Czech Republic

Gloom permeates the U.S. auto industry, but happier days are here again for workers at the Skoda factory in the western Czech Republic. Orders are up, their assembly lines are humming once more, and they owe it all to the government. Just not their own. Their gratitude goes instead to their next-door neighbor.

The 44th International Film Festival opened Friday in the Czech Republic with a week of events planned, including an award for French actress Isabelle Huppert and a world premiere by Milos Forman. The festival in the spa resort of Karlovy Vary features 220 movies this year, including Czech-born Forman's "A Walk Worthwhile," which the Oscar-winning director adapted from a 2007 staging of a 1960s Czech musical. The film will show today. On Sunday, Huppert is to receive the Crystal Globe award for her outstanding contribution to world cinema.

The missile defense shield in Eastern Europe was one of the most ill-conceived security notions to come from the George W. Bush administration, but that's not stopping Republicans from calling foul now that President Obama has rightly put it to rest. "Scrapping the U.S. missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic does little more than empower Russia and Iran at the expense of our allies in Europe," said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) following Obama's announcement Thursday.

It's difficult to stop laughing long enough to seriously examine Czech artist David Cerny's latest stunt -- an installation commissioned by the Czech Republic to celebrate its assumption of the presidency of the European Union.

The Czech Republic and Portugal both have a legitimate chance of winning soccer's European Championship and both launched their campaigns with shutout victories in Switzerland on Saturday. All the same, it was tournament favorite Germany that was earning the lion's share of the attention because of its potentially crucial opener against Poland today in Austria. First, though, Saturday's matches.

In one of the most unlikely turnarounds in European Championship history, the favored Czech Republic allowed a one-goal lead to evaporate in the last three minutes of their winner-take-all game and lost to Turkey, 3-2, Sunday in rain-soaked Geneva. The outcome stunned Czech Coach Karel Bruckner, 68, who is retiring after Euro 2008. "To lose such a match is incredible," Bruckner said. "There were 15 minutes left when the first goal went in [and] they just kept coming until we lost.

The United States signed a pact Tuesday to build part of a U.S. missile defense shield in this former Soviet satellite, prompting Russia to warn that it will react with military means if the shield is deployed. The U.S. and Czech foreign ministers toasted with champagne after signing the accord to place a tracking radar southwest of Prague as part of a system to protect against attack from countries such as Iran. But Russia warned the U.S. against deploying the shield.

The upper chamber of the Czech Parliament on Thursday approved a deal with Washington to accept a U.S. missile defense installation. The deal still needs the approval of the lower chamber, where the vote is expected to be close because the governing coalition has too few seats to guarantee passage. The vote there is not expected before the end of the year.

There's a thaw in the century-old fight between Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar. The companies announced a joint distribution deal Monday even as they vowed to continue their international legal fight over the Budweiser trademark. St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch said it agreed to distribute Budvar's Czechvar Premium Czech Lager, which is currently sold in 30 states.

Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek announced that the United States had asked his country to host a radar base that would be part of a global missile defense system, drawing a warning from Russia of retaliatory actions. U.S. officials contend the system could defend Europe against missiles fired by states such as Iran and North Korea. The Kremlin said the development risked starting a new arms race.