News News

Air pollution deteriorate in north-eastern Czech Republic

Air pollution in the Moravian-Silesian region in the north-east of the country exceeded permitted levels on Sunday. All measuring stations in the region reported excessive levels of particulate matter in the air; the area of Frýdek Místek has been most affected, according to the Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute. The region is one the most polluted in Europe, mainly due to heavy industry, traffic and the use of household furnaces. Meteorologists don’t expect the situation to improve in the coming days.

Snow and ice continue to disrupt traffic

Up to 16 cm of fresh snow fell in the Czech Republic on Saturday, disrupting traffic in most parts of the country. Hundreds of road accidents occurred over the weekend which killed three people and left dozens of injured. Most roads continue to be covered with snow and ice on Sunday, mainly in the elevated Vysočina region; the authorities have asked drivers to take extra care or stay off the roads if they can as more snow is expected in the western part of the country. Two flights from Prague’s Václav Havel Airport have been cancelled.

New legislation to curb Roma segregation in schools

The Czech Education Ministry has come up with new legislation that should curb the practice of placing disproportionately high number of Roma children in special schools, the news website idnes.cz reported on Sunday. The Czech Republic has been consistently criticized for including many Roma children into programmes for children with light mental disabilities. The new legislation will oblige school directors to report the number of pupils in such programmes, a statistics that is now not available. The ministry also wants to increase control over institutions diagnosing schoolchildren, and introduce standards to make sure only mentally disabled children are included in the programmes. The new legislation should come into force in July.

ČTK: little interest in hospital’s above-standard care

Czech hospitals have registered little interest in “above-standard” care and services since January 2012 when new legislation allowed them to offer such options for extra fees, the news agency ČTK reported on Sunday. Few patients are willing to pay more for higher-quality contact lenses, lighter plaster casts, some vaccines or another 15 items approved by the Health Ministry. Most of those willing to pay extra do so to be able to get better rooms during their hospital stays. The ministry estimates that nationwide, between 30 and 40 million crowns was collected for “above-standard” services, a small fraction of annual health care costs that amount to around 300 billion.

Czech cinematographers hand out annual awards

The Czech cinematographers’ association handed out their annual awards in Prague on Saturday. The prize for best camera in feature film went to Marek Jícha for the movie Love is Love while Petr Koblovský won the award for best camera in TV film for the film Applause. Petr Polách, who died last year, was recognized for his life-time contribution to cinematography.

Patient injures doctor in Tábor hospital

The police have arrested a man who injured a doctor in a hospital in Tábor, in southern Bohemia, a spokesman said on Sunday. The incident took place on Friday, when the patient assaulted the doctor, stabbing him with a knife. The attacker then ran away but was detained a few hours later. The man, who was reported to be in poor mental state, was taken to a Prague psychiatric hospital.

Tennis: Berdych loses Marseilles final

Czech tennis player Tomáš Berdych lost 6-3, 6-7, 4-6 to France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final of ATP tournament in Marseilles on Sunday. The Czech, ranked sixth in the world, failed to win his first title of the season despite earning a match point in the tie-break of the second set. Meanwhile, the leading Czech woman player, Petra Kvitova, won her first title this season after she beat Italy’s Sara Errani 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 in the final of a WTA tournament in Dubai on Saturday.

Weather

The next few days should see a spell of warmer weather, with rain and daytime highs between 2 and 6 degrees Celsius.