The Prague Post
October 12th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Real Estate Prague Prague Rentals Prague Apartments Prague Art & Antiques

Home » Archives » News

National Roundup


News & notes | Search restaurants | Archives

BIRD FLU Workers completed the culling June 28 of 28,000 chickens at an east Bohemian farm where the H5N1 strain of bird flu had been discovered, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported. The farm is four kilometers (2.5 miles) away from another poultry farm where H5N1 was discovered June 20. Regional authorities said local inhabitants don’t face any health threat.

DISCRIMINATION The Czech Republic received a warning letter June 27 from the European Commission for failing to pass a required anti-discrimination law, ČTK reported. The same warning was sent to 14 other EU states. A draft anti-discrimination bill, which would criminalize discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity, is currently before Parliament.
ACCIDENTS The number of road fatalities has increased over 2006 despite the introduction of stringent traffic laws last summer, daily Lidové noviny reported July 2. Since January, 485 people have died in accidents on national roads, 52 more than last year, the paper reported. Over the first weekend of the summer holidays, June 30–July 1, five people died in road accidents.
HEALTH The number of Czechs treated abroad has risen 24-fold since EU entry in 2004, according to a July 2 Právo report. Last year 27,619 Czechs received health care abroad, mostly in Europe, and Czech insurers paid 161 million Kč for the treatments. The number of foreigners who seek treatment in this country is also increasing.
TAX Part of the Civic Democratic Party’s public finance reform plan calls for the president to be subject to income taxes. Currently, the president’s post is the only one exempt from taxes. President Václav Klaus earns 395,200 Kč ($18,519) per month, tax-free. If the proposal passes, Klaus’s after-tax salary would be 320,100 Kč.
COAL Most Czechs oppose lessening the 1991 restrictions on coal mining in north Bohemia, according to a poll published in Mladá fronta Dnes July 2. Inhabitants of the area support the limits while coal company Mostecká uhelná wants them lifted, saying that 8,000 miners could lose their jobs over the next decade.
BLACKMAIL A group of six men has been charged with racketeering in the Karlovy Vary and Sokolov areas of west Bohemia, organized crime squad spokeswoman Blanka Kosinová told ČTK July 1. The men were “notorious thugs” who used “constant psychological and physical coercion” to blackmail local businessmen, Kosinová said. The number of arrests could still rise, she said.
DRUGS Customs officers in west Bohemia have arrested four men accused of attempting to smuggle 2,000 Ecstasy tablets into the country, a customs spokesman told ČTK July 3. The drug shipment, worth a street value of 400,000 Kč, was driven from the Netherlands by truck but was seized by Plzeň customs officers, ČTK said.
CRASH One woman is dead and her flight instructor injured after a Czech Blaník glider plane crashed in a mountainous area of north Moravia June 30, ČTK reported. A police spokeswoman said the man was being treated in hospital.
HOME An increasing number of Czechs live with their parents well into adulthood, according to the July 2 issue of weekly Respekt. Among those 18 to 24, 82 percent live at home, and nearly half of those between 25 and 29 do. Sociologists say the change is the result of political changes since 1989 that have changed housing policies for young couples with children.


Other articles in News (4/07/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.