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An inspection into institutions for patients suffering from dementia has revealed serious lapses, according to the Ombudsman’s Office. An inspection into 14 such facilities revealed serious problems in more than half of them, newly-elected Ombudsman Anna Šabatová told journalists on Thursday. There is a lack of qualified personnel and a marked lack of respect for the dignity of these patients, Mrs. Šabatová noted, adding that there was a tendency to overuse tranquilizers and not enough attention was being paid to proper food intake, with many patients being undernourished. The Ombudsman’s Office has called for the matter to be addressed without delay.

A court in Karvina has ordered Petr Kramný, who has been charged with murdering his wife and young daughter while on holiday in Egypt, to be remanded in custody for fear that he might influence witnesses or try to flee the country. His young wife an eight-year old daughter died of severe poisoning while on holiday in the Hurghada sea resort. Kramný himself reported the deaths, saying that all three had come down with intestinal and stomach problems. If convicted of the murders Kramný would face from 15 to 20 years in jail.

Almost half of all companies in the Czech Republic - 48 percent - have fallen victim to economic crime in the past two years, according to the latest global economic crime survey conducted by company PricewaterhouseCoopers. The number of firms directly affected by cybercrime in the Czech Republic has doubled in the past two years. However, the most frequent type of economic crime in the Czech Republic is theft or embezzlement of a company's property by its employees which accounts for almost 80 percent of economic crimes. Worldwide, theft and embezzlement make up only 69 percent of cases on average.

The Czech men's hockey team was soundly defeated on Wednesday by a US squad that has continued to shine at the Winter Olympics. A day after the Czechs knocked Slovakia from the tournament, they appeared lackluster and were out-skated and outplayed by their American opponents. Goalie Ondřej Pavelec was chased from the net in the second period when the US scored their fourth goal to make it 4-1. The Czech starting goalie was replaced by Salak. The game finished 5-2. The US team faces Canada in the semi-final.