News

Ester Ledecká took the women’s gold medal in parallel slalom at the Snowboard World Championship in Lachtal, Austria on Thursday. The youngest competitor in the women's event, 19-year-old Ledecká won the title after her final opponent, Olympic champion Julia Dujmovits of Austria, was disqualified for sliding off course.

Two Czech insurance companies –Česká přůmyslová zdravotní pojištovna and Oborová zdravotní pojištovna –have signed contracts with the Prague Proton Therapy Centre, a spokeswoman for the centre confirmed on Thursday. Previously the centre had a contract for cooperation with a single Czech insurance company –Vojenská zdravotní pojištovna - and served largely for foreign clients. A contract with the country’s largest health insurer VZP is said to be in the pipeline.

Russian citizen Yevgenii Rotsthtein Dogayev, who attempted to highjack a plane from Moscow to Geneva in 2006, will remain in custody pending a court hearing. The suspect who was extradited from Great Britain to the Czech Republic last October had protested against his detention and asked to be investigated at liberty. A Prague Court rejected his appeal on Thursday on the grounds that he might try to flee the country. Dogayev attempted to highjack a commercial flight from Moscow to Geneva in 2006 saying there was a bomb on board and demanding a change of course for Cairo. He was overpowered and placed in detention. He fled the country two years later after being released on bail.

The anti-corruption police have charged four people with manipulating tenders and embezzling funds from the state forestry company Lesy CR. According to a police spokesperson the charges relate to tenders worth one billion crowns in 2008-2009. The tenders were allegedly overpriced by 300 million crowns which were taken out of the country and deposited in Swiss bank accounts before being returned to Czech banks. The four allegedly cooperated closely in organizing and covering up these activities.