News

The police in Vsetín are investigating Deputy Prime Minister Jiří Čunek on suspicion of the sale a majority stake in a Vsetín housing company to a local real estate firm at a very low price. The deputy prime minister had been previously accused of taking a one and a half million crown bribe from the real estate company while serving as mayor of Vsetín, but the state attorney concluded there was not enough evidence to press charges. A new criminal complaint was made by Jiří Jehlička, technical manager of the Central Register of Debtors.

Slovak mountain rescuers are searching for a 63-year-old Czech tourist in the High Tatras. The search began on Thursday after his wife reported that he failed to return home from the Tatars by train as he intended. Around twenty rescuers equipped with sniffer dogs are involved in the search.

Ondřej Synek won a silver medal in the men’s single scull at the summer Olympics in Beijing on Saturday. The Czech rower was only beaten by Norway’s Olaf Tufte, who defended his Olympic title. New Zealand’s three-time world champion Mahe Drysdale came third. Miroslava Knapková came fifth in the women’s category.

President Klaus has said both sides are to blame in the military conflict over South Ossetia. In a statement for Czech Radio, Mr. Klaus said that he strongly condemned both Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia and the massive intervention of the Russian military. He said that to lay the blame exclusively at Russia’s door would be unjust, and noted that with the separation of Kosovo, Russia had obtained a strong justification for its action. The president likewise rejected the comparison with the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, saying that the circumstances in the Caucuses were entirely different.