News

Two girls (10 and 14) suffered injury at a fair in the east Moravian city of Ostrava on Saturday after falling from one of the attractions. Part of the mechanism reportedly broke, tossing the girls from the ride. They fell roughly five metres: one suffered light injuries to her head, the other to her hands. They were taken to hospital for treatment. The police are investigating the cause of the break which led to the girls' fall.

125cc motorcycle racer Lukas Pesek completed the Netherlands Grand Prix on Saturday in 7th place, not enough to earn him additional points in the overall World Championship standings. Saturday's race was won by Italian Massio Pasini. Pesek fared better than in the three previous races, beginning in second spot, but his finish in 7th spot has seen him drop to 4th place in the overall standings.

The smaller parties in the governing coalition have expressed reservations over the Civic Democrats' intentions to revise proposed tax reforms, further lowering taxes. The Civic Democrats' proposal envisages decreasing corporate tax from 24 to 19 percent, while slashing income tax either down to 19 or 12 percent, (which would be calculated from a "super gross wage"). Some have questioned the plan: Christian Democrat Ludvik Hovorka said he could not imagine how it might work, while fellow party member Jan Kasal said that if the Civic Democrats pushed ahead, he would put forward his own proposed changes. Green Party leader Martin Bursik said he considers the Civic Democrats' proposal "unrealistic" as it would mean a decrease of 16 billion crowns income in next year's budget. Government discussion on the topic of tax reform is set to resume on July 10th.

Czech Radio's Radiozurnal has reported that the former head of Interpol's Czech section, Pavol Mihal, will likely be paid up to 2 million crowns in severance pay. That is the equivalent of roughly 94, 000 US dollars. Mr Mihal left police ranks four months ago after it was revealed he had collaborated with the StB, communist Czechoslovakia's secret police. He did so in the 1980s. Police are reportedly keeping the exact sum of Mr Mihal's severance pay secret, but the presidium did say he had received 200,000 crowns. The additional 1.7 million - is allegedly to be paid out until Mr Mihal reaches retirement age. Interior Minister Ivan Langer - who launched a fresh round of vetting in the police service this year - said he could not prevent the payment.