Daily news summary
Czech Republic to send financial aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Czech Republic will send further financial aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina to help deal with migrant crisis and improve border security, the news site Novinky reported on Friday.
The proposal drafted by the Ministry of the Interior envisages aid to the tune of 25 million crowns. It is expected to win approval since the Czech stance to the migrant crisis is based on tightening border security and resolving the problem outside of Europe by helping the countries of migrant origin.
The proposal to provide financial aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina has also won support from the foreign affairs committee of the lower house.
Ministerial nominee Maláčová suspected of involvement in grant irregularities
Speculation has emerged that the prime minister’s nominee for the post of labour minister, Jana Maláčová, may have been implicated in suspected irregularities in the distribution of grants at the ministry.
A former deputy at the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry said Maláčová had been involved in a case that was now under investigation.
The former labour minister Jaroslava Nemcova has denied that she had pressed charges against Malacova in connection with the irregularities uncovered, saying that the respective audit had found fault with the work of whole departments, without naming any individuals. Maláčová herself has not responded to the accusations.
Falun Gong protest outside Chinese embassy
Some sixty Czech followers of the spiritual movement Falun Gong gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in Prague on Friday for a silent protest against human rights abuse in China and the persecution of Falun Gong followers.
The protest –at which most participants quietly meditated – aimed to raise awareness of the fact that Falun Gong followers in China are killed in connection with the illegal trade in organs. Some participants held up photos of people killed for this purpose, while others had their mouths taped over.
There were participants dressed as doctors and Chinese police who acted out scenes of the atrocities taking place against Falun Gong followers.
Bulgarian regulator blocks two deals with Czech businesses
Bulgaria's anti-monopoly regulator has blocked two multimillion deals with Czech businesses, saying the buyers might achieve dominance on the market through a concentration of ownership.
One was the sale of Czech energy giant CEZ‘s Bulgarian assets to the Bulgarian company, Inercom, the other was the sale of one of Bulgaria's two largest media conglomerates, Nova Broadcasting Group, to the PPF group of Czech businessman Petr Kellner.The regulator said the deals could result in market dominance that might harm customers.
The ruling can be appealed before the Supreme Administrative Court within two weeks.
Central Bohemian rescue service head resigns
The director of the Central Bohemian Rescue Services Martin Houdek has resigned from office. Houdek, who is one of the people charged in connection with the highly publicized corruption case surrounding former Central Bohemian governor David Rath, said he was innocent of any wrong doing but was bowing to media pressure in order to protect the Rescue Service.Houdek is charged with suspected involvement in manipulating public tenders.
Man sentenced to six years for child porn
The regional court in Hradec Kralove has sent a Czech man to six years in jail for child pornography. The man, the last of a four-member gang to be sentenced, was found guilty of producing and selling child porn photos and videos to clients abroad.
The case involved over 100 children aged between seven and 18 years, with whom the gang allegedly made over 600,000 pictures and videos. The man partially admitted his guilt.
Weather forecast
Saturday should be clear to partly cloudy around the country with day temperatures between 27 and 31 degrees Celsius.
