Prague

A Czech court ruled on Thursday that a British tourist who was seriously injured when a Christmas tree collapsed on top of him should receive 560 000 koruna (about R190 000) compensation. British tourist Malcolm Tuffin suffered a fractured femur and injuries to his spine and chest when the 23m tree fell on top of him.

Three young giraffes died at a Czech zoo, famed for its work on endangered species, as a result of a power cut, the head of the zoo said on Thursday. ”When the power came on again in their enclosure after the power failure, the animals were startled by the lamps. They bolted and suffered fatal injuries when they fell,” the zoo said.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek’s minority government on Wednesday, opening the way for talks on selecting a new Cabinet and possible early elections. Klaus will meet with leaders from all five political parties in the lower house on Thursday.

Czech consumption of non-alcoholic beer has surged since stricter rules for drivers were introduced at the start of July, Czech daily <i>Lidove Noviny</i> reported on Tuesday. "Just in July and August we saw sales of non-alcoholic beer in grocery stores rise by 81%," manager of the Staropramen brewery, Martin Novak, told the paper.

Pluto on Thursday lost its seven-decade status as the ninth and outermost planet of the solar system, the world’s top astrononomical body decided. The decision was made at an assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). ”The eight planets are Mercury, Earth, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune,” said the IAU.

Czech police detained a journalist who tried to test out airport security at a regional airport on Friday, police spokesperson Roman Pittner said. "In the current situation we judge this as stupid," Pittner said, referring to the foiled terrorist attempt to bomb aircraft leaving London’s Heathrow airport.

A feast for the eyes awaits any hiker or biker who struggles up the steep grade to reach a mountain peak in the tiny village of Peklo, Czech Republic. Peklo is home to one of the scores of scenic overlooks that dot the mountain and cliff-tops throughout the Jizerske Hory mountain range, about 150km north of Prague.

Women struggling with the discomforts of menopause may soon find relief in a cold glass of beer. Experts in the Czech Republic are working on a beer specifically brewed for women experiencing hot flashes, troubling sleeping and other woes during this phase.

Czech officials declared a state of emergency in seven flood-hit regions while rivers continued to rise in neighbouring European countries on Monday, forcing evacuations in some areas. Flooding was reported in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Austria and Slovakia. The Elbe River swelled toward a new peak in Germany on Monday.

Richard, a 14-year old grey-and-black gorilla, was declared the winner of the Prague zoo’s alternative reality show on Sunday and can look forward to a first prize of 12 melons (<i>melon</i> meaning million in Czech slang), the zoo said. Richard is the dominant male in the group of four gorillas.

The cast and crew of the Czech reality show <i>VyVoleni (The Selected)</i> were cleared from the Prague villa used for filming before dawn on Sunday by about 40 security guards and dogs sent in by the site landowner over a rent disagreement, broadcaster TV Prima announced.

A Prague court on Friday ruled that a TV quiz-show contestant was right when the moderator called him wrong on the Czech Republic’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The court awarded Karel Lupomesky more than three million koruna ( 000) in prize money.

They know how United States President George Bush likes his Thanksgiving turkey, how the Queen takes her toast and just how many puddings former US president Bill Clinton can get down. These and other culinary secrets of some of the most powerful, or poshest, people in the world will be adding spice to the dinner table conversation at one of the most select and sybaritic of world summits as it meets this week.

A Czech truck driver who drove into a ditch was found to have 8g of alcohol in his bloodstream, just a month after he was stopped for drunk driving, authorities said on Thursday. "It is the same man we stopped on April 20 with 4,19g" per liter of blood, said the deputy chief of police in the northern town of Lomnice nad Popelkou.

Soviet-era compact television sets, known for bad reception and low picture quality, are finally popular — as homes for bats. A group of disabled workers in the south-eastern Czech Republic produces bat boxes from the Rubin TV sets’ sturdy plywood casing, which is hard to break and easily resists bad weather.

Tired of hearing reports of visitors paying grossly inflated prices for taxi rides in his city, the mayor of Prague disguised himself as an Italian visitor — and promptly unmasked a driver whose meter ran at more than six times the normal rate, a newspaper said on Friday.

A leading Prague newspaper on Thursday highlighted the alleged historical errors and insults written by United States secretary of state nominee Condoleezza Rice in her 1984 book about communist Czechoslovakia’s Soviet-backed army. The Lidove Noviny newspaper chided Rice for calling Czechs ”passive”.

A woman claims a vindictive ex-husband shamed her by posting advertising leaflets around their eastern Czech Republic town featuring her phone number and an erotic photo, Prague’s Lidovenoviny newspaper said on Thursday. A district judge is currently weighing the claim.