers to sign. “I was in so much pain … I was in no state to think about what I was signing,” says the social workerfrom the Czech Republic. She had unknowingly signed an agreement to be sterilised.

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