News

Lightning storms and bouts of torrential rain over the weekend caused isolated calamities around the Czech Republic, however no extensive flooding has been reported. In the Moravian region of Šumperk a young man was killed when a group of four tourists was struck by lightening. In the northern Bohemian region of Ústí nad Labem flash floods swept away part of a road and a small bridge; firemen reported 81 calls in the region, where waterways rose by up to a meter. In Slovakia the country’s main summer music festival ended in tragedy on Saturday when high winds brought down the four-tonne main festival tent. Hundreds of spectators were attending a concert in the tent when it collapsed, killing one man and injuring more than 50, including at least two Czechs.

Six more cases of swine flu have been reported in the Czech Republic, bringing the number of infections in the country to 27. In the last two days the Ministry of Health has confirmed the virus in a three-year-old boy, his mother and grandmother, and in three other women. Most of the infected individuals had recently returned from the United States or the UK, however one apparently contracted the flu in her place of business in the centre of Prague, marking only the second case of domestic infection. The child is currently being monitored in hospital. Epidemiologists are anticipating a greater spread of the virus in the autumn, when they say it could mix with standard seasonal flu viruses. The Czech Republic’s chief hygiene officer Michael Vít has said it is possible to expect up to two million infections and 40,000 hospitalisations.

The Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office has released its annual report, in which it states that the rate of criminality in the Czech Republic has not changed over the long-term, though there have been changes in the rates of particular crimes and the participation of foreigners. The report states for example that murder investigations are declining, down to 177 from 280 in 1999. Increases have been noted elsewhere however, for example in economic crimes such as customs and tax fraud. New trends have also been seen in human trafficking in the Czech Republic, particularly involving forced labour and prostitution. The Public Prosecutor’s Office also stated it could not rule out a coming rise in criminality as a result of the global economic crisis.

The government is to discuss a new regional development plan on Monday that reportedly includes controversial plans for the Czech Republic’s nuclear power plants. The news servers Aktualne.cz and Deník.cz reported that in addition to proposing the completion of the Temelín nuclear power plant, the development plan also insinuates the construction of a third nuclear fission plant in North Moravia. Ecologists and civic organisations have bristled at the plan, which they say is ecologically and financially unsound, and should at least be left to an elected, rather than caretaker, government.