Czech Tourism presenting Czech Republic as an ideal wedding destination

A centuries-old castle, a simple chapel, a horse drawn carriage, a wedding reception in an ancient hall, a violin serenade under your balcony or a flight in a balloon– for couples who like romance Prague and its surroundings have a lot to offer –moreover at an affordable price. Jitka Snoblova from Czech Tourism says romantic weddings followed by a short honeymoon have become increasingly popular with foreign couples.

“There are various agencies that take care of the whole works. You just sign the contract and they take care of all the paper work for you. They have special packages that include period weddings, they arrange special requests like horse riding in the chateau’s park. Most of the castles and chateaux offer romantic weekends or nights so the newly-weds can stay and extend the fairy-tale experience at a luxury suite where they get service reserved for royalty and everything is prepared in the style or time period of their choice.”
 
The most popular wedding venues in Prague are the Old Town Hall for civil weddings, St Nicholas Church for religious ceremonies and the Prague Castle Gardens for outdoor ceremonies. Karlstejn Castle located not far from Prague, Konopiste with its 13 century fort and Hluboka with its famous Windsor-style chateau are likewise highly favoured wedding destinations. In fact there are now more foreign or mixed couples tying the knot in Hluboka than Czechs.

Read more: Radio Prague - Czech Tourism presenting Czech Republic as an ideal wedding destination

Václav Havel: the other Europe

Vaclav Havel's death is a reminder of something which parts of modern Europe – and perhaps Britain in particular – are in danger of taking for granted, at best, and, at worst, of forgetting altogether. We live in a time in which an increasingly introverted and fearful Europe is becoming synonymous with failure and impossibility, in which political leadership is treated with contempt and exasperation, and in which politics is all too often dismissed as corrupt, craven and irrelevant. Havel's personality and career, though, were the antithesis of all of these gloomy current prejudices.

At his best, President Havel was a genuinely national leader with a dynamic understanding of Europe, a politician whose vision and wit embraced not just the art of the possible but of the impossible too, and a civic leader whose sense of what is worthwhile in life transcended materialism – massively important though that was for eastern Europeans whose aspirations had been denied for so long – to embrace the imaginative and intellectual. In an era in which Europe is now so often spoken of with a sneer, he is a reminder of a very recent time when Europe embodied something noble and liberating which was eagerly shared – even here.

For more: Václav Havel: the other Europe | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian

Golf: Peter Hanson Boosts Ryder Cup Hopes With Victory in Golf's Czech Open - by Peter-Joseph Hegarty

Peter Hanson of Sweden beat Ireland’s Peter Lawrie and Gary Boyd of England in a playoff to win golf’s Czech Open today and move into the automatic selection places for Europe’s Ryder Cup team.  Hanson won with a birdie at the second extra hole after the three men ended on 10-under par 278 at Celadna. The Swede had slumped to a 2-over par 74 in the final round, with Lawrie and Boyd scoring 66 and 68.

With one event left, Hanson rises to eighth in Europe’s Ryder Cup points. Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain is in ninth, the final automatic spot, and England’s Paul Casey drops to 10th. The match with the U.S. takes place at Celtic Manor, Wales, on Oct. 1-3.

For more: Peter Hanson Boosts Ryder Cup Hopes With Victory in Golf's Czech Open - Bloomberg

The Oregonian:Vaclav Klaus-Meet the new face of the European Union - danger looms ahead for EU - by Rick Attig

For the complete report from the OregonLive.com click on this link

Vaclav Klaus-Meet the new face of the European Union-danger looms ahead for EU - by Rick Attig

When Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, swept through Portland a month or so ago on a tour to promote his new book on how global warming is a "myth," he paused long enough to share a friendly pint with the newspaper's beer columnist and lecture three Editorial Board members about climate change and European politics. It is his views on the EU that has Klaus in the international news this week, because the Czech Republic, and thus Klaus himself, are next in line to assume the rotating presidency of the EU. He assumes that role Jan. 1, replacing the union's departing leader, Nicolas Sarkozy of France. Klaus couldn't be more different than Sarkozy. As The New York Times reported Monday, there are fears that Klaus will embarrass the world's largest trading bloc, and derail its efforts to respond to the economic crisis and to the risks posed by climate change. He will, at least, be the first EU president to have called for it to be "scrapped" and to compare the organization to a "communist state," a claim that prompted the Czech foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, to say that Klaus is critical of the EU because he does not fully understand how it works. There's that wink again. During the interview in Portland Vaclav Klaus batted away questions like they were annoying insects, and we got a glimpse or two of the leader that a British historian, Timothy Garton, called "one of the rudest men I have ever met."

Prague Daily Monitor: Expert: Missiles threaten Europe more than US

For the complete report from the Prague Daily Monitor click on this link

Expert: Missiles threaten Europe more than US

Europe is exposed to the risk of being attacked by hostile missiles sooner than the USA, U.S. expert Jack Crouch, a former aide to President George Bush, said at a conference on the planned U.S. anti-missile shield in Central Europe in Prague Tuesday. Crouch said it was impossible to wait for the risk of the attacks to be quite real.

The United States plans to build a radar base in the Brdy military district, some 90 km southwest of Prague, along with a base for ten interceptor missiles in Poland as elements of the U.S. missile defence shield that is to protect the United States and a large part of Europe against missiles that states like Iran might launch.

Prague Daily Monitor: Czechs, Germans to develop alternative energy sources

For the complete report from the Prague Daily Monitor please click on this link

Czechs, Germans to develop alternative energy sources

The Czech Republic and Germany will cooperate on the formulation of a scheme supporting alternative sources of energy, Czech and German Environment Ministers, Martin Bursik and Sigmar Gabriel, agreed today. Czech experts will study the subsidies programmes relating to the issue in Germany. Bursik and Gabriel told journalists today they were considering establishing a Czech-German-Austrian conference on energy savings in housing.

Bursik highlighted the changes in the European energy policy that had been formulated under the German rotating presidency of the EU.