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A twenty-seven year old Tunisian man by the name of Mohamed Ali Houatmia has been convicted in the Czech Republic of raping and sexually abusing several under-age girls. Mr Ali Houatmia was sentenced to three years in prison by a court in the Czech town of Tábor. The Tunisan man is married in the Czech Republic and has two daughters. He was convicted of raping his fourteen-year old step-daughter as well as her friend; he was also found guilt of sexually abusing three other friends of his step-daughter between 2006 and 2008.

Regional hospitals across the Czech Republic will cease the collection of visitation fees from February 1, according to a decision made by a meeting of the country’s regional governors. The decision is possible because the opposition Social Democrats hold every governorship in the country, and have vehemently campaigned against any kind of doctor’s fees. The new formula will not abolish the fees, but rather will see regional authorities cover the costs of doctor’s visitation which will then be paid to health insurance companies. The decision only affects hospitals run by regions. All health fees were recently defeated in a bill passed by the Parliament’s lower house. But the law is still pending approval by the Senate.

The world-renowned Czech architect Jan Kaplický has died at the age of 71. He passed away after collapsing in the street in Prague on Wednesday, only hours after his wife Eliška gave birth to a baby girl, the couple’s first child. Mr Kaplický emigrated from Czechoslovakia in 1968 and settled in London, where he worked with architects such as Norman Foster and Richard Rogers before becoming the lead architect behind Future Systems, one of the most innovative design offices in the world. He is perhaps best known for the Selfridges shopping centre in Birmingham and the Media Centre at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. Mr Kaplický’s design for a new National Library building in Prague – nicknamed the blob – won an international tender before meeting political resistance and effectively being scrapped.

Czech officials have apologized to Bulgaria for any offence caused by the artwork the Czech Republic selected to represent the country’s EU presidency. At the official unveiling of the work in Brussels on Thursday, Czech Deputy PM Alexandr Vondra said that he was ready to ‘engage in a dialogue’ with Sofia, and have the image, which portrays Bulgaria as a Turkish style toilet, removed if necessary. The sculptor behind the work, David Černý, also apologized and said that he would hand back the money he had been paid for the installation. Mr Černý’s work, ‘Entropa’, uses national stereotypes to depict each of the EU’s 27 member states. The controversial work provoked further outrage when it was revealed that Mr Černý designed all of the component parts of sculpture himself, instead of cooperating with artists from each of the EU’s countries as was originally agreed.