News

A sixty one year old Czech woman has died after getting bitten by a poisonous snake while out on a walk in the eastern part of the Czech Republic. The woman was enjoying an afternoon out with her family when she complained of a stinging bite on her ankle. After walking a few metres she fainted and died shortly after being rushed to hospital. Doctors suspect that she was bitten by a highly poisonous snake which is at home in Australia, South Africa and South America. The police have warned locals to exercise extreme caution because the reptile, which is believed to have escaped from a private owner, could attack others walking out in the vicinity of Cesky Tesin. The police have found a reptile owner who could provide a serum to counteract the poison, but they warn that the victim would need immediate help.

The new cabinet to be put forward by Prime Minister Stanislav Gross, meanwhile, is expected to see many current ministers continue in their posts. President Vaclav Klaus said on Monday he had expected to see greater differences between the outgoing and incoming cabinets, while thanking outgoing Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla's government for two year's work at a ceremony at Prague Castle.

During the day Mr Klaus received a list of new cabinet members from Prime Minister Stanislav Gross, with the president's spokesman Petr Hajek saying the president would meet with several of those named in the new cabinet on Tuesday.

Those not expected to continue in the new government include Health Minister Jozef Kubinyi, Defence Minister Miroslav Kostelka, and Deputy Prime Minister Petr Mares.

At the moment it remains unclear whether Agriculture Minister Jaroslav Palas will stay on.

Prague's Ruzyne airport reportedly cleared more than one million travellers in July - the first time the airport has ever cleared such a high a number in a single month. Airport spokeswoman Anna Kovarikova said on Monday the number of passengers grew by 20 percent year-on-year saying more detailed information would be provided in the coming weeks. By comparison - in June - 950, 000 passengers were cleared, which had set the record till now. Czech Airports Authority chief executive Martin Kacur has stated that Prague's Ruzyne airport, along with Vienna, has become one of the most important air transport hubs in Central Europe.

At least 18 people were injured when a hand grenade was deliberately detonated on a busy pedestrian street in downtown Prague on Sunday afternoon. The incident is not being treated as a terrorist attack. Unconfirmed reports say the intended target was an Israeli casino owner whose own father, a purported underworld crime boss, was shot dead at the same location less than two year's ago. The attack occurred at about 12:30 in the afternoon on Na Prikope Street, a busy promenade not far from Prague's famous Wenceslas Square. The area is popular with shoppers and tourists. Most of those injured were foreign tourists, including an American couple, a British couple, a German and Slovak. Some accounts said the grenade was thrown from the window of a passing car. It exploded under a white Jeep Cherokee that bore American license plates from the state of New Jersey, the CTK news agency reported. The incident took place on the corner of Na Prikope and Havirska streets, in front of the Israeli-owned Casino Royal bar and restaurant. A police officer on the scene, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Reuters news agency the likely target of the attack was the casino owner. Czech Prime Minister Stanislav Gross said the incident appeared to be the work of a criminal gang rather than a terrorist attack. "It was a criminal act, more or less a settling of accounts," said Mr Gross, who is the outgoing interior minister. He said there was a "good chance" the perpetrators would be arrested. The Casino Royal owner, Assaf Abutbul, was not injured in the attack, which came less than two years after his father, Felix, was gunned down not far from the casino's entrance, in August 2002. According to Israeli media reports, Felix Abutbul was an underworld crime boss in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya who operated illegal gambling operations in resort towns throughout Israel and whose nickname was "the butcher". Most of those injured in the attack in Prague on Sunday were having lunch or drinks at the casino and sustained only minor wounds from flying shrapnel and shards of glass. The main suspect in the attack is to be a young man who was often seen in the area. Prime Minister Gross said eyewitness descriptions were "quite solid and there is reason for optimism" that the attacker will be apprehended.