News

The government will earmark funds to close the Lety pig farm above the site of a WWII internment camp for Roma

Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek and Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka have reportedly agreed to set aside government funds towards buying out the owners of a pig farm, built above the site of a World War II-era internment camp. Hundreds of Romany people, including at least 241 children, died at the Lety u Pisku camp site. Thousands more were killed after being transferred to places like Auschwitz. Activists have been calling for the Lety pig farm's removal for over a decade. This autumn, the Czech human rights commissioner Svatopluk Karasek estimated removing the pig farm would cost at least 12 million US dollars, but the prime minister has said it should cost considerably less. A finance ministry spokeswoman declined Monday to reveal how much money the government would be set aside.

Pharmacists to strike Jan. 30 in protest of Health Minister's move to lower profit margin on meds

Czech pharmacists have decided to hold a three-hour protest strike on Monday, January 30th, in defiance of policies proposed by Health Minister David Rath, namely the lowering of profit margin on medicines by 3 percent. On Sunday, after meeting with the prime minister, the head of the Czech Pharmacists' Association Lubomir Chudoba said pharmacists would also launch a public campaign explaining how - in their view - Mr Rath's proposal would be damaging. According to Mr Chudoba, the lower profit margin will threaten one-third of the country's 2,200 pharmacies. The health minister, though, has made clear patients' interests are of higher priority, since in the health sector pharmacists rank among the highest-income groups.

Two prominent Social Democrats have been removed from the party's candidate list ahead of June general elections

The ruling Social Democrats have removed two prominent people from the party's candidate list for the general elections in June, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek. Former agriculture minister Jaroslav Palas was taken off the list for his role in allowing the company Cesky olej to take over Setuza, a chemical producer. MP Oldrich Nemec was taken off the candidates list for having publicly doubted the credibility of another party deputy, Michal Kraus, in his explanation of a questionable business trip to Ghana.

Prague's international airport is to open a major new terminal on Tuesday to handle 'Schengen' traffic

A new terminal at Prague's Ruzyne international airport is to open for service on Tuesday. The North II terminal is expected to increase the international airport's capacity by 4 million passengers annually. Last year, the airport saw a record 10.8 million passengers. The new 320 million dollar terminal will handle flights between the Schengen visa countries; non-European Union and other flights will remain at the old terminal.

Cyanides released into the Labe River are behind the death of huge numbers of fish, CIZP inspectors say

The Czech Environmental Protection Agency (CIZP) has confirmed reports that cyanides released into the Labe River were behind the death of tones of fish last week. An agency official told the state news agency CTK the hazardous material probably entered the river from Kolin, east of Prague, where several large factories are located. Fish farmers downstream have been forced to clear tones of half-dead fish from the river. The environment protection agency official said that the perpetrator, once identified, faces a fine of up to 10 million crowns.

Eastern Europeans far less prone to dieting than Western Europeans, new GfK survey says

Eastern Europeans are far less prone to dieting than their counterparts in Western Europe, according to a report by the market research agency GfK. Only one in ten people from Eastern Europe have started diets to lose weight, the report said, compared to one in five in Western Europe. Around 73 per cent of Czech women and 62 per cent of Hungarian women said the diets they tried had not worked. This compared to 61 per cent of Dutch women. The GfK report added that one-third of Central and Eastern Europeans believed their own food to be heavy in terms of calories.

Weather

Light snowfall is expected throughout the country over the next couple of days, with clear skies expected on Thursday.