Czech Republic news stories on Newser

Thieves Make Off With 10-Ton Bridge

Evann Gastaldo — Sat, 05 May 2012 19:00:05 CDT

How to steal a 10-ton bridge? Easy: Just pretend you've been hired to demolish it. That's what a gang of metal thieves allegedly did in the Czech Republic recently, showing employees at a depot forged paperwork and telling them the bridge over unused railroad tracks needed to come down. "The...

Writer Finds Hitler's Art in Monastery

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:21:53 CST

A Czech publisher and writer has uncovered a chunk of Adolf Hitler's art collection in a Czech monastery north of Prague, AFP reports. Jiri Kuchar announced his seven-painting find yesterday, valuing it at roughly $2.7 million. "They're part of Hitler's collection of about 45 paintings, about 30 statues, a...

Czechs, Brits Reject Deal to Save EU Economy

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:34:17 CST

The Czechs thought about it, and they said no. All other 27 EU member states except Britain agreed today to join a compact to impose budget discipline on fellow nations, the BBC reports. British Prime Minister David Cameron had already refused to take part, saying that ceding control of his...

Anti-Communist Hero Vaclav Havel Dead at 75

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 07:21:05 CST

Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright who wove theater into politics to peacefully bring down communism in Czechoslovakia and become a hero of the epic struggle that ended the Cold War, died this morning. He was 75. Havel was his country's first democratically elected president after the nonviolent "Velvet Revolution" that...

Car Company Turns Test-Drives Into Blind Dates

Tim Karan — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:15:05 CDT

Go ahead and check under the hood—just be sure you're talking about the car. Skoda, a car company based out of the Czech Republic, has launched a dating service that pairs people based on their musical tastes, and then sets them up on blind dates/test drives, reports Mashable .

Why Mr. President, 'You Have Taken My Gloves!'

Polly Davis Doig — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:40:05 CDT

When Czech President Vaclav Klaus got caught not-so-subtly purloining a fancy pen from Sebastian Pinera, it looks like it wasn't an isolated incident. Klaus dismissed the thievery, saying, "All I have to say is, it is not a pen but just a stylus," and added that he swipes pens all...

Czech Prez Pilfers Pen, Becomes YouTube Hit

Rob Quinn — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 05:58:08 CDT

Guests of the Chilean president are free to take ceremonial pens, a spokesman says, although you wouldn't know it from Czech President Vaclav Klaus' behavior in a video that has become a YouTube sensation. As President Sebastian Pinera speaks, Klaus craftily removes the pen from its case, moves his hands...

N. Korea Offers to Settle Debt With ... Ginseng

Rob Quinn — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 06:14:00 CDT

The Czechs are pleased that North Korea is trying to settle a $10 million Cold War-era debt, but they're not so happy about the proposed terms. Pyongyang has offered to repay just 5% of the debt, and to pay in ginseng root instead of cash, the AP reports. North Korea's...

Obama, Medvedev Sign Historic Nuke Pact

Emily Rauhala — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 07:27:00 CDT

Barack Obama and Dmitri Medvedev today agreed to trim their nuclear arsenals to the lowest level in 50 years, reports the New York Times . If ratified, the treaty would limit each country to 1,500 strategic warheads. The Treaty of Moscow, signed in 2002, limited them to 2000 apiece. Each...