News

Officials in the Olomouc region in the east of the country have cancelled a decision by the city’s monument preservation department allowing the construction of Šantovka Tower, a controversial high-rise project. A spokeswoman said a City Hall permit had been issued illegally as it did not, among other things, take into consideration the fact that the new building would disturb the skyline. Plans to erect the 22-storey building in the centre of the city have provoked public protests. They are also opposed by the Ministry of Culture.

People in the Moravia-Silesia Region have been warned to avoid going outside unnecessarily because of poor air quality. The dust in the air in the eastern region was three or more times the legal limit on Monday morning. The worst affected spot is the Frýdek-Místek area, where a measuring station recorded 187 microgrammes of particles per cubic metre. The situation is also bad in Český Těšín, with 180 microgrammes per cubic metre registered. An industrial area of the country, Moravia-Silesia frequently suffers from poor air quality, particularly in the winter months.

Much of the Czech Republic has been hit by snow, with road transport impacted in many parts of the country. Approximately 120 gritting trucks were out in force on Monday in the Central Bohemia region alone, while the police attributed 40 traffic accidents in Prague to the difficult conditions. Nevertheless, major roads around the Czech Republic were passable on Monday afternoon.

The office of the Czech president has accused the news website idnes.cz of putting President Miloš Zeman at risk by releasing the news of his trip to Afghanistan. A spokesman for the president said the website directly jeopardized the president’s security by reporting on the trip on Saturday morning, at a time when Mr Zeman was flown to a military base outside Kabul. The website dismissed the accusations, arguing they only released general information about the trip without giving details of the president’s itinerary.

Miloš Zeman arrived in Afghanistan on Friday to visit Czech troops stationed in the country and to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Mr Zeman is the first Czech head of state to visit Czech soldiers in the conflict-torn country.